The fine folks from Mozilla Corp. stopped by last week to show off
Firefox
2. We made them all gourmet coffee, cleared off the conference table and
had a little sit-down. Just so they knew where we stood, I mentioned the three
to four articles we wrote telling IT to move to Firefox and disable IE until
its security improves (we haven't taken a stand on IE7, but if it's secure and
great, we'll start writing articles about how to move to IE7 and disable Firefox!).
Firefox 2, due this month, has spell-checking, anti-phishing and the ability
to restore sessions.
But the coolest part was when I told them my idea for a file system that would
organize your searches and let you share them with others (I gave this idea
free of charge to Google; however, soon after receiving my suggestion, it
announced it had no plans to ever build a browser).
So imagine my surprise when the VP of engineering said that is exactly what
will make Firefox 3, about a year away, so great. The browser will tag search
results, index and organize your history, and have other cool features that
are hopefully close to the specs I wrote for The
Barney Browser.
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/19/2006 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Remember when Microsoft bought application virtualization vendor Softricity?
Sure you do. If you're a Software Assurance customer,
you'll
be getting this virtualization software free as of January. Softricity's
SoftGrid is pretty cool. By streaming the apps, software can be deployed more
flexibly. Better than that, the software isn't physically installed and doesn't
mess with the registry, reducing conflicts. If you don't have SA, SoftGrid will
cost you $10 per PC per year.
Find out if SA is right for you by reading my hard-hitting free special report.
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/19/2006 at 1:15 PM1 comments
IE7
is here! For IE users, this is a no-brainer. If it's not far more secure
than IE6, I'll eat my hat -- my chocolate-frosted, ice cream cake hat. Unfortunately,
I don't think I'll be chomping on this puppy, as Microsoft has had years to
spruce up IE's protections. De-emphasizing ActiveX is certainly one giant leap
for mankind.
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/19/2006 at 1:15 PM2 comments
The Mozilla folks tossed around some pretty wild market share numbers for their
browser (in the upper teens, as I recall) but I knew better. In my mind, I kept
saying it was a point or two over 10! Days later, research from Net Applications
had me patting myself on the back (this habit is so bad, my rotator cuff is
permanently shot!). It turns out
Firefox's
share worldwide is 12.46 percent. Another research house, OneStat, pegs
Firefox at 11.49 percent. Wonder if the two shops compared notes?
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/19/2006 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Port80 Software claims that
Microsoft's
IIS 6 outshines Apache in market share 54 percent to 23.3 percent in corporate
environments, and that IIS share is growing dramatically. I don't doubt this
research, but I
will point out that Port80 is a Microsoft partner!
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/19/2006 at 1:15 PM1 comments
Corporate customers aren't exactly sitting on pins and needles waiting for Vista.
IT is a bit more wait-and-see -- as in, wait for the bigger bugs to be worked
out, security holes plugged and a service pack tested and shipped! Microsoft
isn't so patient. Redmond is telling IT that
the
sooner it upgrades, the sooner it'll save money -- reduced admin costs and
even savings on electricity -- as Vista PCs manage power the same way today's
laptops do.
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/19/2006 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Microsoft's virtualization software now has true open source-style licensing
with the news that developers can run as many operating systems as they like
for free
and without a license.
Such actions don't seem to faze VMware, which just announced that it's operating
a $750 million yearly revenue run rate. Not everyone is afraid of Microsoft.
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/18/2006 at 1:15 PM0 comments
I once tried to learn how to spell the name of Moammar Gadhafi only to find
that the press had three to four different spellings depending on the magazine
or newspaper. Libyan kids can go through the same frustration by using Google
and their shiny new $100 Linux laptops, all thanks to Moammar who plans to
give
over a million youngsters laptops and satellite connections to the Internet.
Meanwhile, I came across a Web site that lists 11 different ways to spell the
Libyan leader’s name -- check it out
here.
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/18/2006 at 1:15 PM0 comments
As a kid I loved Spam, once pilfering a can from the cupboard and slipping it
under my pillow so I’d have fatty, delicious, porkish dreams. As an adult,
I hate the stuff -- at least the kind with the lowercase "s."
Hormel, makers of the uppercase form of Spam, is also irritated by unwanted
e-mail. In fact, it tried to prevent antispam vendors from disparaging
the name "Spam." The only problem, according to a European court,
is that no one seems to realize that Spam can actually refer to a high-calorie
processed canned meat-style foodstuff.
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/18/2006 at 1:15 PM0 comments
Microsoft PR may be playing it cagey, but Vista developers aren't. Apparently,
the folks in Building 9 have an electronic sign
counting
down the days until Vista is released to manufacturing. Earlier this week,
the ticker said RTM was nine days away. I'm getting chills already (but that's
probably just the fall weather here in New England).
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/18/2006 at 1:15 PM1 comments
How can you party when you miss the party? For Windows Vista, the answer is
to make so much noise, people actually think you're there! Microsoft, as I'm
sure we all suspected, is working with OEMs to promote
Vista-ready
PCs and laptops this December, including Vista-ready games, productivity
apps and hardware add-ons. What we're really all waiting for are coupons for
free upgrades to Vista for any machine bought during the holiday rampage!
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/17/2006 at 1:15 PM1 comments
If you're late to work four days in a row, but get there promptly at 9 a.m. on
Friday, can you still claim to be on time? If you're Windows Vista, you can! This
OS has been late more times than Dagwood Bumstead, but come November,
Microsoft
promises it will be there on time and with bells on. There will even be a
version for Europe next month with all the stuff the EU objects to ripped out.
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/17/2006 at 1:15 PM1 comments