When it comes to reputation, Gartner is as well-respected as the pope, John
McCain and Mother Teresa put together -- despite the fact that a decade ago,
Gartner overestimated the cost of owning PCs by about ten-fold. It seems that
somehow the gurus from Stamford, Conn. can do no wrong.
In the case
of virtualization, Gartner is mostly right, but I have a few bones to pick.
First, Gartner says that through 2012, virtualization is the "highest-impact
trend in [the] infrastructure and operations market." Check.
Then, the company's press release argues that "storage has already been
virtualized" and that PCs and servers are the next frontier. Technically,
that may be true; folks have been talking about storage virtualization longer
than x86 PC or server virtualization. But how many have actually virtualized
their storage? Precious and few.
Yet another Gartner guru claims that because of PC virtualization, "the
days of the monolithic, general-purpose operating system will soon be over."
Right. Wasn't the Network Computer (a style of PC or desktop virtualization)
supposed to kill the PC a decade ago? Wasn't the Web supposed to kill Windows
clients five years ago? Like the end of the world, if you predict it long enough,
it will eventually happen.
Have you virtualized your storage, and if so, how? Write me at [email protected]
and I'll pass your story along in our next newsletter.
Posted by Doug Barney on 04/07/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Our new magazine/Web site/blog/newsletter
Virtualization
Review is fully up and running. In fact, we just printed and shipped
tens of thousands of copies of the very first issue.
Leading our virtualization charge is former Redmond Editor Keith Ward,
now editor of Virtualization Review. (Keith is so good, we hire him back
every time he leaves for what he thinks are greener pastures. Now he knows the
truth: Ain't nothing greener than virtualization!)
Keith is a techie at heart and lately has been messing with a sweet
HP loaner server, most recently loading Windows Server 2008 and the beta
of Hyper-V. So far, so good. The only glitch was enabling virtualization on
HP's Xeon processors before he could successfully load the new Microsoft hypervisor.
Keith promises a steady stream of reports on various hypervisors -- all from
the perspective of a new virtualization user, which most people in IT actually
are. Keep up with Keith's blog here
or get the RSS feed here.
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/31/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
I try to avoid being political in this newsletter, but in this case I'm making
an exception.
Here's the backdrop: Bill Gates has long argued for loosening
our Visa rules so companies such as Microsoft can bring in smart people.
Bill made this same case in a speech
a few weeks ago in front of the U.S. House of Representatives.
I happen to agree with him. I'm pretty hardcore when it comes to illegal immigration
-- and not because I dislike immigration. Just the opposite; I love immigration.
My feeling is that illegal immigration restricts a country's ability to welcome
legal immigrants. A country should be able to define its immigration strategy,
and has the right to give preference to highly educated immigrants.
I know some people are threatened by smart newcomers stealing the best jobs;
things might get more competitive. But how many startups are started up by foreigners?
Smart immigrants build economic leadership, invent new things and create some
pretty sweet jobs.
Tell me where I'm wrong at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/31/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Last week, Google
turned
its page black to raise awareness of energy conservation.
My first thought turned to hypocrisy. Google uses millions of kilowatt hours
powering massive server farms so we can look for Kim Kardashian videos.
Turns out, there was a deeper irony. Apparently, it takes more electricity
to power a black screen than a light one.
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/31/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Microsoft is taking a fresh stab at enterprise search with
Windows
Search 4.0, designed largely for Windows shops.
This is a pretty big area, and one that is very easy to test. Any clown can
tell you which search works best -- that's why Google rules in Web and desktop
searches. It only takes one or two queries before the depth of its indexing
proves superior.
The new Microsoft software is in beta, and now works with OneNote (should be
called OneCustomer) and Outlook.
The biggest flaw is its Windows-centricity. Some may run almost all-Microsoft
operating systems, but the data is stored in apps from all over. This means
you need more than one enterprise search tool if you really want to find things.
Am I right, or all wet on this issue? Let me know by writing me at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/31/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
VMware made news last month when Dell, HP and IBM
all
agreed to bundle a small, tight version of VMware with its servers. This
made it seem almost like VMware is the only game in town, the Microsoft of virtualization.
The reality is the field is far more complex and competitive.
It's not just the looming threat of Hyper-V, which will be huge as Microsoft
is making all the right moves with pricing and enticing developers. Citrix is
also playing big-time in this space with its acquisition of Xen. Sun is basing
its new xVM hypervisor on Xen, and last week HP
announced that it will embed a version of XenServer on HP servers -- just
like it's doing with VMware.
Like the early days of productivity software and even desktop operating systems,
this market is wide-the-heck-open. This is gonna be fun.
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/24/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Call it Redmond Report Take 2. Last week, we launched a new Web site that's
so simple in concept, even I could've thought it up (but I didn't; my boss Henry
Allain did).
Redmond Report (yup, it shares its name with this here newsletter) is simply
a bunch of links from a bunch of sites to a bunch of stories about Microsoft.
Like I said, pretty dang simple. Already, the site has stories about Vista
Service Pack 1, a new Word exploit and advice about what company Microsoft should
buy (instead of Yahoo).
So click over to RedmondReport.com,
then write me at [email protected]
and let me know what you think.
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/24/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
You, I'm sure, have heard that Sir Arthur C. Clarke
left
us last week at the age of 90. Clarke was a true renaissance man. Many forget
that he was a real scientist and technical visionary. He invented the idea of
orbiting satellites and later proposed them as a way to bring the Internet to
the Third World.
I was lucky enough to correspond with Sir Clarke for several years. Even though
he was way over in Sri Lanka, Clarke read AmigaWorld while I was editor
in chief. Clarke loved the Amiga and used it to explore Mandelbrots, geometrical
shapes that expand inward and out infinitely. The shapes they form also make
great hippy T-shirts. These fractals drove his novel The Ghost from the Grand
Banks.
Clarke would fax me his thoughts, along with clips of Mandelbrots carved into
corn fields in England as well as stories about the 25th birthday of HAL, the
computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey. I now have a prize collection of letters
and newspaper clippings from one of the world's greatest minds. Who says journalism
isn't cool?
Clarke more recently survived the tsunami and worked to find better ways to
predict these waves and warn coastal inhabitants.
What's your favorite Arthur C. Clarke work? Let us know by writing me at [email protected].
The Arthur C. Clarke Foundation
is also a good place to park some of your extra dough.
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/24/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer last year famously remarked that in 10 years, all
media will be digital -- meaning print will be deader than a run-over Texas
armadillo. Maybe Steve really believes such an absurd idea (despite iPods and
CDs, the LP is the hot ticket for young music-philes). Or perhaps he's trying
to will it into happening so Microsoft can take over the publishing business.
Like Google and Yahoo, Microsoft isn't really planning on doing publishing
the traditional way -- the hard way -- where you actually hire journalists and
editors and produce content. No, Microsoft and its ilk want to monetize content
produced by others. They want advertisers to connect with Microsoft by advertising
on Microsoft sites, or for advertisers and publishers to use Microsoft as the
Web advertising go-between. Here's
a rundown of what Microsoft has to offer.
The company has a new
partner, Rapt Inc., which Microsoft is in the process of buying. Rapt helps
publishers forecast and does inventory management. The software will be added
to Microsoft's Atlas Publisher Suite.
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/17/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
The ordinarily press-shy Ray Ozzie
recently
opened up to blogger Om Malik on cloud computing and the role of the desktop
OS.
After making the obvious statement that today's desktop has a '70s and '80s
feel (something other Microsoft execs likely agree with but cringe at hearing),
Ozzie pointed out that young developers, students and startups build for the
Web first, and this is the audience Microsoft must now address (Silverlight,
anyone?).
For its part, Microsoft pledges to build a more reliable cloud itself (for
MSN and Windows Live services), create better dev tools for mashups and develop
a model for cloud computing applications such that Microsoft remains a highly
profitable company.
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/17/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Over the last few years, almost no one launched new computer magazines. Of course,
the exception is 1105 Media, which started
Redmond magazine in 2004,
Redmond Channel Partner in 2005, and broke out
Redmond Developer News
in 2006.
Later this month, 1105 lets loose with Virtualization Review, and I'm
lucky to be a part of it. The premiere issue includes profiles of VMware, Microsoft
and Citrix/Xen; a roundup of top PC virtualization tools; a treatise on the
state of storage virtualization; a peek at Hyper-V; and loads of industry news.
We already have a Web
site and blog
up and running. You can subscribe here.
And you can pick up our free newsletter here.
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/17/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
TechCrunch, a blog which everyone says is cool but isn't actually read by anyone
I know, is reporting that Google and Microsoft may be
fighting
over Digg.com. Apparently, Google is willing to pay up to $225 million,
while Microsoft, saving its big bucks for Yahoo, is coming in a bit lower.
I gotta tell you, Digg these days is far cooler than Yahoo. People who don't
need to show an ID to get a senior citizen discount use Yahoo, while the Red
Bull and pimple cream set flocks to Digg. Which do you think has more of a future?
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/10/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments