To the Microsoft naysayers and economic pessimists, I have but one thing to say: $14.5 billion. That is how much money Microsoft brought in last quarter setting yet another revenue record (wish the stock would do the same).
Windows 7 and the Windows division led the growth charge. In fact, the Windows division brought in $4.4 billion. I've got to watch this puppy more closely.
Microsoft is also benefiting from its strong consumer brands such as Xbox (I've spent more on this for my kids than I spend on computers for myself).
What is the financial future for Microsoft and why isn't current success reflected in its moribund stock price? Wise advice and wild speculation equally welcome at [email protected].
Also, what do you buy for you kids and is it better than your own technology? Complaints and explanations readily received at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 04/23/2010 at 1:17 PM1 comments
Virtualization Review magazine was born in two Framingham, MA-area restaurants -- Legal Seafood and Minado, an insanely great Japanese buffet.
Entrepreneurs are forever coming through Framingham (which ironically where half of the Redmond Media Group is based). These folks have to predict the future; otherwise they would blow their and their investors' money.
So selfishly I'd always ask what market they'd launch media in if they were me. Nine out of ten said virtualization. I mentioned this to my boss, Henry Allain, and before I knew it we were in full magazine and Web site launch mode.
Once the word was out, heads of virtualization startups started coming through town, and haven't stopped since. It's been a real education in technology, entrepreneurism and even culture. Turns a good number of these companies have roots in either Russia or Israel, and sometimes both! Learn more here.
That's a pretty long prelude to this item on Starwind Software, and my sushi lunch with CEO Zorian Rotenberg. Starwind is all about uptime for virtual machines, be they VMware or Hyper-V.
Like Virsto, which I covered recently here, Starwind helps IT replace expensive proprietary disk arrays with commodity white box disks made sophisticated through software.
Starwind takes industry standard servers and turns them into SANs using iSCSI rather than Fibre Channel, making it easier for the average IT Joe to handle.
There are a lot of smart people behind Starwind. Rotenberg used to work for Walter Scott, then CEO of Acronis, which does a lot of development in Russia. And Ratmir Timashev, founder of Aelita and now Veeam, is an investor and board member. Timashev was chosen as a Windows guru 3 years ago by Redmond magazine.
Posted by Doug Barney on 04/23/2010 at 1:17 PM0 comments
With his constant obscure references in his comedy, Doug thinks that Dennis Miller is full of himself. Here's what you think:
I like Dennis Miller and think he's a comedic genius. But one pretty much has to have a notepad or computer handy to look up his references that make you go "Huh?" Hmm, I smell justification for an iPad here.
-Anonymous
Dennis points out a lot of truth. Hurts huh?
-Anonymous
You are COMPLETELY right about Dennis Miller! Whereas I find him funny, he drops so many jokes that reference some over-educated sources, like a Bogvarian Opera (not sure if I spelled that right or really know what that is) or super political jokes that he completely loses you. It's like he's talking down to you.
Anyway, I've always felt that, and am glad others do as well.
-Dean
Used to funny but now is a pompous bag of hot gas.
-Anonymous
I long ago grew weary of listening to Dennis Miller's pretentious rants that seemed designed to showcase the fact that he thinks he is smarter than the average bear. He hit his stride as the News Guy on SNL and has been nothing but a bore ever since (including, but not limited to, his current Libertarian rants). I suspect his fans profess their undying affection for him because most of them are afraid to admit that they understand only about 70 percent of his references and thus would lose the air of superiority that they have also assumed.
-Stu
I'm glad to find out others think so too. (That he's more pretentious than he is funny.)
-Anonymous
Share your thoughts with the editors of this newsletter! Write to [email protected]. Letters printed in this newsletter may be edited for length and clarity, and will be credited by first name only (we do NOT print last names or e-mail addresses).
Posted by Doug Barney on 04/21/2010 at 1:17 PM7 comments
Virsto, short for virtual storage (finally a new company with a name that makes obvious sense!), came into town recently to introduce themselves and their first product. CEO Mark Davis sat down over a plate fine local seafood (I had salmon, very rare) and explained where his company came from and what it intends to do.
Virsto, as the name implies, is in the storage virtualization market, but with a twist. Its solution is based on a hypervisor. Virsto's two claims to fame are ease and speed of VM deployment through thin provisioning and maximizing I/O throughput. The whole idea is to avoid expensive proprietary disk arrays and turn white box disks into sophisticated virtual storage.
Virsto is betting on Hyper-V as it ships as a Hyper-V plug-in.
Like an array of virtualization startups, a good portion of Virsto's management team has a Russian background.
Posted by Doug Barney on 04/21/2010 at 1:17 PM0 comments
In 1986 I covered microcomputing for ComputerWorld newspaper. At the time micros, from companies like Vector Graphics and Altos, along with rudimentary LANs, drove the downsizing movement where mainframe apps were moved to these cheaper systems.
Twenty-four years later IDC claims that high-end versions of Windows (with clustering, HPC, etc.) are taking on apps that used to run on mainframes. Where have they been for the last two and a half decades?
One area where Windows servers on x86 chips are making inroads is non-Intel architectures such as RISC, Power6 and Itanium-based servers, IDC says.
Posted on 04/21/2010 at 1:17 PM1 comments
My IT director, the awesome Erik Lindgren, wrote me recently about the death of Ed Roberts who created the first ever PC -- the Altair, and propelled Microsoft into the stratosphere with a rewrite of Basic. Oh, and he later became a medical doctor too!
Bill Gates never forgot the pioneer who made Microsoft what it is, so on Bill's personal Web site he and Paul Allen penned a touching tribute. Here's a quick excerpt:
"Ed was truly a pioneer in the personal computer revolution, and didn't always get the recognition he deserved. He was an intense man with a great sense of humor, and he always cared deeply about the people who worked for him, including us. Ed was willing to take a chance on us -- two young guys interested in computers long before they were commonplace -- and we have always been grateful to him. The day our first untested software worked on his Altair was the start of a lot of great things. We will always have many fond memories of working with Ed in Albuquerque, in the MITS office right on Route 66 -- where so many exciting things happened that none of us could have imagined back then."
Who is your computer hero? Nominations readily accepted at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 04/21/2010 at 1:17 PM1 comments
After Doug commented on the news that Microsoft will be offering limited troubleshooting for expired Windows Service Packs, here are a few of your responses when asked how long they should support their products:
Even though I would personally like to see Microsoft support their products as long as someone is using them, I can also see that nearly everything we buy has a warranty that expires over time. If the customer chooses to continue using the product after the warranty expires, such as a car, then they need to pay out good money to get the product fixed by someone else.
When it comes to software, the Internet provides a wealth of information and free help that can keep many of Microsoft's products going for years on end. So I am torn on this issue for the home user.
However, when it comes to the corporate environment where hundreds of thousands of dollars may have been invested in Microsoft, then I feel that support should be provided indefinitely for a MODEST amount of money. Give the corporations as much time as they need to upgrade. Microsoft will still be making some money off their older products, the customer will be happy and more likely to buy their newer stuff when the need arises and users feel confident that Microsoft will support them long into the future.
-Joe
I thought they were to support a product seven years after it was retired?
Government mandate?
-Anonymous
For three years after the release of the first service pack for the next version of the product. For instance, three years after the release of Windows Vista SP1, support for Windows XP should end.
-Pat
One reader shares insight on why outsourcing IT support overseas may not be a good thing:
My company, which I often refer to as the biggest company nobody's ever heard of ($11B annual revenue, 45,000 employees in 11 countries), is a systems integrator/project and program management enterprise-class vendor. If we were to outsource OUR IT operations, how in the world would we compete and win such work from prospective clients? I can just see the conversation now…
Yeah, that will win us lots of work! LOL
-Mercury
Share your thoughts with the editors of this newsletter! Write to [email protected]. Letters printed in this newsletter may be edited for length and clarity, and will be credited by first name only (we do NOT print last names or e-mail addresses).
Posted on 04/19/2010 at 4:59 PM2 comments
You think something as potentially exciting as a series of Microsoft cloud applications would have a cool name. You'd be wrong. What name did Redmond choose for its online versions of SharePoint, Exchange, Office Live Meeting and Office Communication Server? Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS). Marketing 101 suggest that one never create an acronym with the letters POS embedded.
Despite the lame name, the apps are pretty cool and now will reach a larger audience. BPOS and the better-named Azure are now available in 20 countries. That's pretty critical for international organizations who'd rather not run on the cloud in the U.S. and on physical servers elsewhere.
Have you tried BPOS or have a hankering? What is the worst product name or acronym you've ever come across? Answers to both welcome at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 04/19/2010 at 1:17 PM11 comments
We all know that hackers are after government and corporate computers. But someone must have been mighty curious about the Dalai Lama. Twelfth son of the Lama. The flowing robes, the grace, bald... striking.
A group of hackers managed to purloin a whole year's set of e-mail. Perhaps the hackers were looking for a little something, you know, for the effort, you know. Perhaps on their deathbed, they'd like to receive total consciousness. But that's asking a lot from a group of two-bit hackers.
I guess if a man whom many believe is the physical manifestation of the Tibetan God of Compassion isn't safe, then I guess none of us are.
Is corporate espionage for real? Have you come across real-life examples? If so, shoot me a non-secret message at [email protected]. And if you can spot the items I plagiarized, tell me from whom those lines were stolen.
Posted by Doug Barney on 04/19/2010 at 1:17 PM1 comments
I'm not sure if it's Windows 7, record low computer prices or an economy just starting to get back on track, but PC sales rose nearly 25 percent in the first quarter compared to a year ago. That equates to nearly 80 million PCs sold worldwide in a short three months.
Analyst firm IDC attributes much of the growth to long delayed refreshes that are now back on track.
What about you? Is your shop refreshing key tools or still holding the line on costs? Tell me what you think at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 04/19/2010 at 1:17 PM0 comments
TechNet is an amazing resource. I should know. My group now runs TechNet magazine and MSDN magazine. Thank you Microsoft!
TechNet (the overall site, not the magazine) has a new wiki that IT pros such as you can contribute to. All you need is a Windows Live ID and you're good to go.
Microsoft will not police or censor the site, but will leave that to a community council. After just a month in business, the wiki has over 500 pages (screens) of content. Not too shabby.
Do you read either TechNet mag or MSDN mag? Share your thoughts with us at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 04/16/2010 at 1:17 PM1 comments
One of the problems with cloud apps is they are only as fast as the servers that house them, the network that carries them and the PC that ultimately runs them. Google is hoping to increase their performance with tweaks to Google Docs that speed their JavaScript processing, not just making them snappier but able to handle larger files as well.
Google is also adding a bunch of new features so Google Docs can compare more favorably with Microsoft Office. One tweak seems pretty simple to me -- the word processor now has a margin ruler.
More details will be released April 20, and we will bring you all the news then.
Is Google Docs any good? Let us all know by writing [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 04/16/2010 at 1:17 PM3 comments