After tomorrow, your Microsoft software is going to look like the tires on
the Three Stooges' car -- full of patches!
Microsoft is releasing a full
dozen patches tomorrow, covering everything from Office to Access and nearly
all current versions of Windows (for some reason, Windows Me and DOS 6.0 don't
get any fixes).
While most patches cure that old bugaboo, the Remote Code Execution, no less
than three try to keep hackers from stealing information.
In two months, there will be a fairly
big change in how Microsoft discloses its flaws. Starting in September,
the company will give more detail on the severity of its flaws so you can decide
which patches to install first.
Is your patching under control, or still a pain in the neck? Complaints and
advice both welcome at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 08/11/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Last week, after word came out that IBM was
working
to build Linux-only PCs, Doug asked readers whether they'd find room for
these things in their own shops. Here are some of your responses:
You asked, why would you use Linux in your shop? Cost. It has crossed
my mind for the purpose of thin-clients doing basically nothing but booting
into Linux and loading RDC software to connect to a Windows Terminal Server.
No need to pay for big, beefy machines and Windows client licenses if the
employee is mostly remote, but needs a workstation when they come to the office,
and would use their remote desktop anyway because that is where all their
files are and it is configured to their liking.
-Timothy
If the environment I am in changes, yes. Vista is already banned from
the network. We run Solaris, Linux, 2000, XP and 2003 server with some 2000
servers still around, and at least one Mac OS X. A Linux desktop (if we can
buy it from Dell as it is a state requirement all hardware must be bought
from Dell) yes, but no Notes. It would need to conform to the Oracle, Outlook,
Office standard. There were several Red Hat Linux desktops in use fairly recently.
I need to run a program that is only written for Windows, but I can connect
to another machine or virtualize it to get around that. When I need to connect
from home, I use OS X and VPN in with a remote client.
-Stewart
Not today. And not from IBM. I was an IT professional before the IBM
PC was released. I know the stories. IBM would love not to have to sell Windows
to its loyal customers who want personal workstations for their non-technical
workforce, but that will not happen until someone invests some serious money
to position Linux for the non-technical desktop. Make Linux truly plug-n-play
(as Windows is on most any OEM system) and IBM might stand a chance, but the
costs far exceed the return IBM is ever going to get to provide its customers
with commodity desktops. Unlike most Linux vendors, IBM has the resources
to do this but they just don't have the stomach for it.
Could I be wrong? Sure, I could! Would I switch to Linux? Sure, if I
was convinced that it would meet my needs better than Windows -- but that
selling job is up to IBM and its partners. They talk a good story but I doubt
they will come through.
-Marc
There are too many wild Linux horses in the race to pick one of the winners.
The only common Linux direction is "anything but Microsoft or Sun."
Anarchy may work to bring down the "ruling class," but it doesn't
work when you need to assemble a system to bring order to the Linux chaos.
It will take an IBM or HP or someone else to bring the Linux chaos to an end
and give it a directon and a future. I fear the disarray that stalled Unix
is awaiting Linux.
You may have the kid down the street mow your lawn rather than a landscaping
company to save a few bucks, but when you make a business investment, you
invest based on a clearly defined investment strategy with established history,
focused strategy direction and an ultimate goal. If you want to gamble, there
is always horse racing or today's Linux.
-Dan
As for IBM's push
into cloud computing, one reader thinks it's a major move -- and we should
take note:
Having been a customer of IBM for many years before PCs, I wouldn't count
them out by any means. True, they do err (as does Microsoft), but they should
be taken seriously.
-Charlie
And Peter shares his thoughts about Zimbra's
open source alternative to Outlook:
One comment about Zimbra (we're actively considering it as a hosted e-mail
server). The Web client doesn't support secure e-mail (digitally signed, encrypted,
etc.), and I can't see anything on their Web site about Zimbra Desktop supporting
this either. If this is the case, I think a lot of corporate customers will
stick with Outlook (I know we will). At least for the time being.
-Peter
Tell us what you think! Leave a comment below or send an e-mail to [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 08/11/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
The second Tuesday of every month, Microsoft releases and publicizes a series
of patches. It also gives a basic severity level, such as low to critical. Starting
in October, Microsoft will
give
far more information about the actual threat these vulnerabilities pose,
helping IT figure out which patches have to be done pronto and which can wait
a bit.
Microsoft is also hoping to work more closely with other security firms to
find and fix flaws. That's good news, but most of the security companies I've
talked to already report a good relationship with the folks up in Redmond. Not
sure how much that's changed, now that Microsoft competes with so many of them.
What else can Microsoft do to improve security and how would you grade its
current efforts? Send your "A"s, "B"s, "C"s, "D"s
and "F"s to [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 08/07/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
I'm not exactly sure how Microsoft ships products. This week, Microsoft announced
that SQL Server 2008 is
released
to manufacturing. This is such an exciting event that it comes with its
own acronym, RTM. That's TWU, or Totally Weird and Unnecessary.
So it's Aug. 7, 2008, and SQL Server code has been sent to the manufacturers,
who'll get it in your hands by the middle of next month, more than a month later.
What exactly is the manufacturer doing? It could be making boxes and burning
CDs, but that's SOS (So Old-School). But these days, it's all about the download.
So what's taking so long? Maybe you can tell me at [email protected].
In any event, subscribers to TechNet or MSDN can check out an eval version
now, and volume license customers will get it late next week. Or you could just
wait 'til Sept. 15 and buy one of seven different versions. That's right, there
are seven different versions ranging from a free compact version, a developer
rev, a Web edition, all the way up to the high-end Enterprise release.
Posted by Doug Barney on 08/07/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Readers share their their favorite non-Google search engines:
I use Ask.com for two reasons. One, context is king for me and Ask gives
me better context than Google. Two, I don't appreciate the way Google says
"Don't be evil" and is. Three, Google has no product and is therefore
a parasite relying on advertising revenues to subject users to adverts they
don't want to see. Four...
Did I say two? "Don't be numerate."
-Christopher
The first is/was still the best: AltaVista. Allowed multiple user parsing
(date range, near, etc.).
-Anonymous
Try Mamma.com. While it isn't a direct search engine but rather a meta
search engine (and it displays Google results), you should at least check
it out. It may not find as many copies of the same whitepaper, but it does
a good job of weeding out the junk and returning only the pearls.
-Donna
One of my pet peeves about Google is that while sure it can find stuff,
it just can't count. I have frequently tested Google's hit counts, and they
are almost always overstated by one or two orders of magnitude. For a company
that creates no content (as you frequently point out) and which built its
whole reputation on search and uppity technology, is this really OK? It feels
like fraud to me.
Looking at Google's hit counts always reminds me of that scene in "Raiders
of the Lost Ark" where Indiana Jones says to Sallah: "I said NO
camels. That's FOUR camels. Can't you count?"
-Chris
And here are more of your thoughts on OSes, Vista problems, and whether Microsoft
should build its next OS from scratch:
I feel the biggest problem with Vista is lack of drivers for printers,
scanners, etc. Example: HP Photosmart 1315 and HP Scanner 5470C work fine
on XP, but Vista offers no drivers.
-Richard
All one has to do is look at the sales figures to know that Vista has
been an incredible success in terms of the typical consumer. In the enterprise
space, the rate of adoption of Vista is no more sluggish than the rate of
adoption of XP in 2001.
Have people had problems? Yes, some have. But many of those problems
are related to ISVs who weren't ready when Vista shipped and OEMs who refused
to provide drivers for old hardware. Many more problems were the result of
those consumers who expected the transition to Vista to be painless -- even
on OLD hardware. The only thing that has changed since the transition to XP
is that the "blogosphere" was far less accessible than it is today.
The squeaky wheels have a much larger forum now and the number of journalists
who are willing to repeat what they've heard instead of doing their own testing
has increased.
-Marc
Can Win ME be anything except an unnecessary expense? My least favorite
MS trick? Pulling the upgrade to Win 98 that made it equivalent to Win 98SE
from the Web before I learned to save such things. Put this in the MS Hall
of Infamy. Does anyone remember this?
I have to say Win 95 is the best, for its time. Win 2000 was the longest-serving
relevant OS from MS. (SP4! That's a lot of free upgrades, folks.) Win XP was
the most successful transition from a hard-coded bunch of bailing wire that
worked exceptionally well (Win 98 SE) to a real multi-processor, multi-threaded,
priority-interruptible OS. Many kudos to MS for this one. Vista is the best
version of Windows -- if you have the new hardware you deserve.
-Eric
It's asking a lot for Microsoft to start from scratch with a new OS. For
years I have heard that the big advantage for Microsoft Office is that they
have had access to OS development and could request code be written to make
their products work better than their competition with Windows. If Microsoft
rewrites their desktop OS, they may be in for a major rewrite of their whole
Office suite. If access to OS development is true, then either Microsoft is
going to have to give up a major advantage to the competition or their OS
project doubled in size. Wow!
-Anonymous
ME was bad and compared favorably only to BOB when it was launched. I
feel Vista is in the same vein (though I don't hate it, I don't use it either).
My point is, now is a better time than most for Microsoft to start a new OS
from scratch, and it could prove quite fruitful.
First, forget hardware; make it a tiny hypervisor (not unlike ESXi, or
is that blasphemy?). Include a loader where the OS of choice can be loaded
-- XP, Vista or any new OS you develop with this. Provide specs early and
use your clout to get hardware manufacturers to make drivers that plug into
standardized inputs to the hypervisor. All video cards must address xyz address
space at location grpl on port spzbt. Extra features may access your card
directly through ports xxzs-xxzz. All sound cards must yada, yada.
Then, once this hypervisor is out and the hardware vendors are writing
to it, you can settle down for some real functionality in a new OS that loads
into this hypervisor. Moreover, it isolates the user data and programs from
the hypervisor so upgrades to the hypervisor does not upset a user's settings,
programs, etc. It is a new twist on desktop computing, but it is what I have
been dreaming of for a while. Don't go for the all encompassing OS, just make
something that works out of the box and allows users to upgrade to the new
OS when it actually benefits them!
-Thomas
I would like to call for an open forum where ALL the hardware and software
concepts are presented and discussed. If Microsoft would sponsor this, involving
many from communities outside Microsoft, with open design reviews, we may
truly get a better operating system. The tendency to limit focus, get stuck
on a design and exclude alternatives must be fought. This will take some time,
and we may have to deal with intellectual property and copyright issues, but
I think the outcome will be better. Or we make the tradeoff to accept whatever
Microsoft comes up with.
-Brian
Let us know what you think! Leave a comment below or send an e-mail to [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 08/07/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Are you an experienced server manager who cares about usability, have two hours
to spare for a "study session" and, lastly, can make it up to Redmond
to meet with Microsoft? If so, Microsoft wants you to
help
test out a new product.
Microsoft won't yet say what the product is, but if you sign up as a tester,
drop me a line and let me know at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 08/07/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
IBM has plenty of cash to throw around. After all, with $98 billion in yearly
revenues, it's the second-largest computer company in the world (HP is now No.
1 with some $104 billion in annual sales, while Microsoft barely rates at only
$51 billion).
So when IBM announces that it's spending $360 million to build
two new cloud computing datacenters, it's really just chump change.
The message is serious, though. IBM wants a big stake in the cloud, a model
of computing that could loosen Microsoft's death grip on operating systems.
Is cloud computing the next big thing, and if so, who has the lead? Answers
welcome at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 08/06/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
We wrote about Zimbra and other open source alternatives a year-and-a-half ago
here.
The company, now owned by Yahoo, has a new alternative to Outlook: the Zimbra
Desktop. The software, now in beta, works with Yahoo e-mail and also supports
to-do lists, calendars, contacts and documents. Check out a First Look here.
Posted by Doug Barney on 08/06/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Usually, this newsletter is all about Microsoft. Today, though, it's mostly
about IBM with a little Yahoo tossed in. So let's get started.
IBM once owned a big chunk of the desktop. There was the original IBM PC, PC-DOS
and finally OS/2, which almost became the de facto PC operating system.
Since then, IBM has slowly lost ground. OS/2 is dead, as is any IBM-made PC.
It has no real PC OS and, after buying Lotus, both SmartSuite and Notes have
lost more market share than Pet Rocks and Pokemon put together.
But IBM just won't give up and is reportedly trying to get hardware makers
to build
PCs that run Linux, along with Notes, Lotus Symphony (the revived, old office
tool), and Sametime messaging.
Gartner has its pretentious probability ratings, so I'll steal that pompous
idea and give IBM a one-in-fifty chance of any kind of success.
Would you use Linux PCs in your shop? If so, why? Shoot your thoughts to [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 08/06/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
In the last week or so, Microsoft released a patch to fix a DNS vulnerability
in its software. Shortly thereafter, an AT&T DNS server was compromised
-- reportedly the
first
DNS attack ever.
Apple is feeling the heat, as well, and this week released
a patch designed to cure its DNS security ills. This is all well and good,
except some experts claim the fix is incomplete and doesn't fully protect clients.
Posted by Doug Barney on 08/05/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
This is admittedly an old story, but it still serves as a warning for those
in IT to not trust others in IT, and for IT not to abuse its access to corporate
and personal information. According to a survey by Cyber-Ark, a third of IT
pros
spy
on company employees.
I've met with hundreds of security companies and I'd always ask the same question:
What are you doing to prevent internal security breaches? They'd all wax on
about how their software keeps employees from getting at private information.
Then I'd say, "But what about IT itself? What do you do to keep IT insiders
from breaching?"
In pretty much every case, the vendor would be dumbfounded. It never occurred
to them that IT would do such a thing.
I decided to find out how big a problem this was and used my usual approach:
Ask you, the Redmond Report reader. I got horror stories of IT snooping into
executive e-mail and using machines to commit fraud, stalk old girlfriends and
commit blackmail. If you want a real eye-opener, check out my story "IT
Gone Bad" here.
Confess your sins by writing to me at [email protected].
When we run letters, we don't publish last names, so you can admit your wrong-doing
with no consequences (except maybe easing of your guilty conscience).
Posted by Doug Barney on 08/05/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
PHP may be a popular Web scripting language, but it's far from safe,
according
to research just published by IBM. Tens of millions of Web sites and over
a million Web servers are driven by PHP, making its vulnerabilities cause for
concern.
So the next time your Web weenie kids you about patching Windows, ask what
he's done to secure PHP lately.
Posted by Doug Barney on 08/05/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments