SQL Server 2008 R2 Due, Too

Nearly three years in the making, SQL Server 2008 R2 is finally on its way. It's due to land in IT shops this May.

Something called R2 doesn't sound that exciting or all that new, but Microsoft often packs a lot of new stuff into these releases. Windows Server 2008 R2, for instance, could have just as easily been called SQL Server 2010.

Posted by Doug Barney on January 25, 20101 comments

Make Public Clouds Private

Microsoft legal eagle Brad Smith is asking Washington to pass laws and revise existing ones to make sure our clouds are safe, secure and private.

There are a number of computer-related laws on the books, but all were written when the predominant style of computing involved hard drives and local processing.

Posted by Doug Barney on January 25, 20101 comments

Google Hole Filled

The hole in IE that Chinese hackers used to hack Google is now fixed.

This particular exploit involves the hacker directing users to malicious Web sites where the real hacking work is done. A combination of bad publicity and a real security threat had Microsoft security programmers working overtime on a patch that covers IE 5, 6, 7 and 8.

Posted by Doug Barney on January 22, 20102 comments

17-Year-Old Hole Found

It took nearly two decades, but a vulnerability in the Windows kernel that affects nearly all versions has been found.

While it took 17 years to uncover, it also took Microsoft over six months to issue an alert once the vulnerability was known. Fortunately, this elevation-of-privilege vulnerability requires the hacker to have network credentials and local access.

Posted by Doug Barney on January 22, 20102 comments

Sun One Step Closer to Full Eclipse

I admit it: I'm a huge fan of Sun Microsystems. I like companies with creativity and guts. Sun is no me-too company.

But it soon may no longer be a company at all as the European Union this week approved Oracle's proposed $7.4 billion buyout. It's such a done deal that Larry Ellison is planning a Hugo Chavez-style five-hour company and press event next week on the matter.

Posted by Doug Barney on January 22, 201019 comments

Google Hack: It's All Microsoft's Fault

If the world ran on Firefox or Chrome, Google might still be committed to censoring in China. But with more than half of the market still in IE, hackers took advantage of a bug in the Microsoft browser to hack into the Gmail accounts of Chinese activists.

That's what prompted the Sino-Google conflict and led to Google threatening to take away the special version of its software that censors out anti-government content.

Posted by Doug Barney on January 20, 20102 comments

Google and Microsoft Look at Clouds from Both Sides Now

Google and Microsoft agree on less than Scott Brown and Martha Coakley, so it's no surprise they differ on clouds. Both companies' views are clearly informed by their pasts. In the case of Microsoft, it's always sold software meant to be installed on hard drives with files stored locally. Google is all about the Internet.

All this came out in a debate last week at the New York Technology Council. As you might expect, Google feels that everything can and should be done in the cloud -- with few or no exceptions. Microsoft believes in the cloud, in part because that's what the market believes and in part because it's the natural evolution of software. But Redmond feels that while some stuff should be in the cloud, there's also a critical role for old-style clients. Redmond sees a hybrid approach where data can be split between the two models and even synchronized.

Posted by Doug Barney on January 20, 20102 comments

Panasonic E-Mail Brouhaha

Earlier this week, I reported that Panasonic was moving a huge number of users from Exchange to LotusLive, a cloud-based e-mail and collaboration suite. Some of you wrote me, arguing that Panasonic was already a Notes shop and had just a handful of Exchange users. And you were right!

Posted by Doug Barney on January 20, 20101 comments

China vs. Google vs. Microsoft

Google is apparently ready to give up on the world's most populated country all because it censors the Internet.

It seems disingenuous of Google to threaten to leave China when Google invades privacy and has for years allowed China to dictate what searchers see on their Google results pages. In fact, Google built a special version of its search engine for China that "self-censors."

Posted by Doug Barney on January 18, 20109 comments

Panasonic Exchanges E-Mail

Massive Exchange shop Panasonic is giving the Microsoft e-mail platform the boot, not just switching vendors but fundamentally changing the way its e-mail is handled.

LotusLive offers a service-based approach to mail, Web conferencing, social networking and collaboration.

Posted by Doug Barney on January 18, 20107 comments

If You Think Microsoft Patches a Lot, Just Try Adobe

Microsoft gets a bad rap for security, some of it deserved, some not. Meanwhile, other vendors operate with un-blackened eyes even though their software has more holes than an old Alaskan fishing net.

Last week, we reported that Oracle sent out two dozen patches in its latest round. Now, we find out that Adobe is patching many versions of Adobe Reader.

Posted by Doug Barney on January 18, 20102 comments

Rental Agreement

As we discussed Wednesday, software licensing is a tricky thing. The licenses are written by lawyers in consultation with software folks. Can you say complex?

One of the hidden secrets of Windows and Office licenses is they don't allow for machines to be rented. Instead, thousands of Internet cafes, rental companies and gaming centers around the world have paid a subscription fee -- or pretended nothing's wrong.

Posted by Doug Barney on January 15, 20100 comments