Microsoft is trying to keep a few more bucks in IT pockets by
holding the line on some support pricing. The company had planned a normal increase in custom support pricing, an enterprise customer option aimed at older products. That increase won't happen.
Microsoft didn't offer a reason, but I have two. First, Redmond gets that the economy is rough, and is doing the right thing. But this might -- just might -- have more to do with Vista. XP is the preferred enterprise desktop OS and it's near the end of its supported life.
How long should Microsoft support XP? Dates welcome at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 02/20/2009 at 1:16 PM0 comments
I'm a fan of how public Microsoft is with its security flaws. Patch Tuesday is a tradition that Microsoft should be proud of -- not for the holes, but for the public fixes.
But patches are like blueprints for a hacker, who can now understand the hole and attack unpatched systems. That's what's happening with IE 7 as hackers take the hole disclosed earlier this month and go after it with gusto.
The vulnerability is that hackers can use deleted data, like the history and cookies, as a vector of attack. The fix is in; some of you might as well get it.
Posted by Doug Barney on 02/20/2009 at 1:16 PM0 comments
I'm a huge fan of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and I'm in awe of the fact that Mr. Gates is promising the bulk of his billions toward it. But what impresses me most is the care that goes into each investment. The Gates team carefully researches every effort before spending a dime, making sure these dollars will do the maximum good. Gates' money is already having an amazing effect on disease and childhood mortality -- and he's just getting started.
This is the same attention I'd love to see behind government spending. Imagine if Gates ran the U.S. stimulus effort. We'd see a clean, tight, effective bill for sure!
I just read Gates' first annual Foundation letter -- it's 19 pages of pure gold!
Posted by Doug Barney on 02/20/2009 at 1:16 PM0 comments
Microsoft and Novell these days are better friends than Jerry Seinfeld and George Costanza. Redmond recently reached a
new détente with VMware owner EMC, and just this week Microsoft
made nice with Red Hat.
The Red Hat deal makes sure that Linux runs as a host under Windows Server and that Windows Server runs as a host under Linux.
Technically speaking, this isn't a big deal. What is a big deal is each company's acknowledgement and agreement of support. It may seem minor, but agreements like this are a pretty big deal. Congrats to both parties.
Posted by Doug Barney on 02/18/2009 at 1:16 PM0 comments
One reader sees those
six planned versions of Windows 7 and raises you a dozen more:
Why so few? They should give you choices as follows: For the Home versions, Home Real Light (no Internet), Home Light (with Internet), Home Medium (no Internet but peer-to-peer), Home Premium (with Internet and peer-to-peer) and Home Ultra (has everything but costs more).
For the Professional versions, there should be Professional Real Light (more bells and whistles than Home but no Internet); Professional Light (same as Real Light but with Internet); Professional Medium (no Internet but sharing); Professional Featured (Internet and sharing); Professional Premium I, II and III (Internet, sharing, can interface with Enterprise and costs more); and Professional Premium Ultra (Internet, sharing, can interface with Enterprise, costs more and crashes less).
For the Enterprise versions: Enterprise Entry (more bells and whistles than Premium Ultra, somewhat unstable), Enterprise Medium (more bells and whistles than Enterprise Entry but only crashes occasionally) and Enterprise Ultra (rarely crashes, but when it does...).
And then, Ultra Ultimate Windows 7, which would have all the bells and whistles, is better than Enterprise Ultra and, like Mac OS X, what's a reboot? And what's a crash? Because it's a licensed copy of Mac OS X, and what you should've purchased in the first place for much less money.
-Anonymous
And Marsorry, writing form Namibia, thinks it doesn't matter how many versions of Windows 7 there are -- it's still just another Vista:
I wonder why there's such a general consensus that Windows 7 should be called "Windows 7."
A major version number should constitute a major upgrade. Since Windows 7 is still effectively Windows Vista (6) with the big bugs fixed, it should really be called Windows 6.1 or 6.5. Looking at the screenshots and feature set, there's nothing revolutionary about it. Vista changed the communication system and the presentation system, among others, while possibly biting off more than it could chew. Windows 7 doesn't quite do that. If anything, it's cutting back on what it needs to run, tightening the belt while providing minor tweaks here and there.
This is not a major upgrade. Microsoft would like us to believe so, but it's just confirming what Microsoft has been saying all along: Vista was a good operating system that did only a few things wrong. Now Microsoft will sort out the few wrong things and give Vista right back to us.
-Marsorry
Tell us what you think! Leave a comment below or send an e-mail to [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 02/18/2009 at 1:16 PM0 comments
In the mid-1980s I covered Microsoft for
Computerworld. I remember Steve Ballmer telling me -- and expecting me to tell others -- that customers should move from MS-DOS to Windows to prepare for the ultimate migration to OS/2 and its GUI component Presentation Manager. Ever since, it seems that Microsoft has pushed IT not to skip OSes but move one step at a time, in tandem with Microsoft releases.
Now Microsoft is warning of the perils of skipping Vista. Apparently, there's a very real danger that if you stick with XP, somehow your key apps will no longer be supported. If you believe that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I can lease you.
Posted by Doug Barney on 02/18/2009 at 1:16 PM0 comments
The mobile phone business is nothing if not competitive. Vendors are a who's who of computing, including Google, Apple and Microsoft (I'd like to see all three of these in a room talking about standards!).
Microsoft got into the market a bit late, and early efforts were flakier than a Hostess pastry. Then the software got better and some pretty dang cool Windows phones came out. Even Palm worked with the software.
My understanding is the most recent mobile OS is pretty good, so I expect that Windows Mobile 6.5, which is imminent, is even better. The rev includes a new touch interface, a Web site where developers can sell their wares and better syncing for data, contacts and mail.
Posted by Doug Barney on 02/18/2009 at 1:16 PM0 comments
If you're old like me, you've heard stories about how IBM once sold and upgraded mainframes. The stories go that customers would ask for a $100,000-plus upgrade for new functions and an IBM tech would connect an unconnected cable.
Microsoft is looking at the same approach for Windows 7. Its upcoming Windows 7 starter pack runs three apps. Once you're sick of that, you give Redmond a few more bucks and Microsoft upgrades you over the Internet.
I'm not a fan of artificially restricting software. I mean, the functions are there -- Microsoft just won't give them to you unless you have a lot of disposable income.
Posted by Doug Barney on 02/11/2009 at 1:16 PM0 comments
Lately we've been telling you how the European Union (EU) is
suing Microsoft for bundling IE with Windows. Now the Mozilla Foundation, built on the remnants of what used to be Netscape, is
helping the EU press its case.
The EU believes Microsoft gained dominant market share through bundling, which is true. It further argues that once Microsoft began losing market share to browsers you actually had to install, the company stopped development, resulting in an insecure hunk of software.
I'm not sure about this last point, but it does seem that Microsoft is dead serious about IE 8. The last beta was a mess, as Redmond readers in droves told me. But the feature set and focus on performance is heartening.
Are you using IE 8 R1? Is it more stable that the last beta? If so, e-mail me at [email protected]. I'm doing a feature story on this puppy.
Posted by Doug Barney on 02/11/2009 at 1:16 PM0 comments
When it comes to business judgment and economic acumen, I'll trust Steve Ballmer any time. And so, perhaps, should the Obama administration.
You see, Mr. Ballmer is a realist. His advice and analyses are simple and apolitical. Ballmer gave his view at the recent Democratic Party retreat, where he explained that borrowing our way to prosperity is no longer viable, and the only way forward is innovation.
Days after giving this sage advice, the Senate passed a nearly trillion-dollar debt -- I mean, stimulus deal -- and just yesterday the administration proposed $1 trillion in new lending to banks. Ballmer must have wondered why he bothered.
Posted by Doug Barney on 02/11/2009 at 1:16 PM0 comments
One reader takes the Indian government's plan to make a
$10 laptop to the next level:
Why pay even $10 for a laptop? Seems to me that if Radio Shack can offer a netbook for $99 with a two-year wireless service plan, why not just subsidize the whole thing and charge $0 for the netbook with a two-year plan? Granted, the $0 netbook at sign-up becomes a $1,440 netbook (assuming $60/month for service), but the computer itself would be free. Then perhaps you could negotiate your plan to one of these online companies that sublet your contract to another for a small fee. Not that I'm suggesting this scheme or anything...
-Anonymous
Another responds to a recent letter defending companies that hire H-1B visa workers:
H-1B visas were meant to bring people to the country to augment the work force, to provide talent that doesn't exist here. But the talent does exist here -- just not at the bargain-basement salaries that many companies want to pay. Guess why the schools have a disproportionate amount of foreign students? American students have seen the wave of imported, cheap labor and have shunned the field.
It's not prejudice to expose the greed of multibillion-dollar companies and the disservice they do to their country by the misuse of H-1B visas. Do these foreign workers pay taxes? Yes, but due to lower pay scales, they pay less taxes than their American counterparts. Also, how much of that money is sent out of the country to support folks at home, taking it out of the U.S. economy altogether? This is not some sort of windfall. Do you think that politicians would stand by and let companies import thousands of laborers to supplant unionized factory workers? No, but since tech workers don't have that union backing or lobbyists in D.C., forget about it. (Of course, the politicians will let companies ship their manufacturing offshore, even to communist countries, but that's another rant.)
-Anonymous
And Matt shares his misgivings about a teacher who almost faced 40 years in jail for accidentally inviting malware onto a school computer:
I have recently several articles about Ms. Amero. While I think her possible punishment was excessive, I am still bothered by several things about this incident. One, was she supposed to be checking her personal e-mail from a school computer? She also supposedly spent "several hours" trying to get rid of the pop-ups to no avail. Who in their right mind spends that much time attempting that sort of task without asking for help?!
She maintains that she isn't computer-savvy and didn't know how to turn off the computer. I have had clients that are, uh, "non-savvy,"
but they all figured out they could pull the power cord to shut off the computer. Lastly, there is no way she or the administration truly believed that this incident wouldn't be talked about. A note should have been sent home with each student in her class telling them what happened and that the school was looking into the incident to ensure it didn't happen again.
Again, while I think giving her 40 years in jail is excessive, I don't have a problem with her losing her teaching certificate. If she truly is that poor at problem solving, I don't think I would want her teaching my children, anyway!
-Matt
Check in on Friday for more reader letters, including some more thoughts on Windows 7. Meanwhile, tell us what you think! Leave a comment below or send an e-mail to [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 02/11/2009 at 1:16 PM0 comments
If you haven't read
Virtualization Review magazine or its Web site
VirtualizationReview.com, it's pretty good stuff. The print and Web versions are driven by Keith Ward, editor in chief. And Mr. Ward has a knack for calling 'em as he sees 'em.
I've been looking for some good research on hypervisor market share, but the most recent figures were from last fall -- not real current given that that's about when Hyper-V first shipped. Keith has a similar passion for real data, and was excited by a new survey by Virtualization.com that purported to detail which vendor has what share.
Keith is a journalist through and through. At first he was alarmed that the relatively new Hyper-V had the most share. That didn't make sense so he looked into the methodology and discovered...there was none! Vendors like VMware and Microsoft could load up the results, and load they did.
On the other hand, the leader of the Web site was pretty open about his approach and was clearly not trying to sell it as $100,000 Gartner report.
Posted by Doug Barney on 02/09/2009 at 1:16 PM0 comments