IT Market Stalled, but Still Good

I came across two contradictory reports recently about IT jobs. The Huffington Post, which elevates story stealing to an art form (and yet still I go there) listed IT jobs as an area employers are struggling to fill.

But this doesn't jive with federal stats showing IT jobs are as stagnant as a damned up Mississippi swamp. While some segments are slightly up due to seasonality, others such as data processing and hosting are down. Net it all out and we are flat. Of course so is the economy -- and in these days just keeping steady is a plus in my book.

Posted by Doug Barney on 06/11/20121 comments

Does Anyone Care About Chromebooks?

Devices running ChromeOS is the 21st Century version of the Network Computer -- a dumb device that depends almost entirely on the smarts of the network. When Google first talked about it, tablets weren't quite as on fire and no one cared about Chrome-based notebooks. Now that tablets are fully engulfed, included those based on Android, no one still cares about Chrome-based notebooks, I'd say. That didn't stop Google from announcing new stuff recently in the form of some software updates and a new user interface.

Posted by Doug Barney on 06/08/20127 comments

Doug's Mailbag: Bloatware Diet

Readers discuss vendors loading new systems up with unwanted software:

Now you understand why having the original operating system disks are so valuable --  you can wipe out all the bloat-ware, freeware, malware, crap-ware and vendor specific garbage overhead by doing a complete install. If that approach doesn't appeal to you, buy a second hard drive (they're still cheap) and clean install the operating system. You'll be amazed by what changes.

If you have been using your system for a while, I recommend the second hard drive approach. But if it is new, before you load on stuff you'd regret losing, refresh the operating system with a clean install.

You'll never miss the crap. But if you truly suffer withdrawal symptoms or your co-workers make you think you've thrown the remote out with the trash, you can download from the vendor or the OEM.

Remember, it was advertising from the beginning.
-Rick

This is yet another reason why I build my own pc and install the software myself. Microsoft sells OS to OEMs, which in turn puts bloatware on it to try and take even more money from the customer. Now, Microsoft wants to take even more money by removing the software that was designed to take money... I'm liking Linux more and more each day.
-Anonymous

This never made sense to me. In the past I saw PCs sold with small amounts of RAM, and literally 20 or so startup items from third-party crapware. Usually from manufacturers like HP or Sony. Holy crapware, Batman! Why do they sell PCs that can't even handle the software they ship on it? System using more than double the installed RAM out of the box? Oye!

Now it isn't so bad today since most new PCs are a lot faster and with more memory. The crapware is still there but at least most machines can boot up within five minutes.
-Chris

Posted by Doug Barney on 06/08/20120 comments

That Microsoft Certificate Is Bogus, Man

The Flame virus may not have spread like wildfire, but it packed a little heat, nonetheless. This thing never would have got around at all were it not for fake security certificates purporting to be from Microsoft. Using these, the malware was able to sign on as if it were an actual honest-to-goodness Microsoft product.

It appears the vulnerability is not widespread, is limited to older revs of Terminal Services and only cracks unpatched systems.

Posted by Doug Barney on 06/08/20120 comments

Talking TechMentor

When I first went up to Microsoft the company had just moved over from Bellevue, Wash. I reckon this was either late 1986 or early 1987.

Bill Gates still got a cheeseburger and fries every day for lunch from a local fast food joint. The new Redmond campus had two buildings with a cafeteria in between (the burgers apparently weren't good enough for Bill) -- apps folks one on side, OS jocks on the other. This was all so the two teams could share ideas and make the two families of software get along together.

Posted by Doug Barney on 06/06/20121 comments

John McAfee: That's One Way to Code all Night!

The stereotype of the code jock is pizza and Jolt Cola. The founder of McAfee was allegedly working on a more potent weapon -- something that no number of cans of Mountain Dew could stand up to -- meth. At least that's what they say in Belize.

After making a mint from McAfee Inc., John McAfee somehow found himself nude in Belize in bed with a 17-year-old woman (or would you call her a girl, she's clearly on the cusp). Sounds good so far.

Posted by Doug Barney on 06/05/20125 comments

You Want Windows 8 in the Enterprise

Some 1,400 Redmond Report and Redmond magazine readers were kind and patient enough to respond to our Windows 8 survey, and it turns out that Windows 8 is pretty intriguing, at least for 60.9 percent of you. That's how many are very interested (20.7 percent) or somewhat interested (40.2 percent) in using the new OS in their shops.

Win 8 may be good news for OEMs. Perhaps because of its touch interface and new graphics, nearly 60 percent say they will likely buy new hardware to run the new OS.

Posted by Doug Barney on 06/04/20127 comments

Gartner Wants You To Know XP Is Old

I'm thinking of not covering Gartner news anymore -- its prognostications are usually too self-serving and rarely provide any useful purpose. If I want any industry insight I'll ask Redmond Report readers a question and wait for your questions.

The latest example? The famous and (for some reason) highly-profitable research house just announced to the world that if your shop hasn't moved away from XP, then you are
"really, really late."

Posted by Doug Barney on 06/04/20123 comments

Pricey Win ARM Tabs

I have no idea if this is true, but one story has it that OEMs in the Far East won't be able to make Windows ARM tablets as cheap as iPads. If true, I guess I know what tablet I'll be using this Christmas.

The theory is these manufacturers will have to give Redmond close to 100 clams for the OS itself -- something that sounds sketchy to me.

Posted by Doug Barney on 06/01/20122 comments

As Windows 8 Nears, the Server Is More Dear

This week Microsoft gave the IT community two gifts:  nearly complete versions of Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012.

Here's what Microsoft did: It releases a "release candidate" (RC) of Windows Server 2012 and a "release preview" (RP) of Windows 8. That's right, two names for the exact same thing -- nearly complete software! How dumb is that? Is Microsoft just messing with us?

Posted by Doug Barney on 06/01/20128 comments

Doug's Mailbag: True Cost of Migrating

Readers share their thoughts on the latest IDC and Microsoft migration study:

This whole attitude of business sticking with XP gives off the vibe that they want to keep their employees in a vacuum.

Most employees of these companies have their own computers running windows 7, so the argument of retraining I think is only partially correct.

Legacy software is an issue, but at some point if you persist to hold onto the old technology, you become like the IRS with boxes of card punch decks stuffed in heating vents a decade or two later.

Security is also like insurance -- it is expensive when you are humming along (i.e. weighing the cost of upgrading to latest OS when everything is working OK), but cheap when it saves you. Windows 7 is fundamentally more secure.

Also, very old hardware becomes a bottleneck. This causes  a block to develop new applications because the existing hardware cannot run them, which then continues in the avalanche of falling behind.
-Michael

This is why most professionals view consulting firms with a jaundiced eye. We are still running some XP stuff, most of it for legacy issues. The cost per machine, as far as maintenance goes, is actually a little higher for Win 7 than on XP. Not enough to matter.

Of course we maintain our network, application control and Internet access. We monitor thumb drives and other detachable storage. At home (and in my nonprofit support role) the same seems to apply. The reality is that there are things intelligent user communities do. If you do not, it will hurt.

If you take the maintenance cost matrix in context, this will make Win7 pretty expensive after you buy new PCs, upgrade older PCs and replace peripherals. Oh, that really is why we don't upgrade. I guess intuition is not nearly as bad as we thought.
-Anonymous

I see Microsoft propaganda machine is back in full swing. Windows 7 cheaper than Windows XP? Yeah, and Windows is better than OS/2...
-Johnny

Posted by Doug Barney on 06/01/20120 comments

Giving the Boot to Windows Boot Wait

Many things can be done while Windows boots. Some are trivial: toe nails clipped, coffee made, restroom runs ran. Other things I'm sure we couldn't talk about here. Let's just say plenty of cribs and jail cells are now plum full thanks to Windows!

Microsoft is now looking to end the waiting game. Windows 8 promises to boot so fast that we'll all have to find another excuse to commit our trespasses or make whoopee. In fact, the OS will load so quickly that you won't even have enough time to hit the F key to invoke the various boot options.

Posted by Doug Barney on 05/30/20128 comments