Do you remember the PowerPC processor? This little beauty drove everything from
late-model Amigas to Macs. After Apple ditched Power for Intel, it looked like
Power lost all its muscle.
But IBM is keeping the processor family very much alive, and uses it to drive
the world's fastest PCs to what IBM last year claimed was the world's fastest
server.
While IBM pushes its x86 Blade and traditional server lines, the company's
most interesting family just might be the Power-powered System p. Mostly aimed
at the high-end, there are two new System p's: the 520 and 550 Express. Added
to that is a new virtualization technology, PowerVM, that lets the System p
run a wider variety of software, including Linux apps built for x86 systems.
Unfortunately, the System p still doesn't run Windows, even though years ago
NT ran just fine on the PowerPC.
Meanwhile, Sun is now shipping Sun MD. This data system is like a military
field hospital. You can drop Sun MD into a new location, and have processing,
storage, networking and pre-canned data processing all set to go. Not sure if
it comes in Army green.
Get all the details here.
Posted by Doug Barney on 02/11/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Yahoo's board of directors this weekend
formally
rejected Microsoft's takeover offer. The board apparently wants either more
dough or to hook up with a different partner, such as Google (which would raise
antitrust concerns) or AOL.
I'm no stock market whiz (and have the losses to prove it!), but as I understand
it, the Microsoft bid was a huge premium over Yahoo's existing share price.
And Microsoft offers the ailing Yahoo resources, market share and commitment
-- things Yahoo needs.
On the flip side, I still don't think this deal is in Microsoft's best interest,
especially if it spends far more than the $44.5
billion it already has on the table.
Instead of trying to out-Google Google, imagine what could be done if all that
money were placed in the hands of a bunch of young, smart programmers and visionaries.
Posted by Doug Barney on 02/11/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Every so often, a cartoonist sends me samples of IT humor hoping to get published.
In all cases, the work has been lamer than Barbaro's right leg.
There's a new contender for the IT cartoon Hall of Fame, this time sponsored
by Microsoft. The strip is called "HEROES
happen {here}." Not sure what that name is supposed to mean, but it
sure ain't funny.
The strip is also designed to show off Silverlight. In fact, you have to download
Silverlight before you can start laughing your IT butt off. I went through the
process, wanting to give the strip a full whirl. The result? Less laughter than
a Bill Belichick press conference.
Posted by Doug Barney on 02/04/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Those wedded to Wintel servers may not even realize that the old PowerPC processor
(now called Power) still exists. While Apple may have bailed on the Power architecture,
it still drives the world's fastest supercomputers and a line of IBM servers,
as well.
One of the selling points of the IBM System p line -- besides sheer horsepower
-- is energy-efficiency and high-efficiency. The System p actually has virtualization
built into almost every aspect of the system, from apps to IO to management.
Formerly a pretty high-end solution, IBM is pushing a new tool, PowerVM
Express, to small and medium-size businesses. The Power-based servers run
every OS under the sun -- except Windows!
Posted by Doug Barney on 02/04/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
If you listen to Wall Street,
paying
$44 billion for Yahoo is the smartest idea since E=mc2. Google's stock is
down, and Yahoo is on the rise after Steve Ballmer's public pitch for the No.
2 search engine concern.
Let me toss some cold water on this little love-fest.
I don't see anything in the Yahoo portfolio that Microsoft doesn't already
have. It's kinda like Time magazine buying Newsweek, Coke buying
Pepsi or BP merging with Exxon -- just more of the same. Even worse, Yahoo
is on the decline (its market share and financials are more like Boo-Hoo
than Yahoo!).
Yahoo is, to a large degree, a legacy company. All its core offerings -- search,
e-mail, forums, news and IM -- have been around for years. Why spend $44 billion
to buy the past when you could invest that money in inventing the future?
This deal seems like a knee-jerk reaction to the Google threat. Instead of
building technologies that can outpace Google, Microsoft is hoping to buy a
company that has proven it can't keep pace. From a purely business standpoint,
maybe the Yahoo audience is worth that kind of cash -- but this isn't a deal
based on technical innovation. What do you think? Write me at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 02/04/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Vista gets far more criticism for what it has than for what it doesn't. The
big complaints have to do with too many functions running up against too little
processing.
If you want Vista but not the overhead of Media Player and other features aimed
largely at consumers, then vLite
is for you. This free tool strips Vista of all the features you never wanted
in the first place.
Posted by Doug Barney on 02/04/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Every year, I hear how Microsoft is under siege, that it just can't compete
with fresh new technologies. The Network Computer promoted by Sun and Oracle
was going to kill Windows (instead, Windows through Citrix is the OS that drives
today's thin clients). Linux was going take over because it's free (instead,
Microsoft decided to integrate with Linux while dramatically improving its own
server OS).
And, most recently, Google was to lay waste to every aspect of Microsoft's
business (in reality, Microsoft has matched Google app for app so far, despite
what inexperienced journalists would have you believe).
Is all this finally catching up with Redmond? Sure. Second
quarter earnings only increased some 80 percent compared to the previous
year's quarter! The run rate of earnings (not revenue) is almost $20 billion.
That's oil company territory.
All areas of Microsoft's business grew. Now, can't we do something about that
stock price?
Posted by Doug Barney on 01/28/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Many in IT won't adopt a new Microsoft OS until its first service pack (in Vista's
case, it might take a few). Well, bucko, here's your chance to take the plunge.
It seems that Vista SP1 could ship as soon as the
middle
of next month.
Usually, a service pack fixes a bunch of bugs and a gaggle of glitches. Vista's
issues are more fundamental. Vista requires a mental shift and total readjustment
in how it works. That does not a service pack address.
Meanwhile, Microsoft released a bunch of minor Vista
tweaks and fixes, one of which boosts the performance of Vista graphics.
Posted by Doug Barney on 01/28/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
If you have Windows update set to auto-approve, you'll soon be using IE 7. On
Feb. 12, all such systems will be
updated
with IE 7. Your choice? Bite the bullet and get moved to Redmond's version
of tabbed browsing, or change your update settings.
Posted by Doug Barney on 01/28/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Oops. Late next month, Microsoft is having a huge launch party for Windows Server
2008, Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008. But SQL Server may not see the
full light of day
until
the end of this year.
But heck, the hotel is booked, the execs are scheduled, the appetizers are
ordered -- so Microsoft is going ahead with the launch, anyway.
Posted by Doug Barney on 01/28/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Mac bigots love to kid Windows users about all our viruses, rebuilds and exploits.
And they're right. The question is: Why is Windows so vulnerable? Mac-philes
would like to believe their platform is intrinsically safer. The other theory
is that hackers attack those systems with the most market share. And perhaps
the theory most on target: Hackers just love to mess with Microsoft.
If market share is the issue, then eventually Apple will have to worry. With
the success of its TV commercials, the Mac is gaining market share (unfortunately,
only in the high-end consumer market, as Steve Jobs continues to utterly ignore
the enterprise and low-end consumer PC markets).
Sophos believes Apple
should be worried now. The security vendor argues that organized crime is
basing new extortion plots around Mac attacks. And malware, which isn't yet
a crisis, is increasingly written with the Mac in mind.
Posted by Doug Barney on 01/28/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments
The next Windows client will probably ship before most of you even move to
Vista. Windows 7, as it's currently called, may ship
late
next year.
I'm hoping that Microsoft re-architects the Windows client to truly exploit
multicore processors. The OS itself could be more multithreaded so operations
are distributed against processors. It could make the multitasking -- instead
of largely sharing a single processor -- work across the cores. And Microsoft
could revamp the API to make it easier for developers to parallelize their apps.
What is your experience with dual and multicore desktops? Are you thrilled
or disappointed in their performance? Let me know at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 01/21/2008 at 1:15 PM0 comments