Microsoft recently showed off what could be the world's most secure browser. Unfortunately, it's not IE 8 -- or any rev of IE, for that matter.
The browser is Gazelle
, a prototype from Microsoft Research that includes its own browser operating system designed to ward off memory attacks.
Unfortunately, many of these research projects are more show than go. Take Singularity, a desktop OS architected for speed, compatibility and security.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 02/27/20090 comments
Readers give their predictions for how Microsoft will fare in this economic climate...and what the company can do to actually change things for the better:
Of course, Microsoft will be fine. Most of Microsoft's customers have enterprise license agreements so the income stream, though smaller, will remain intact. Being a software company, Microsoft won't be saddled with unused production capacity or unneeded staff or office space.
MS OEMs will be the ones to suffer and the smaller ones are likely to go belly-up.
-Marc
Given Microsoft's cash and the simple inertia of its customer base,
Microsoft will make it through this downturn. And expectations for it
will be lower because of the economy. The real question is after.
Microsoft has strong and potentially strong products, but the key
revolves around whether Ballmer can lead with vision as Gates did.
And after the recession, expectations for things like Azure will be
much higher.
Personally, I don't believe Ballmer is the right leader and MS will
have to find a real Gates successor. Otherwise, while MS will retain
large market share, it won't be as dominant as it is today (which might
not be a bad thing). In essence, Microsoft will make it through, but
it will shrink.
-Bob
Let's face it. No one is better than Microsoft at creating demand before there is any supply! If Microsoft was truly worried about the economic future of this great country, it would invest some of its huge cash reserves back into the creative workers that are actually U.S. citizens. Maybe Microsoft could create a new division of programers that do nothing but reduce the amount of code to help software run more efficiently. Or how about a group dedicated to searching for and filling the security gaps that seem to be everywhere in Microsoft products?
Of all the companies in the U.S., Microsoft would be able to have a positive effect on the economy. And if it expanded, other companies would surely follow. Just like they always do!
-Steve
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Posted by Doug Barney on 02/27/20090 comments
Recently, Steve Ballmer made the stunning disclosure that Microsoft's server business is
seriously challenged
. And this is a business that had been on an upward trajectory that would make Alain Robert proud. (Look it up -- that's what MSN Live Search is for!)
Ballmer has reason to worry. It's hard to sell server software when no one is buying servers. Analyst firm IDC says the market dipped 3 percent in 2008 compared to 2007, mostly during in the fourth quarter when the market completely tanked. IDC doesn't expect a recovery until late this year or early next. That's if we're lucky, I say.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 02/27/20090 comments
Steve Ballmer is warning Wall Street that our miserable economy can and probably will impact Microsoft. The biggest threats? The PC market is down and Microsoft still struggles with search. Server software, which had been booming, may soon be bombing as IT holds off on upgrades.
Ballmer believes that the money that has left the economy won't simply come back during a recovery, but that we will "reset" at a lower level. For Microsoft, that means future profits may not be as big as we're all used to.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 02/25/20091 comments
Last year,
Red Hat bought Qumranet
, a virtualization outfit that owned the KVM hypervisor and a selection of desktop/thin client tools, for around about $100 million.
Now Red Hat is laying out its enterprise strategy in the form of a new line of Qumranet-based products, such as an updated server hypervisor, management tools (which is where the real action and money are) and desktop virtualization wares.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 02/25/20090 comments
Citrix and Microsoft have a strange relationship, one of the few cases where the term "coopetition" actually applies. In the thin client space, the two have cooperated and competed for over a decade -- Microsoft with its low-end technology Terminal Services (now called Remote Desktop Services) bundled with Windows Servers, and Citrix with its higher-end Presentation Manager (now called XenApp). The companies are so close they even change names together!
The two firms edged even closer with the announcement of
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Posted by Doug Barney on 02/25/20090 comments
More readers give their thoughts on how long Microsoft should continue to support XP:
From my perspective, Microsoft should be prepared to continue sticking with XP at least until 2014 as it has previously stated. People will be watching their budgets very closely for the next two to five years and unless there is something so compelling that we all just have to get Windows 7, I think XP is going to be around for even longer. Like it or not, many of us just do not like Vista or are that keen on what we are seeing in Windows 7. We know XP backwards, it does everything we want, the software we currently own and use is more than adequate so no new cost is needed for either hardware or software.
XP has penetrated a vast market. I think Microsoft totally underestimates the marketplace and fails to grasp that no one likes to be bullied into accepting something by dull submission.
-Ken
I think the scheduled EOL and support for XP is sufficient. XP has been out for a long time. It's already stable and happy and has lots of supporters and die-hard "don't kill it" petitioners. Five years of support? We should feel lucky.
Out with the old and in with the new, I say! Vista is stable, secure and has better mobility than XP.
-Rob
Since there seems to be such a nose-turn at Vista, M$ should go ahead and bite the bullet of standing behind XP until Windows 7 has established itself as either good or bad. By that point, I'm thinking that either Vista will be good enough (with continued updates and patches) to stand up on its own or 7 will just settle in as the new XP replacement. In either case, I don't see IT managers taking XP offline and implementing either Vista or 7 until they are proven stable and unshakable. As long as this isn't the case, then XP is still going to be the OS of choice for most administrators.
-Edward
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Posted by Doug Barney on 02/25/20090 comments
Last week
, Doug asked readers how long they think Microsoft should support XP. Here are just some of your responses (more to come Wednesday):
Simple! As long as it doesn't have a viable alternative.
-Anonymous
Microsoft should continue to support XP until popular opinion says otherwise. The people are the ones using it, not The Enterprise.
-Rick
Until Windows 7 comes out.
-Anonymous
XP should be fully supported until at least the day that Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is released!
-George
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Posted by Doug Barney on 02/23/20091 comments
A group in Norway has launched a public campaign to
end the use of IE 6
, claiming the browser has never met a standard it actually liked and makes it hard for developers to build compatible sites.
You'd think Microsoft would be upset that an outside group is trying to kill its product -- but Microsoft has been trying to kill IE 6 for years! Microsoft always tries to knock off an older product way before customers are ready. Don't believe it? Then just say these two letters: XP.
Posted by Doug Barney on 02/23/20090 comments
Often, I scratch my head over our legal system. Sometimes, juries seem to get it wrong, as they did with OJ. Other times, judges are the ones making random decisions. Case in point: A judge last week
denied class-action status
for a suit claiming that Vista Capable computers were Vista Less than Capable. The PCs in question had the "Capable" logo, but barely supported the OS and only ran the lowest-end versions.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 02/23/20090 comments
The Domain Name System (DNS) lies at the core of the Internet and our own corporate networks, but most admins and network pros barely give it a second thought. An exploit discovered last summer that's
now starting to spread
should make us all take DNS seriously.
The problem comes with the scary name cache-poisoning vulnerability. "The vulnerability involves a weakness in the transaction ID used in DNS queries. Currently, replies to a DNS query have to contain the proper transaction ID, which is chosen randomly from 65,000 values," our report explains. Fortunately, there's a patch -- and has been for about half-a-year.
Posted by Doug Barney on 02/23/20090 comments
Steve Ballmer spoke at a political event recently about how the economy can benefit more from
investing in innovation
than by running a debt. Here's what some of you thought:
I must admit your economic analyses are my least favorite part of your newsletter. From an investor's standpoint, I have little faith in Mr. Ballmer. The ideas which seem least popular (for example, seven plus versions of Windows) are always strongly touted by him. Indeed, Microsoft's stock price has remained stagnant for the past seven years after plummeting from its peak a few years prior.
So while he may have some advice for Congress (advice which is naturally biased toward his company's agenda), our country would be wise to take it with a grain of salt.
-Gregory
You and Ballmer are so correct when it comes to the debt (stimulus) bill. Running into debt does not work at home, at work and in the 1930s, and is only going to ruin our great country. People need to WAKE UP and contact their representatives right away. Our children's futures are at stake.
-Joseph
Putting aside the old canard "You can't run government like a business," it should be obvious that innovation and progress can increase tax revenues. There have been plenty of independent studies that have shown that tax cuts not only resulted in business expansion which translates to jobs across ALL industries, but that revenues to the government via the taxes INCREASE. When business leaders that lean left already understand that but the party they support doesn't listen, we have a major problem.
The inflation that will be created by the insane spending at the end of the Bush administration and the beginning of the Obama administration is a recipe for disaster.
-Herb
Having been elected on the promise of better times for all, Washington has to be seen doing something -- even if it means screwing the next generation more than Gen-X has already been screwed for the Social Security cock-up. Although the politicians appear to have thought about the $8 BILLION, they still thought it was a great idea to dig a hole of national debt bigger than any nation has had the reckless stupidity to dig. Maybe they have their collective fingers crossed that it'll be all right on the night. Well, uncross them -- it won't be all right, stupid!
Take time to go back to the likes of Mr. Ballmer and others with integrity and LISTEN with your brains engaged. Maybe then we won't throw greenbacks to the winds, make more unscrupulous millionaires and end up unable to feed ourselves. The feeding frenzy for all those millions is only just beginning and if you happen to be in the middle class and lower, step aside -- it's not for you, really.
-Stephen
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Posted by Doug Barney on 02/20/20090 comments