Microsoft has a pretty good track record for making old apps work on
new OSes. In fact, Redmond has been so concerned over the years with backward
compatibility that it didn't push as aggressively as it could to new technologies.
And all the code to support 8- and 16-bit apps made Windows 95, 98 and XP less
stable and less modern than it could have been.
Vista, as I understand, dispenses with some of that legacy code, so compatibility
might be an issue (you mean MultiPlan, WordPerfect 1 and dBASE 2 might not run?).
To help figure out what will work and what won't, and make broken apps whole
again, Microsoft has launched the Application
Compatibility Factory, where large systems integrators will help ensure
enterprise apps are ready for Vista.
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/02/2006 at 1:15 PM0 comments
I got a little bundle of gold code last week as my new daughter Kiley Marie
was released to manufacturing. While only a few days old now, she already has
a razor-sharp wit and well-defined political views. No word yet on whether she'll
standardize on the Mac or Vista. As for desktop Linux, she maintains it's "too
immature."
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/02/2006 at 1:15 PM0 comments
The name SQL Everywhere is dead. Fortunately, the product isn't. SQL Server
Mobile Edition was supposed to get the Everywhere moniker. Now it'll just be
called
SQL
Server Compact Edition.
Apparently, the Everywhere name was too close to Sybase's SQL Anywhere. Heck,
Microsoft got its SQL Server code from Sybase -- why shouldn't it snag the name,
as well?
Look for the tool to ship later this year.
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/02/2006 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Hey, good lookin'!
Domain registrar
Dotster wants you! The company is searching high and low for spokesmodels,
and is holding its latest auditions tonight in Los Angeles. I wonder how many
of the contestants will know who Dotster is, or what a domain registrar does.
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/02/2006 at 1:15 PM1 comments
Ray Ozzie got the Microsoft open source ball rolling when he released Live Clipboard.
Now, things are sorta starting to move as Redmond releases more and more technologies
into the public domain via the Open Specification Promise (OSP), which is Microsoft-shorthand
for "You can use our technology and we won't sue."
Last week, Microsoft applied that promise to Sender
ID, which is a way to make sure e-mail is coming from a real person rather
than a spam factory. Microsoft has also put its Virtual
Hard Disk Image Format spec into the public domain. OSP technologies now
total about a half-dozen, including a number of SOAP technologies, single sign-on
goodies and security tools. Microsoft lists the full roster here.
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/01/2006 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Remember that bully in school that always stole your hat and tossed it in the
garbage? For Red Hat, Larry Ellison is that bully. Larry announced that Oracle will
happily support Red Hat software -- for half-price! That news had Red Hat investors
seeing red as the stock
sank
almost $6 in a day. At least Red Hat is still in the black!
The company itself still believes in the stock and last week announced plans
to buy back $300 million worth of shares.
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/01/2006 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Microsoft has been making more and more noise about video conferencing. This
must not sit well with Cisco, which owns the network the same way Redmond owns
the desktop. On Oct. 20, Microsoft announced a research project for a
cheap,
mobile video conferencing device that will be out in a year or less.
Days later, Cisco announced a tool aimed at
making
video conferences feel more like the real thing, instead of the jerky, latency-laden
messes they are today (don't video conferences remind you of those annoying
dance club strobe lights?).
I don't care who wins this war. I just want this stuff to look good so I can
stop flying around the country just to put a face to a voice.
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/01/2006 at 1:15 PM0 comments
There's nothing like a bad Ayn Rand pun to start your day, and the news that
Microsoft
is shipping a new beta of Atlas, the Ajax tool, gave me that opportunity.
Version 1 of ASP.NET Ajax (that just rolls of the tongue) is
The Fountainhead
of a whole new style of programming for Visual Studio and ASP.NET programmers.
Now it just needs an
Anthem!
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/01/2006 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Commodity servers, the rise of Windows Server and Linux, and the inability
of the network computer to make it off the launch pad have all conspired to
pound Sun Microsystems' earnings deep into negative territory. But
these
losses are easing as Solaris, now open source, picks up steam and cost-cutting
measures take hold.
Sun is one of the few remaining innovators and I, for one, would love to see
the company back on track. The company now has a run rate of some $12 billion
in annual revenue -- not too shabby, I'd say.
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/01/2006 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Last week,
two
IE7 problems were reported. Microsoft disputes one and agrees with the other.
One hole could ease phishing attacks (anti-phishing is one of the big new features
in the new Firefox). The other hole has nothing to do with IE7, but rather is
an Outlook vulnerability, Microsoft points out.
These reports represent a new era where we'll all be talking about the security
of Vista, IE7 and Office 2007. Let's all hope the issues are fewer and less
critical than they've been with the older tools.
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/31/2006 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Millions have tried the beta, and now they can download the real thing as
Windows
Defender is done. Redmond's free anti-spyware program is now in version
1. Even better, the price hasn't changed: This little puppy is still free.
I am a friend of third parties, and if Defender was designed to undercut third-party
prices but still add a billion or two to the well-stuffed Microsoft coffers,
I'd be irritated. But a free tool to protect an OS we all depend on? Why, that's
Nobel Peace Prize-territory in my book.
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/31/2006 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Despite Google gains, Apple advances and open source success, the Redmond money
train just keeps a-rollin'. Last week, Microsoft announced it
brought
in more than $10 billion in the more recent quarter. While big, these numbers
still pale in comparison to HP's and IBM's. But Microsoft is all about profits
and, in this case, had pre-tax profits of nearly $4.5 billion -- margins any
self-respecting capitalist would be proud of. The big revenue guns were games,
Visual Studio and SQL Server 2005.
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/31/2006 at 1:15 PM0 comments