McNealy, WUS and NT
- By Paul Desmond
- 03/02/2005
The March issue of
Redmond magazine has just hit the streets, which
means
a fresh batch of online content
is available on this site for your perusal. Highlights include our interview
with Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy. Trade press reporters used to love
covering McNealy’s speeches and press conferences, because you’d
always get a juicy one-liner to spice up your story -- and that’s hard
to come by in this business. Of course, the barbs were usually at Microsoft’s
expense, as you’ll see in our online sidebar. The nearly $2 billion settlement
he got from Microsoft has softened Scott’s rhetoric, but not his competitive
spirit. In our chat with him, McNealy tries to make the case that his Java Desktop
System and Office alternatives make for better desktop environments than Windows.
Judge
for yourself how well he does.
Our McNealy interview is part of our continuing effort to bring top executives
from Microsoft and its competitors to the pages of Redmond magazine. We’ve
already tackled Steve Ballmer and Jeff Raikes. Feel free to let me know who
else we should go after. I’m at [email protected].
Also in our March issue, “Beta Man” Don Jones takes
a look at Windows Update Services (WUS) Beta 2, which he reports is, “feature-complete,
more polished and refined.” In addition to updating Windows as its predecessor
Software Update Services did, WUS will be able to update Office, Exchange, SQL
Server, ISA Server and eventually the entire Windows Server System lineup, Jones
says. “WUS is so much more than its predecessor SUS, it's hard to believe
Microsoft is still giving it away for free,” he says.
If you’ve still got some Windows NT kicking around your shop, you’ll
want to check out our feature “Windows
NT: Hard to Kill.” Veteran trade press reporter Stuart Johnston (who
also contributes to our daily news coverage on Redmondmag.com) talked to a number
of NT diehards to find out why they’re sticking with the venerable server
OS and how they’re getting by now that Microsoft has eliminated virtually
all support for it.
Windows Gets a New Chief
Microsoft yesterday announced it’s hiring
a former AT&T Wireless and E*Trade executive to head up Windows product
management. Michael Sievert will be leading the charge to Longhorn, overseeing
marketing, product management and product planning for the next version of Windows.
This guy sounds like a firebrand. He’s only 35, yet has already helped
build E*Trade into what it is today and is responsible for moving AT&T Wireless
away from its hideous “mLife” slogan, according to a report in the
Seattle Post-Intelligencer. He was only available because when Cingular Wireless
acquired AT&T Wireless (for $41 billion) it opted to keep its own marketing
chief. It should be interesting to see what he does with Longhorn.
What’s Next for Office?
Microsoft isn’t saying much about what will be included in the next version
of Office. But Scott Bekker, Redmond news editor who doubles as editor
of our sister site ENTmag.com, put together a
list of 12 things you can likely expect in “Office 12,” ranging
from integrated anti-virus protection to collaboration improvements.
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Mr. Gates Goes to Washington
Bill Gates had some
strong
words for the nation’s governors at a two-day education summit in
Washington, D.C., last weekend. ''Our high schools were designed 50 years ago
to meet the needs of another age," Gates said in his keynote address at
the event, according to a report in the Boston Globe. ''Until we design them
to meet the needs of this century, we will keep limiting, even ruining, the
lives of millions of Americans every year." This is no idle talk. Improving
education in the U.S. is one of the primary goals of the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation, which has pledged nearly $1 billion to the cause of improving
high schools alone, the Globe reports. I never cease to marvel at the incredible
amount of good Gates is doing with his money.
By the way, Gates touched on the education issue -- along with everything from
Microsoft’s biggest challenges to his personal reading habits -- in his
interview earlier this month with Peter Jennings of ABC News. A full transcript
of the interview is available here.
It’s an interesting read.
$5 for All of Your Data
I thought it was a joke when I saw this
piece on CNet’s News.com, but I checked it out myself and it’s
on the up and up. Microsoft is offering you the princely sum of $5 should its
AntiSpyware Beta damage your PC, according to the End User License Agreement
that you have to agree to before downloading the software. Actually, to be more
precise, $5 is the most you can recover -- it is by no means a gimme. I suppose
this enables Microsoft to claim the limit to its liability is clearly spelled
out in the EULA, so tough noogies if AntiSpyware blows away “potentially
unwanted software” along with “documents that I wanted in the worst
way.”
AIM-Outlook Integration
Here’s an item that’s sure to wreak havoc on productivity, at least
for those firms that haven’t already outlawed use of public instant messaging
systems. AOL is now enabling
users of its AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) service to integrate buddy list information
with Outlook.
When an Outlook user gets an e-mail from someone on his AIM buddy list who
is online, the yellow AOL “running man” logo will appear in the
“from” line of the e-mail -- presumably screaming at the top of
his lungs, “Go ahead -- IM me! I’m not doing anything productive!
Neither should you!” Presence will surely prove useful in the business
environment, but this clearly isn’t intended for business use and serves
as another reason to get your arms around an IM policy. In case you missed it,
in last month’s Redmond
Roundup we reported on some private IM products that offer more security
and manageability.
SP2 Rolls Along
Perhaps lost amid all the security news that came out of the RSA Conference
two weeks ago was the update Bill Gates gave on Windows XP SP2. By his latest
count, Microsoft has distributed 170 million copies of the update, which may
account for as much as 60 percent of all Windows users. There’s no telling
how many of those have actually installed XP2, however, as Scott
Bekker’s story points out.
By the way, the mechanism that allows you to disable automatic delivery of
SP2 through Windows Updates and Automatic Updates will
soon be shut down. The 240-day window that Microsoft allowed to enable folks
to get ready for SP2 ends April 12, 2005, after which SP2 will be automatically
delivered, like it or not. April 12 is a Tuesday. Tax returns are due the following
Friday. What a fun week.
Your Security Thoughts Wanted
Between SP2, acquisitions of spyware and anti-virus technology, and Gates’
announcement-rich RSA keynote, there’s certainly been no shortage of Microsoft
security news lately. With that in mind, I’m putting together a TEN column
on the steps you think Microsoft should take to help improve security in its
products -- and your network. Shoot me an e-mail at [email protected]
or use our online
form to send me your ideas. If e-mailing, please use the subject line "Security
Thoughts." Thanks in advance.
Windows Server Blog Is Humming
Finally, make a point to check
out the Windows Server Blog that Microsoft launched earlier this month.
I venture to guess it’s about the only place where you’ll find useful
info like where to go for x64 support mixed in with a story about a dream involving
a car accident, 64-bit and Elvis.
About the Author
Paul Desmond, the founding editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine, is president of the IT publishing firm PDEdit in Southborough, Mass. Reach him at [email protected].