Here we go again with this ridiculous tablet thing. Talk about a tempest in a teapot -- rumors and reports are swirling about a product that we predict nobody's going to want, anyway. But if you really want to know what's going on, there's some info here.
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Posted by Lee Pender on October 01, 20091 comments
OK, so maybe we judged a book by its cover, or, more appropriately, by past works by the same author. Earlier this week, we ripped a bit on Microsoft Security Essentials, Redmond's new (and free) anti-virus effort, comparing it to sugary cereals that were always "part of this complete breakfast" in their old TV ads.
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Posted by Lee Pender on October 01, 20090 comments
There's no way we're not going to start this entry with Jack Webb, so cue the biting monotone of Sgt. Joe Friday and that iconic opening theme: "This is the city, Los Angeles, California. Every 60 seconds, a crime is committed in Los Angeles..."
And apparently, every couple of decades or so (we're not sure how often, actually), L.A. does an IT refresh. That time has come again. City Hall in the City of Angels is looking to boot an old e-mail system and upgrade to something more modern than what Joe Friday might have used very, very late in his career. (Or maybe not, given that Jack Webb left us in 1982. But we're trying to stick with the theme here.)
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Posted by Lee Pender on September 30, 20090 comments
Steve Ballmer -- or, quite possibly, somebody who writes e-mails for Steve Ballmer -- sent a message this week that went on a bit about the new economy and so forth and how Microsoft's products will fit into it. Then, at the end, Ballmer got to the interesting stuff: companies that have adopted Windows 7.
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Posted by Lee Pender on September 30, 20090 comments
For some reason, despite the fact that soccer teams around the world have been putting ads on their shirts for years, we here in the U.S. freak out when sports teams start talking about renting out space on their jerseys.
So it made news this week when Microsoft and the (thus far woeful) Seattle Seahawks agreed to slap a Bing ad on the Seahawks' practice jerseys (yes, the practice shirts, not whatever this was supposed to be), and then trotted out a bunch of hilarious "synergy" quotes about the deal.
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Posted by Lee Pender on September 30, 20090 comments
Duty calls this week from the mother ship (Redmond magazine), so we're going to have to keep RCPU short and, hopefully, fairly sweet.
Anyway, after the fairly unmitigated disaster that was Windows Live OneCare, Microsoft is apparently back in the anti-virus game this week -- today, even, with the release of Security Essentials. We loved this quote from this Stuff.co.nz story:
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Posted by Lee Pender on September 29, 20094 comments
Few people can make news by stating the obvious, but Steve Ballmer is one of those people who can. Ballmer apparently said at a press-less Venture Capital Summit that Microsoft "screwed up" with Windows Mobile. Oh, really? Thanks for letting us know, Steve.
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Posted by Lee Pender on September 29, 20090 comments
The firm once known as "the document company," with a brand as strong in the copier game as that of Kleenex or Google is in tissues or Web search, is trying to branch out of paper and into managing datacenters. Xerox this week bought Affiliated Computer Services for the not-small price tag of more than $6 billion. Will datacenters someday be known as Xerox centers? Stay tuned.
Posted by Lee Pender on September 29, 20090 comments
We keep hearing that the recession is over, and yet, for many companies and individuals, it sure doesn't feel as though it's over. Rising markets and positive comments from leaders aside, there are still a lot of firms struggling with declining revenues and a lot of folks looking for jobs.
There is some evidence, though, that things are looking up in the channel. If the big distributors are bellwethers for channel players of all sizes, then the financial picture for partners really is improving -- or should be soon.
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Posted by Lee Pender on September 24, 20090 comments
We've gone on and on in this space about how Microsoft should focus on core technologies and let some of the fringe stuff that's making the company bloated and inefficient go. Well, Microsoft said this week that both Windows Live and Windows Mobile are unprofitable.
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Posted by Lee Pender on September 24, 20091 comments
Intel has had its eyes on the software market for a while, and it took another step toward becoming a real software vendor this week with the introduction of a new version of its Moblin operating system.
Linux-based Moblin could end up all over the place, from smartphones to netbooks. So, that's more competition (potentially) for Windows -- this time from the company that helped build the Microsoft empire (while also building its own).
Posted by Lee Pender on September 24, 20090 comments
Two things today: Usually, as the days lose daylight and the summer slips into fall, the news cycle starts turning again in a serious way. We haven't noticed that to be the case so much this year, perhaps because much of the technology world is anticipating the release of Windows 7 (even though there's probably nothing about it we don't know). The bigger vendors have been relatively quiet so far this fall.
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Posted by Lee Pender on September 23, 20090 comments