Charles Simonyi is famous in a few largely unrelated circles. PC vets know him
as the man behind Word and Excel. Celebrity stalkers know him as the boy-toy
who picked up Martha Stewart from jail. And space junkies know him as the man
who spent millions to go into space as a private citizen.
Simonyi either liked space so much, or has so much cash to burn that he's
heading back up. Good luck, Chuck!
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/02/2008 at 1:16 PM0 comments
Yesterday,
Doug wrote about Larry Ellison's criticisms of cloud computing. Here are some
of your own thoughts:
Cloud, shmoud. Yes, the cloud is way overhyped. I'm already tired of
hearing about it. Isn't this just another name for client/server computing?
Ho-hum. Been there, way past that.
Oh, and the day I would trust our company's data and/or applications to the
cloud is the day the entire Internet decides to take a dump and I would be
shown the door. No thanks.
-Phil
I think that anyone dismissing cloud computing as hype doesn't know what's
going on around them. We're going through another swing toward "mainframe"
computing, but this time instead of using thin clients to access user sessions
on beefier servers, individual servers are being virtualized on large servers,
and the new thin client is the browser.
I would recommend that people look into hosted cloud offerings such as
Mosso.com, Amazon's EC2 and others to get an idea of what utility cloud computing
really is. You pay for what you use, and your environment scales dynamically
to meet your usage needs. You no longer need to spec out individual pieces
of hardware for hosting certain applications. You just put your applications
online and go. You pay for the disk space, bandwidth and CPU time that you
use. Cloud computing is service on-demand. Many SaaS providers are hosting
on these types of platforms to dynamically scale their application as they
add subscribers. The mainframe is getting much smarter. We apologize if it
has a catchy name.
-Jeremy
A recent survey suggests that .NET
is making gains against Java. Readers share where they stand:
A lot depends on what you are doing and what you need to do. We use both
.NET and Java; some of the tools we use are .NET-centric and some are Jave-centric.
The tools perform very well and play nicely with each other. Here's my take,
though: If Microsoft doesn't start lowering the prices, I think it's going
to end up pricing itself out of the market. Yes, its tools are well-polished,
but it's not like the average programmer can pick up a copy and play with
it. You used to be able to do that with VB and still afford lunch, but that
day has disappeared. Plus, the toolset has gotten a lot more complicated and
more pricey. I can download any number of IDEs for Java development and pick
the one that suits me. With .NET, I'm pretty much limited to MS -- especially
if what I'm doing is mission-critical.
I used to have an MSDN subscription, but I honestly can't justify the
cost to my boss. In fact, I'd rather have them spend the money and give me
a standalone SAP system, which is another thing I develop for. I don't even
need to worry about .NET vs. Java in that environment; I just use what they
provide and it all plays nicely together. So if you're developing the latest
tool for Symantec, then yeah, .NET and MSDN is the way to go. But if it doesn't
matter what builds your app, I think MS has a LONG way to go to justify the
cost.
-Bruce
As far as .NET vs. Java, we are a custom software dev shop in Austin,
Texas that USED to do both Java and .NET -- but we have not had a single customer
requesting Java in more than three years! Every project where the customer's
RFP specifies the base technology, it has almost always been .NET (and occasionally
PHP on Web projects). And where they have not specified, I cannot remember
a single project that ended up being a Java project. The only Java developers
I still know are some guys who are evolving a five-year-old application for
Pitney Bowes, and even they are starting to move to .NET for future versions.
As for us, we are now pretty much exclusively a C#/.NET house.
-Shaune
A few more of you chimed in on VMware and its plan to create a datacenter OS:
VMware's plans for the datacenter OS are great ideas if it can make them
work. This would allow us to use some of our older hardware for the processing
power that otherwise have gone to the scrap heap. It could also lead to faster
results and provide a better user experience. In terms of moving this eventually
to the cloud, I believe there are going to be many reservations and there
will have to be some high-level SLAs to justify this move.
-Andy
Not so long ago, I worked for a litigation support company with a close
relationship with EMC, a relationship that was doomed because EMC eventually
decided to be a competitor and the litigation support company was acquired
by a search engine vendor without a single clue. During the EMC days, however,
we had VMware forced down our throats at every opportunity, first on our development
machines and later with the enterprise edition forced into our datacenter.
I hated it on the development machines, both because of its effect on peformance
and because we repeatedly lost significant amounts of development due to virtual
machine issues. (I eventually refused to continue using VMware on development
machines, switching fully to Virtual PC for improved performance and greater
stability.) Use of enterprise editions of VMware in the datacenter proved
nearly catastophic. The servers on which it was deployed suffered severe performance
degradation and increasingly erratic behavior. It was yanked from all production
servers shortly thereafter.
In my opinion, VMWare enjoyed success in the virtualization market as an early,
major player with few competitors, a level of success that's quickly fading,
in part because it lacks the technical and business expertise to effectively
compete with later-arriving players and because virtualization is a technology
best embedded in the core operating system. I fully expect Microsoft to reduce
VMware to "also-ran" status in the virtualization market -- and
I look forward to it doing so.
-John
Philip shares his thoughts on exactly what Microsoft's High
Performance Computing (HPC) Sever is capable of doing:
The whole HPC issue is a little muddied since the cores of current desktop
and server machiens are plenty busy due to them being dispatched by the large
number of concurrent threads running on the typical machine. Sorry to disagree
with you -- and also Microsoft -- on this issue. Microsoft's HPC push is designed
to deal with the next generation of processors that will have MANY more cores
(dozens, hundreds), and there may not be enough work via a typical multithreaded
application and operating system to keep the cores busy
In essence, the HPC push is an educational and technical push to get developers
to break up their applications into smaller subunits of execution (which is
not possible or practical with current compiler and OS technology). HPC is
also a necessary evolution of Microsoft's .NET technology to provide it with
better scalability and also some unique distinctions so that it is a more
attractive platform for high-end/high-performance applications.
-Philip
And Fred thinks there's more to Microsoft's recent $40
billion stock buyback than meets the eye
I wonder whether this is Microsoft buying back assorted shares of lots
of small investors on the open market...or Bill and Steve cashing in by having
Microsoft buy back some (or all?) of THEIR shares before the market implodes
on them.
-Fred
We want to know what you think! Leave a comment below or send an e-mail to
[email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/02/2008 at 1:16 PM0 comments
Over a decade ago, I covered unified communications; back then, everyone from
Microsoft to Novell was talking about not just blending voicemail and e-mail,
but tying all your devices -- like cell phones, pagers and Palms (remember those
things?) -- together.
The emergence of VoIP should've made all this much, much easier, but when it
comes to UC, we
aren't really any closer than we were 12 years ago.
Some of you have figured all of this out and have effective UC strategies.
You're a minority, and I'm envious. Most of us still have unintegrated pockets
of contacts, messages and data -- work phones, home phones, home office phones,
cell phones, corporate e-mail and private e-mail. How do you make all this work
together? Solutions welcome at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/02/2008 at 1:16 PM0 comments
I know you've been there. Your computer is happily chugging along, and all
of a sudden a pop-up warns of a virus, critical performance problem or some
other such catastrophe. Being the IT guru that you are, you ignore it, knowing
it's all a scam.
Not everyone is so smart. Plenty click on the pop-ups and buy the unnecessary
-- and often bogus -- security software offered. I had a whole machine destroyed
this way, and I never even clicked the link! I swear!
Microsoft is working with the state of Washington to sue
companies that exploit Windows to deliver these misleading pop-ups. I hope
Microsoft and the state attorneys kick some major pop-up butt.
Have you or anyone you know been victimized by this garbage? Horror stories
welcome at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/02/2008 at 1:16 PM0 comments
Yesterday,
I brought you news about Visual Studio 2010, and also argued that Microsoft
treats developers particularly well. There are a few complaints that some tools
are overpriced and don't support enough non-Microsoft technologies, but overall
the programmers I talk to are pretty happy.
That may be the reason .NET
is on the rise, taking a few chunks out of Java's market share. According
to a new report by Evans Data, 60 percent of developers will invest more in
.NET. Developers are a finicky lot, so Microsoft is either doing something very
right or the Java camp is doing something very wrong.
Where do you stand -- behind Java or Microsoft? Tell me what you think at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/01/2008 at 1:16 PM0 comments
Larry Ellison is the king of hype, and gosh if I don't respect him for it.
This time, instead of promoting the network computer or bashing Microsoft, Ellison
is taking a few shots at the concept of cloud computing.
Larry's beef? That clouds refer to almost anything going on in computing today
-- Web services, SaaS and massive datacenters from the likes of Amazon. VMware
is even talking about turning our datacenters into mini-clouds. If you check
out the link, there's a great discussion about the future of clouds and
what this all means.
Are clouds over-hyped and what do clouds mean to you? Answers, please, at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/01/2008 at 1:16 PM0 comments
Readers on both sides of the Google fence share their thoughts on Chrome and
the upcoming Google phone:
Browser is awesome; I've been using it all day. The installer sucks.
It is a user-based install, which forcedly dumps itself in the current user's
Application Data folder. I like to run as a limited user so this does not
work well for me. Whether I tried installing as admin, or using 'Run As' while
logged in as my limited user, it forcedly and secretly places the installation
in the administrator's Application Data folder, which I cannot access or execute
files from while logged in as my limited user. What I had to do to get it
working the way I(kind of) wanted was temporarily give my limited user admin
rights, install it, then de-admin myself. Why not give me the choice to install
for THIS USER or ALL USERS like most programs or, for heaven's sake, at least
let me choose which folder I want to install the software in!
Other than that, though, it seems like a really great product, simple and
easy to understand.
-Tim
Though this may place me squarely within a minority among technology specialists,
I'm not impressed with Google to the degree so commonly expressed these days.
Not that Google isn't a powerhouse, because it is, but I don't agree with
those that want to see it as a company predestined to rule the world and/or
seemingly content to give it a free ride because they simply see it as the
anti-Microsoft. I see Google as intent upon and involved in much for which
there would be an unending public outrage if coming from Microsoft. Such is
the way of the world, unfortunately.
I welcome the entry of Chrome into the marketplace, however, primarily
because it's raising expectations concerning increased JavaScript performance,
something from which everyone will benefit. On the other hand, I have no faith,
nor any interest in, suggestions of Chrome as an emerging application platform.
I see such expectations as entirely unrealistic in today's world, a throwback
to failed attempts by others to achieve the same in years past, and again,
something which would be the focus of intense ridicule and consternation if
suggested by Microsoft rather than Google.
-John
No, I'm not excited about the Google phone. I just want a nice, high-quality
cell phone that doesn't do anything but be a cell phone. That's getting harder
and harder to find, if it's even still possible.
Anyway, I think Google or Apple can stamp their names on any piece of
junk technology and the Google and Apple fanatics will automatically go gaga
over it, even before they know anything about it.
-Brad
I am like a little, giddy schoolboy when it comes to the Android platform.
I am a IT technician and I rely on my phone very much when I need to get online
at any given moment. I have kept track of the Anroid platform since its first
press release. I, like so many others, where hoping that Sprint would be the
first carrier to provide the Android platform (it wasn't). But when it does
offer it, I am for sure going to be there to trade my phone in.
-Anonymous
Count Jordan among those who think that Apple simply costs too much:
Apple overpriced? In many respects, it is. To the average consumer, its
prices are ridiculous.
I work as a desktop admin for a school system of around 25,000 machines,
half Apple, half PC. Apple does cut us some pretty good deals on the cost
of the machines from its side, but the downside is our Apple support tickets
are two-fold that of the PC tickets. The man hours lost in supporting them
does not equal out to being worth the intial cost of the item. No, this isn't
me saying we have a Dell 755 running against an eMac. We have models from
all years but the old Dell GX110s chug along just fine, when the eMacs lose
a hard disk or logic board daily. We have new 755s that you can swap an HD
or other part on within seconds compared to the two- to three-hour service
time for a new iMac. Apple costs too much in the forefront for the consumer,
and costs too much to support for the enterprise.
-Jordan
And James responds to another
reader who questioned the findings of a study that said most botnets come
from the U.S.:
Maybe "Anonymous" should go back to school, perhaps to the
grade where they discuss "more" versus "less." Apparently,
he doesn't understand that 20.7 million is more than 7.7 million. It has nothing
to do with "normalizing the number of users." If you want to try
and spin things so that the facts get all distorted, that's when you start
throwing out the terms "normalize the numbers" or "the percentage
of the whatever." But the basic fact is that 20.7 million is more than
7.7 million, so the article was true. Maybe this person could go work for
the McCain campaign since they don't seem to let facts get in the way of their
statements.
-James
Tell us what you think! Leave a comment below or send an e-mail to [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/01/2008 at 1:16 PM0 comments
All the major browsers have private browsing modes (it's coming in the next
rev of IE) where your history, caches and other traces of where you've been
aren't left behind. And these feature work fine for kids hiding their Web habits
from parents, and husbands keeping their unseemly searches from their wives
(and I guess vice versa).
But private browsing isn't
a perfect defense against hackers or tech-savvy parents and spouses. Spyware
and other techniques can still track your every move, steal your password and
rob you blind.
The answer, I guess, is to treat your private browser as if it's open, making
sure your security software is up-to-date and working right.
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/01/2008 at 1:16 PM0 comments
The next major rev of Visual Studio is due out in a couple of years, so what
does Microsoft do? Name it "
Visual
Studio 2010," that's what!
That wasn't the only news. Microsoft also talked up some 2010 features, especially
Team System items like helping those with different roles -- such as architects
and coders -- work better together.
One move that may dismay some is that Visual Studio 2010 won't support SQL
Server 2005. That may not be a huge deal as it takes a while for developers
to move new IDE releases.
I've covered Microsoft development tools off and on (more off than on) for
over 20 years and noticed that Microsoft always pays close attention to developers.
If programmers want something, chances are they're going to get it.
Have you worked with Microsoft on the development side and, if so, how did
they treat you? Opinions welcome at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 09/30/2008 at 1:16 PM0 comments
Reader Nate sent me an e-mail last week about his
online
review of Chrome. The review was so well-done and so well-written, I thought
I'd give good, old Nate a plug.
What Nate did is similar to what I'm doing with an upcoming Reader Review --
getting the skinny on Chrome. In Nate's case, we see one very well-informed
opinion backed by his benchmarks. In my story, over a dozen Redmond Report readers
will help form an overall evaluation of Chrome.
Here's what Nate liked: the sparse interface, speed and private browsing (what
are you trying to hide, Nate?). On his not-so-good list? No advances in bookmarking
and a processor-intensive architecture.
Posted by Doug Barney on 09/30/2008 at 1:16 PM0 comments
I had never heard of clickjacking before, but judging by the name, I knew
it
had to be bad.
Apparently, clickjacking is where a hacker gets a user to click a link. Unlike
phishing, where the hacker tries to get you to go to a site you think is legit
(just this morning, Bank of America asked me to reset my site key -- or at least
it looked like Bank of America), clickjackers get you to click on something
you barely notice. Once you do, they can lead you to a site of their own choosing
or making.
The bad news? Pretty much all browsers are vulnerable, as is Flash.
Posted by Doug Barney on 09/30/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Apple
overpriced?
A few readers think that's an issue worth some debate:
I do not own an Apple. However, my impression has always been that Apple
chooses quality and reliable components, which causes the higher prices. Are
they overpriced? Is a BMW overpriced? They are certainly HIGHER priced...but
OVERpriced? Only if they do not deliver value. If a computer crashes less
and lasts longer, but is priced higher, there could be value there, even for
an enterprise. How much is your time worth to troubleshoot goofy crashes,
root out spyware and viruses, and/or re-image the machine?
Again, this is just my impression, not based on any facts, as I do not
own an Apple. But sometimes I am envious of those that do (especially when
I am staring at a Blue Screen of Death).
-Scott
You seem to be forgetting that Apple is a hardware company that writes
software so it can sell its hardware. Microsoft is a software company that
designs some hardware so it can sell its software (Lord knows, it has yet
to make a dime off the hardware). So I say: Microsoft's software is overpriced
because it's from a single source. And as the King of Windows, Office and
Xbox games, Microsoft rules with an iron fist. Microsoft should be more like
Apple and open source its OS like Darwin
is.
As for the Mac beings overpriced, that's comparing Apples to, well, PCs.
Apple computers are for those who value quality over price and are willing
to pay for it. Top-shelf products always cost more.
-Anonymous
Jobs sells a premium product to an exclusive and remarkably loyal customer
base (how many iPods do you own?). Sure, his computers are overpriced. So
are his music players. So what? His customers keep coming back. Why? Because
Jobs is selling sex -- as surely as if he ran Victoria's Secret! In truth,
the iMac is no more expensive than a comparably equipped Dell -- but Dell
also sells entry-level hardware that can do everything the average user needs
for it to do. For most people, an iMac is simply overkill.
Apple is in a Catch-22. It cannot offer hardware at entry-level price
points because it doesn't sell enough hardware to be able to absorb the extremely
small profit margins at those price points. Nor can it get its production
levels up high enough to tolerate the narrow margins without first lowering
its prices dramatically. If Apple were to change itself into a software house,
allowing users to put Mac OS X on everyone's Intel box, it would get their
license numbers up but destroy its hardware business. If you think this would
be a good idea, look what happened to NeXT computers, Jobs' other venture.
Jobs decided a long time ago to leave the mass market to his geeky counterpart
at Microsoft -- and take as much of the premium market for himself as he could
-- almost entirely through brilliant marketing.
-Marc
Speaking of marketing, Coleen thinks the new
Microsoft ads are an improvement...but the Mojave ads are another story:
I do like the new "I'm a PC" ads better than what had come
before. Quirky wasn't working, and by the end of one evening of watching (admittedly)
a lot of television, I was quickly sick of the strange Seinfeld ad.
The "Mojave" ads are seriously getting on my nerves, though.
The biggest part of Vista's problems has to do with its lack of compatibility
with existing drivers. In my admittedly anecdotal experience, even drivers
that are designed for Vista can cause devices like printers to lose some of
the functionality they once had. Granted, that's the manufacturer's fault,
but it's been so rampant that Vista has gotten an ugly reputation. Putting
people in a room with computers that Microsoft has chosen and pre-installed
with Vista is not a realistic way to judge the product.
-Coleen
Tell us what you think! Leave a comment below or send an e-mail to [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 09/30/2008 at 1:16 PM0 comments