Windows Patch Sets Off ZoneAlarm

If you have this problem, head to http://www.checkpoint.com for a fix.

Meanwhile experts say this problem should not deter you from using the DNS patch, as it helps thwart spoofing attacks.

Posted by Doug Barney on 07/14/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments

WSUS Glitch De-Glitched

My guess is that the rush to fix problems is creating flawed patches and conflicts with other bits of software. What say you? Is the speed or the stability of a patch more important? Send your answers to [email protected].

Posted by Doug Barney on 07/14/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments

Why Is Greene Gone?

We don't have all the details, but a sticking point appears to be just how separate VMware should be from the EMC mother ship. Greene seemed to want total freedom, while EMC was looking for a bit more oversight.

It will be interesting to see what changes happen now. Will there be more integration between EMC storage and VMware? Will the branding change at all? And if EMC takes more control, will it damage the relationship with Microsoft?

If you have any answers, or just more questions, send 'em to me at [email protected].

Posted by Doug Barney on 07/10/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments

Xen and Gone?

I interviewed Citrix chief Mark Templeton for the premiere issue of Virtualization Review magazine (you can check out the article here). The interview came just as Microsoft and Citrix were announcing a multiyear cooperation agreement over virtualization. The deal calls for both companies to support each others' hypervisors, Hyper-V and Xen, and work on interoperability.

I asked Templeton how he can support Microsoft's Hyper-V and still give his full weight to Xen. It's a delicate balancing act, but Templeton explained that he would leave it up to customers. He also made it clear that he wouldn't be at all shy about pushing Hyper-V.

That is the kind of talk that got Brian Madden, the blogger, speculating that Xen was ultimately dead.

Virtualization Review Editor Keith Ward took on the issue in his own blog.

My take? Citrix and Microsoft have had complementary and competitive products in the thin client space for years. And Xen, more than anything, is an open source tool that helps Citrix build relationships with the likes of Sun, IBM and Novell. I don't think it's going anywhere.

Posted by Doug Barney on 07/10/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments

Mailbag: Lost in Licensing

I agree with your conclusion: Microsoft's volume licensing is complex and made so intentionally. While I've attended several MS workshops on licensing, in the end I find myself asking the Microsoft salesperson what I should purchase after explaining my needs. The move to sell he software disks separate from the license has always elicited a raised eyebrow from my clients and invariably generates an ambience of distrust of the corporation's marketing division. My target community has always been the non-profit sector. While discounts are available to this market, that does not change the situation.
-Robert

Count Hans as one of those who think Microsoft would be better off trying to improve itself than buying up Yahoo:

I think Ballmer should be more concerned about his company (Microsoft) producing bug-free, high-quality products rather than trying to bully his way into another company. In my opinion, Ballmer, Icahn, et al should pursue other ventures such as may be currently on the drawing board at MS.
-Hans

Readers chime in on Internet Explorer security, and why it is the way it is:

Until IE is severed from the OS, it will never be more than a convenient gateway for malicious coders into the core OS.
-D.

There's a good reason why IE was built into the operating system: help files, which are fundamentally hypertext. Before HTML became popular, help files (.HLP) were often produced using a set of Word macros (or you needed some other way to make some weird markup in an .RTF file). A .HLP file was hard to produce and check, so a lot of applications shipped without online documentation.

When HTML became popular, it became much easier to make hypertext files, and MS suddenly found lots of people using and making them. When it introduced the newer compiled HTML help files (CHM), the developers could use their choice of HTML editor and have all the links checked, eliminating many problems with the old .HLP files. Third-party developers could reasonably make online help -- even if they rarely do. But in order to use HTML as your online help format, you need to make sure there's an HTML reader, and that it works as expected. So you almost need to embed some sort of HTML reader into the OS.
-Greg

And finally, at least two of you weren't offended by that Nick Hogan reference:

I will keep this short and simple. I understand political correctness; don't offend people. But where do you draw the line? Did anyone die as a result of your joke? No. I laughed and enjoyed it. Tell an apple what it is: an apple.
-D.W.

I agree with you 100 percent. Chris needs to learn that the truth may be painful, especially if you are a fan of crap TV and bullsh*t celebrities. They are scum.
-Alfred

Tell us what you think! Leave a comment below or send an e-mail to [email protected].

Posted by Doug Barney on 07/10/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments

Windows, Take 7

Bill says Vista is basically awesome, and that we should all move to it as quickly as possible. He also says that some customers may experience compatibility problems. "Some" and "may"? This is the very definition of understatement. The memo skips over Blue Screens and doggish performance.

He does concede that there may be apps you need that won't run on Vista, and here customers can downgrade to XP. Here's the rub: If you buy a new computer and want to use XP, you have to buy the more expensive versions of Vista -- either Vista Business or Vista Ultimate. Lower-income families and companies are stuck with Blue Screens and doggish performance. On the corporate side, if you have a volume agreement, you have the privilege of sticking with XP.

Then Bill gives some advice on moving to Vista (taking upgrade advice from Microsoft is like getting liposuction advice from a plastic surgeon: the answer is always yes). He argues that with service pack 1 and more drivers and app upgrades, the time is right to move to Vista.

Bill then gives a glimpse of Windows 7. Actually, he says two things about it that are actually interesting. First, he says Microsoft plans to ship Windows 7 in about a year-and-a-half. Given that it's not in wide testing, I'm more skeptical than a Zimbabwean voter.

Second -- and this is the first such official proclamation -- Veghte stated that Windows 7 is based on Vista. For those avoiding Vista and waiting for Windows 7, this means you're simply avoiding Vista to wait for the next version of Vista. It's also the case that Microsoft is betting its OS future on a good, old-fashioned fat client.

Is that your future? Let us all know by writing to me at [email protected].

Posted by Doug Barney on 07/10/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments

Office for Rent

Part of Microsoft's strategy is called Software Plus Services. The idea is to take regular old hard drive applications and enhance them with a few Web goodies. This is the exact approach taken by Equipt, formerly called Project Albany.

Aimed largely at consumers, customers get a license to a low-end version of Office for three machines and Web-based security including antivirus through OneCare. Microsoft is also tossing in a bunch of Office Live services which, as far as I can tell, are already free.

Posted by Doug Barney on 07/09/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments

Volume Licensing Tweaked

The key features? There's one ID for the entire company and, by unifying buying, it should make it easier to earn discounts.

This sounds like a good thing, but as with anything involving licensing, the devil is in the details, and the details are the devil. The problem is there are too many details.

I spent months studying Microsoft licensing and learned enough to write two cover stories, one on Software Assurance and another on negotiating with Microsoft. But I felt I never completely got it -- and that may be part of the plan. The complexity makes it harder for customers, who need it all explained -- and by whom? Microsoft?

There is help. First, Scott Braden is the man when it comes to licensing. The only man who can almost make it sound simple, he taught me 90 percent of what I know on the subject. Scott's company, Microsoft Secrets, was acquired and is now part of (NET)net; here's its Web site.

Posted by Doug Barney on 07/09/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments

Mailbag: Just Say 'No' to Yahoo

Should Ballmer buy Yahoo? Simple answer: NO!
-Anonymous

This makes no sense at all. You have an open source culture in one company and one of the most proprietary cultures in another. Also, the DOJ should can this deal as being bad for consumers -- one less chat system out there. For as bad as "Yahell" is claimed to be, it has features no one else has; it just doesn't leverage them via advertising very well. Then you also have overlap in the online ad industry.

This should not be allowed -- period.
-Bruce

When I bought my 100 shares of Yahoo five or six years ago and saw it split two for one a year or so later, I thought I had boarded the gravy train. I've seen nothing since. So what have I got to look forward to? Maybe it would be nice to exchange my Yahoo for MS. I'd be willing if they offered -- just to have something different now.
-Steve

And readers share their thoughts on what would make IE 8 more secure than its predecessors:

IE 8 would be several LARGE steps in the right direction if all support for iFrames, ActiveX controls and Java were withdrawn, and if JavaScripts were allowed only for browser-related actions rather than for system activity. Certainly, those are my default Internet settings in IE 6, which I override only for Internet banking and for editing my GooglePages.
-Fred

IE 8 intregration? No! I really think that anything that has the potential for compromising the system should not be tightly integrated into the OS, EVER. Browsers are the attack point of choice these days, so why would you want something you know is going to be a serious security problem to be tightly integrated with your OS?

The only reason -- and one of the reasons Microsoft has overpowered the competition -- is the features and ease of use to be gained by that integration. Microsoft's previous approach was to focus on features and ease of use even if it meant that security had to be compromised, and look where that got it. It is really exciting when a design flaw in IE allows another program, e.g., Safari, to compromise your system and open it up to attack...NOT!
-Anonymous

I gave up on Internet Explorer during the IE 6 era, when Firefox came along. To get me to go back to IE for anything other than Windows Update, it would have to be as easy to use as Firefox is. I really doubt that Microsoft can make anything that easy anymore. Vista was enough for me to realize that it has really lost sight of what the users are trying to do. Most of my home computing now is done through Linux and I am really now looking at a Mac.

Just for the record, I am one of the legion of "Mort" programmers who have worked with Microsoft products for years. Still, I find Office 7 a major pain to work with and Vista a disaster. Good luck, MS. You'll need it.
-Angus

We have applications that run fine in IE 6 but break under IE 7. I shudder to think what additional problems we might run into under IE 8.
-Thomas

Tell us what you think! Leave a comment below or send an e-mail to [email protected].

Posted by Doug Barney on 07/09/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments

Going, Going, Greene

VMware founder Greene has been a good friend of the Redmond Media Group. Editor Ed Scannell interviewed Greene twice in recent months, once for a cover story in Redmond magazine and again for a cover story in Virtualization Review.

VMware is riding high, but has some huge challenges. Its biggest issue: pricing. Right now, VMware is more full-featured than Hyper-V, but also far more expensive.

The Rhodesian-born Maritz is a bit of an inside pick. His cloud computing company, Pi Corp., was recently acquired by VMware owner EMC, and it was Joe Tucci, EMC chief and VMware chairman of the board, who made the announcement of Greene's departure (er, dismissal).

I interacted a fair amount with Maritz during his 14 years at Microsoft. He always came across as intensely bright and intensely competitive. The tough-as-nails Maritz also got into hot water during the antitrust prosecution of Microsoft after reportedly threatening to "cut off Netscape's air supply," something Microsoft effectively did.

Now Maritz is on the other side, defending VMware against Hyper-V which is essentially bundled with an OS. Will Microsoft cut off Maritz's air supply? Will there be a détente? Will Microsoft buy VMware? Your answers welcome at [email protected].

Our best wishes go out to Diane who did an amazing job and was always kind to our group of magazines.

Posted by Doug Barney on 07/09/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments

IE 8 More Secure

Chief among the protections are a way to stop cross-site scripting exploits, and safer surfing of social networking Web sites. There are also ways to keep hackers from jumping from an individual PC to the entire network.

What can Microsoft do to make IE safer? Should it remain a part of the OS and thus near-impossible to remove? Send your thoughts to [email protected].

Posted by Doug Barney on 07/08/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments

Ballmer Still Yahoo for Yahoo

You probably recall that after Ballmer’s $40 billion-plus bid was rejected, Microsoft gave up the chase, only to see Carl Icahn start to buy up shares, manipulate the board, try to get the deal done with Microsoft, and then cash in on the premium Microsoft would have to pay.

Seems like Ballmer is now fine with that approach, and is himself pushing for the Yahoo board to be largely overthrown so he can buy all or a part of the company.

I still think it’s a bad deal...but then again, Ballmer is worth $15 billion and I’m just an underpaid journalist.

Now imagine this scenario: Ballmer and Icahn end up replacing the Yahoo board, but then Microsoft doesn’t even buy the company. Imagine the fallout.

Should Ballmer buy Yahoo? Your erudite answers welcome at [email protected].

Posted by Doug Barney on 07/08/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments