So, you're actually using Windows Mobile 6.5 (Microsoft thanks you for your fidelity, we're sure), and you want to go ahead and upgrade to Windows Phone 7. Well, you (probably) can't.
Posted by Lee Pender on March 01, 20100 comments
Talk continues to swirl that it's Microsoft that's trying to get Google into legal trouble in Europe (fascinating turn of events) as well as elsewhere. Hey, if nothing else, it fans the flames of the rivalry.
Posted by Lee Pender on March 01, 20100 comments
Still using Windows 2000? We know you're out there. Actually, a lot of you probably are still using Windows XP SP2; we here at RCPU are. Well, support for those products and more is ending soon.
Posted by Lee Pender on March 01, 20100 comments
Sure, there are some problems when it comes to Windows 7 and security, but it's mostly OK, according to a report from the folks at Sophos.
Posted on February 25, 20100 comments
Microsoft Office is still the champ, but now there's a real challenger. Google Apps is making inroads into the one group that has long been Microsoft's greatest asset: the channel.
Granted, Google can't hold a candle to Microsoft's 600,000-strong partner base, but the Web empire says that it has recruited nearly 1,000 resellers for its Google Apps productivity suite. How does that compare to the number of partners actually working with Microsoft's online productivity offering?
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Posted by Lee Pender on February 25, 20100 comments
If Charles Dickens were writing IT analyst reports in the 21st century, he might work for Janco Associates. The firm this week outlined the best of times (Windows 7) and the worst of times (Internet Explorer) in Redmond.
OK, so maybe that's a little hyperbolic. Led Zeppelin's classic "Good Times, Bad Times" might be more appropriate. And it rocks a lot harder than ol' Chuck ever did. We have to stop typing now so we can play air guitar.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 25, 20100 comments
Kindle and some Linux stuff are in there, but it looks as though Microsoft and Amazon will still fight tooth and nail in the cloud.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 24, 20100 comments
Windows 7 is the real thing. It's the true heir to XP's throne and the next Microsoft operating system just about everybody will end up having. That much we know.
The challenge for partners, though, is to get their enterprise customers to move to Windows 7 when so many companies seem content to stick with XP. Redmond magazine offered advice on migrating to Windows 7 back in January, and now Microsoft is releasing tools that will make the migration effort easier.
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Posted by Lee Pender on February 24, 20101 comments
The big storage company takes on the provider of e-mail and SharePoint archiving applications.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 24, 20100 comments
Redmond's server and tools guru sees things looking up, especially in the server market. He also gives a brief-ish explanation of Azure in an interview with Barron's.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 24, 20100 comments
Bear with us on this entry, if you would. It doesn't really strike at the heart of what Microsoft partners want or need to know, but it's pretty darn interesting. We just love a scandalous tale. And it does involve Windows...
Back in August 2008, when the getting was good for Vista bashing, RCPU reported some shocking -- shocking! -- numbers about the percentage of PCs being downgraded from Vista to XP. One commenter who identified himself as "Crash" added this bit to the comments section of that entry:
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Posted by Lee Pender on February 22, 20108 comments
It's heating up and getting really nasty between Cisco and HP, as Cisco said last week that it is cutting ties with its former partner. We could blather on about this, but Jeff Schwartz has done such a good job of analyzing the situation in his blog for RCPmag.com that we're just going to point you to what he has to say.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 22, 20100 comments