Last week, Doug asked for your thoughts on
which is cooler: Apple or Microsoft. Better yet, how would you rate your own company's coolness? Here are some of your responses:
Apple: Cool.
Microsoft: Somewhat cool.
Workplace: Uncool.
-Anonymous
Apple, cool. Microsoft, no. My workplace, no.
-Anonymous
Redmond is cooler. "The Simpsons"
said it best. Yeah, I'm slightly prejudiced.
And to answer your question: My workplace is the coolest on the planet.
-David
Apple is cool. Microsoft is frigid.
-Mark
Microsoft is cool. Apple, not so much.
-Anonymous
The only thing actually cool about Apple is its marketing machine. Microsoft could learn something from it (or almost anyone) about hip marketing.
-Jeff
Come on. Apple may seem cool because Jobs is a GREAT salesman and convinced everyone who is a Mac-er that he's cool, but they are just easily impressed with ribbons and flashing lights. Jobs wears cool dress-down clothes (probably $1,000 apiece) that make him seem like he's a free thinker, not caught up in corporate structure, but that's crazy.
Bill Gates is a nerd and has developed his company and persona on the fact and he never tried to fool people. It is what it is. Are the guy and his products cool? Yeah, they are.
-Dan
Short answer: neither! They are businesses with profit-driven motivations. Gates, while to be lauded for his charity work, is doing so with his personal fortune, not Microsoft's, to my knowledge. Let us not forget that both Microsoft and Apple have BODs, investors, industry analysts and a slew of other interested parties to keep happy in terms of profit, loss, earnings, etc. It's time to stop conferring knighthood or sainthood on corporate execs, sports stars or winsome politicians.
My company (the largest consulting company no one's ever heard of, with annual revenues of over $8 billion), while an interesting and very entertaining place to work, is not cool either. I know full well that earnings, PBT and gross margins all drive decision-making, and no matter what HR lip service to "people-focused" and "professional development" is pandered about the workplace, the bottom line rules the roost here. Please do not think me cynical, however, as I believe that's how it should work.
-Mercury
I vote for Apple as cool as it beats Microsoft in every way except price. Microsoft is the cheaper alternative.
-Anonymous
Definitely Microsoft is cooler. Even years ago when I was taking classes for MCSE NT, I remember I always had some classmates thinking that MS is uncool. However, I told them then and I'll still say it today: "BLUE IS COOL!"
-Scott
Check in on Wednesday for more of your letters! In the meantime, leave your own comment below or send an e-mail to [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 01/19/2009 at 1:16 PM0 comments
The world loves Google. Imagine, a huge company based purely on smart ideas, programming and leeching off all our intellectual property. To some, Google is a model of the new economy, a way to drive growth that doesn't involve smokestacks, toxins or dangerous work conditions.
But a Harvard physicist argues differently. Alex Wissner-Gross (sounds like a physicist to me!) says that two Google queries emit as much CO2 as heating up a tea pot. The problem is that Google servers are highly distributed so a single query can reach out to servers churning away thousands of miles apart.
I mentioned this to my kids and they asked what we should do. I suggested we get used to cold tea from now on.
Many Google searches are clearly non-essential (I fail to see the economic value of +"Pam Anderson" +"JPEG") But this doesn't mean that the type of cloud computing Google and others offer isn't green. If Google or Amazon or Microsoft or Sun or Oracle build massive datacenters, one would think these would be highly efficient. Compare this to having all enterprises cobble together and power their own server farms. For power savings, I'd go with the cloud every time.
Are you concerned about electric use and costs? What's your plan? Share your ideas by writing to [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 01/19/2009 at 1:16 PM0 comments
I'm concerned about two kinds of jobs. In this economy, I worry about just how many
will be laid off. But I'm also fretting about Steve Jobs. You've probably heard that Mr. Jobs is taking a
six-month leave of absence as his health is poor.
No one besides those in Jobs' inner circle knows what's really wrong, but I'm nervous that health issues could keep a true leader out of the loop. Jobs' real talent is his unrelenting attention to detail. Products have to be -- or at least must try to be -- perfect before they're foisted on a fickle public. It's the same approach that makes a truly great wine great, or a movie something you'll watch again and again.
I hope Jobs returns later this year, but in his absence, perhaps other high-tech execs can adopt the same discipline that makes Apple great.
Posted by Doug Barney on 01/16/2009 at 1:16 PM0 comments
I just got a press release about the Mobigrip. What's a Mobigrip? It's a little round item with adhesive attached to a loop. You attach the round thing to a cell phone or some other hand-held device and put the loop around your finger. Voila! You won't drop and break that $500 iPhone!
The idea may have come from the Wii controller. Remember when players would get so excited bowling or boxing that the controllers would fly out of their hands and into the TV screen? But I'm not sure how many of us will loop this beauty around our fingers every time we pick up the phone.
If you think this idea is dy-no-mite, click here.
Posted by Doug Barney on 01/16/2009 at 1:16 PM0 comments
Recently, I asked if Microsoft was cool -- and in particular, if Microsoft was cool enough to sell a
line of T-shirts. Your
reactions were mixed, but plenty of you think that Redmond, in fact, is pretty cool.
Now it's time to turn it around and ask if Apple is cool. Think about it: The Mac is an entirely closed proprietary system. The iPod is an entirely closed proprietary system. The iPhone is an entirely closed proprietary system. And Apple has been known to sue bloggers just for writing about its unreleased products, something I've never seen Microsoft do.
Nor have I seen Apple try to cure malaria, cancer and AIDS, all of which Microsoft and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are working on -- free of charge. To learn more about how Microsoft is trying to save the world, check this out.
Now satire site The Onion is wondering if Apple is cool or just another cog in the computer establishment. It ran a piece called "Apple Employee Fired for Thinking Different." Here, fake Apple employee Brent Barlow got pink-slipped for listening to Bob Dylan and walking around barefoot.
Is there a ring of truth to this parody? Who's cooler: Apple or Microsoft? And how cool or uncool is your workplace? Vote at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 01/16/2009 at 1:16 PM0 comments
Microsoft gave out only
one patch during yesterday's light Patch Tuesday. The flaw, which wasn't public 'til yesterday's patch came out, involves the Microsoft Server Message Block Protocol and affects XP, Vista, Windows 2000, and Server 2003 and 2008. Hackers could use the hole to take over workstations, execute code remotely (that old bugaboo) and compromise domain controllers.
Meanwhile, if you think Microsoft has a lot of holes, take a look at Oracle. The database company ships its patches every three months and the latest was a doozy, with over 40 fixes. Your database administrators may be far busier this week than your Window admins!
Posted by Doug Barney on 01/14/2009 at 1:16 PM0 comments
Sometimes, Microsoft chooses cool names for uncool products, like Vista or Bob. Other times, it picks lame names for hot stuff. Take Windows Server 2008 R2 Beta 1, which is
now available for testing. Windows Server 2008 is a heckuvan operating system with a snoozer of a name.
One of the hottest new features of R2 is Live Migration of Hyper-V virtual machines, so if an application fails it can be moved seamlessly to a server that actually works. VMware just loves to poke Microsoft over its lack of Live Migration. Poke no more -- Live Migration is relatively close to actual release.
Posted by Doug Barney on 01/14/2009 at 1:16 PM0 comments
The download period for Windows 7 was supposed to end Jan. 9 (which is both my sister's and Richard Nixon's birthday!). But due to overwhelming demand -- and a glitch or two -- many IT pros
couldn't get the thing. And that was too bad, as the beta already appears to be better than Vista, and Windows 7 isn't even anywhere close to shipping (this is less of a knock on Vista as it is praise for Windows 7).
To satisfy high demand and get a large test base, Windows 7 will be available for free 'til Jan. 24.
Look for a huge special report on Windows 7 driven by you, the Redmond Report reader, on the cover of the March issue of Redmond magazine.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has shipped a beta of Windows 7 remote admin tools that let IT control Windows Servers for Windows desktops. The tools can also manage Hyper-V. If you decide to dive into these features, let me know at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 01/14/2009 at 1:16 PM0 comments
More readers share their reasons for using Internet Explorer -- with varying degrees of enthusiasm:
For my purposes, there is one HUGE benefit in using IE: the extensive options in the print preview function. We have a SaaS application that has been around for about eight years now. It was developed using frames (I know, I know, not the best choice, but eight years ago it was a great one). IE is the only browser that allows me to do a print preview of just the selected frame with no muss and no fuss. The other browsers either don't provide that option or they don't implement it correctly (i.e., they don't apply the "@media print" rules in the preview window). I don't recall if this was in IE 7 or not, but the other thing is the ease of use of the "print selected text," which also shows up in print preview.
Most of the other browsers have finally started implementing the shrink-to-fit feature. Now, if they'd only get the rest of the print preview features implemented, then I'd be ecstatic.
-Doug
IE is all I use, unless something else is required. And my company uses all .NET-based Web apps, so we have to. I have yet to have an issue where it would not work. No reason to switch.
-David
I haven't used IE in years, except when I absolutely have to -- like for forcing Windows updates. I avoid it like the plague. Until MS drops ActiveX, IE will be nothing but an attack vector for malware creators and crooks.
-Glenn
Because of ActiveX, I have to use IE. At work, we use BMC Service Desk Express for our helpdesk software, and eTime for our employees' "time clock."
Both require IE. And there are still a lot of Web sites that will not work without IE (for example, try to watch an online movie at Netflix).
For the most part, I use Firefox. It has good plug-ins to make it easier to use. Chrome hangs and shuts down too often, and Safari is just a pain to use.
-James
The one thing for me that keeps IE in use is SQL Server Reporting Services. Microsoft managed make SSRS so it is only rendered correctly in IE. Anything else and you end up with about three lines of report showing in the top left-hand corner (with scroll bars), with the remainder of the screen blank.
-Sam
Do I use IE? Only because I have to, for Microsoft Update. Do I use Chrome? Not at all. Firefox is the browser of choice. Why? The add-ons (Adblock Plus, Exit Viewer, NoScript, DownThemAll, All-in-One Sidebar). The browser...well, it works. But what sold me was the add-ons. What I found in 10 minutes for Firefox was far better than anything I found for IE 7.
-Paul
I don't even have IE installed on my Macs (four of them) and I don't use it on my PC. I never liked IE and Microsoft, but it has little to do with my choice. IE was late to incorporate the tabs and it's been unimpressively designed and somewhat unstable. Thank God (Steve Jobs and Co.) for Safari, which now works on Windows, too. I use Firefox extensively, even on the Macs.
-Gyula
IE 8's performance isn't in the same playing field as the Small Three (Firefox, Chrome, Safari). Sure, taking three to 10 times as long as the competition for JS operations is a huge improvement over previous versions of IE, but it's not exactly the sort of thing you want to encourage people to use, now is it?
-Anonymous
We want to know what you think! Leave a comment below or send an e-mail to [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 01/14/2009 at 1:16 PM0 comments
Patch Tuesday isn't the most accurate way to describe the second Tuesday of every month; it should be called "Patches" Tuesday since there's always more than one fix.
But this week it actually lives up to its name, as only one repair is scheduled for release. This critical patch fixes a remote code flaw in Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003 and XP. So if you have a golf date tomorrow, you may be able to keep it!
Posted by Doug Barney on 01/12/2009 at 1:16 PM0 comments
As promised, here are just a few of your responses to Doug's
question last week about why some of you use Internet Explorer (more to come Wednesday!):
IE can be installed silently and pushed to remote workstations. Firefox requires a GUI install (try doing that on 1,000 workstations). Firefox does have an "undocumented" silent install switch, but using it results in Firefox taking over as the default browser. For some this might be OK, but not for us.
IE also has integrated Windows authentication, configuration via Group Policy and better security (see "Firefox tops list of 12 most vulnerable apps").
-Vern
I guess I am a IE bigot, but the biggest things that matter to me is that it's generally the standard for Web-browsing and most of the time, when a browser recommendation is made by a Web site, IE is at the top of the list -- or is the only one on the list.
As for the paranoiacs that have to run Firefox to "be protected from the bad men," you can lock IE down if that is your desire. Or you can stay away from the "Hackers 'R-Us.net" and the "DownloadPiratedStuffHere.com" sites.
-Dan
I use IE 8 because sometimes I want my browser to pop up before I have to get to bed. That's the bast advantage of having the thing tied to the OS. Firefox is still a slow pig to start. That being said, Firefox is my default browser because it's just smarter and it's quicker once loaded. I still depise it's bookmark management, or lack thereof. IE's URL management is dead simple.
-Dan
IE is compatible with more sites and manages downloads easier. Easy to manage, easy to support -- those are the main reasons for staying with. Oh, and it's secure (if managed properly, and having a few plug-ins helps).
-John
I use IE 7 (and 8 beta). Primary reason is that in my support role, I am often accessing Microsoft sites and, unless one uses the appropriate plug-ins, I find it awkward to stream Microsoft videos in Firefox. Thus, it is just simpler to stay with IE!
-Peter
Marc shares his thoughts on how Windows 7 will stack up against Vista, while Bruce wonders how the new OS will affect Microsoft's bottom line:
Just as XP was (in 2001) really little more than an extension of Windows 2000, Windows 7 is an extension of Vista. Vista is (and hence Windows 7 will be) sluggish with 1GB of RAM or less, but RAM is very inexpensive these days; for an extra $25 to $30, any PC can have 2GB -- plenty of RAM for all but the most hardcore gamer. Buy 4GB of RAM for only a few dollars more and hit the 32-bit ceiling. I expect Windows 7 to be the last 32-bit OS Microsoft offers.
Finally, Windows 7 will, by definition, clean up the inefficient code which plagued Vista RTM and, to a lesser extent, Vista SP1. Vista SP2 will be only marginally slower than Windows 7 RTM.
-Marc
I haven't played with Windows 7 because I don't have a machine to put it on, but to me Vista was just officially given the kiss of death by the potential announcement of possible free upgrades to Win 7. This is NOT good for Microsoft's books. Microsoft is big and has a lot of products, but this is going to hit its wallet -- the question is how hard. A person may say, "Well, now Vista sales will go up." Yes, they will, but that means for every sale of Vista, there won't be a sale for Windows 7.
And some issues like devices not working may get worse. I'm thinking about the medical market; since Windows 7 isn't out yet, this probably further delays medical devices being certified, reason being I can't see the FDA approving them for Vista and then giving them wink-nod-of-the-head approval for Windows 7. So why put a device on an OS that isn't going to be around much longer? That also means that XP will probably be extended AGAIN until Win 7 is out the door. Memo to Microsoft: Actively work with the medical industry to get its devices on your new OS so that it has its approvals when you start shipping. If doctors use it and trust it, then you have something.
-Bruce
Last week, Doug asked readers to name their most and least favorite high-tech execs. Here are a few of your votes:
Least favorite high-tech exec: Larry Ellison. He's the anti-Steve Jobs.
-Anonymous
Top exec: Mark Templeton at Citrix Systems.
-Marc
And when it comes to how software pirates are punished, Francis echoes the sentiment most of you expressed last week:
Let's face the truth. This menial sentence (and only 11 persons convicted) is a slap on the wrist at best. I don't want to hear crap about how harsh Chinese prisons are. When China is one of the top three countries for hackers, spam, spyware, malware, etc., what does it matter about software piracy?
China is simply doing this as a way to show that they are part of the world community. Bullsh*t. China is not part of the world community and never will be unless we give in to their way. International law means nothing to them. They don't give a damn about any of this or they would take a harder stance on all computer crimes. These 11 persons, although it is said they are going to prison, are probably going to end up in a luxury hotel provided by the government for doing a great job.
-Francis
More reader letters coming your way on Wednesday! In the meantime, tell us what you think by leaving a comment below or sending an e-mail to [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 01/12/2009 at 1:16 PM0 comments
ormer Microsoft hotshot Paul Maritz is now
firmly in control of VMware and looking to protect VMware's business against increasingly aggressive Microsoft incursions. Now Maritz has a new ally: former Microsoft teammate and recent Borland CEO Tod Nielsen, who's now
COO of VMware.
There are two interesting elements here. For one, Nielsen remains on the Borland board, meaning Borland could well have a VMware loyalist. And second, Nielsen is assuming an operational position, which seems to undersell some of his technical skills. My guess? Nielsen will be COO, but will play a major strategic role, as well.
As for Borland, the same week Nielsen left, the company passed out 130 pink slips. Happy New Year!
Posted by Doug Barney on 01/12/2009 at 1:16 PM0 comments