Microsoft's reputation is more of the button-downed nerd than a partying frat boy. That may be true here in the U.S. but in the U.K. Microsoft reportedly showed its wilder side.
Two years ago a company U.K. sales meeting turned to debauchery after massive amounts of Jagermeister and Vodka were swilled.
The news came in a lawsuit filed by the former GM of Microsoft U.K. Simon Negus. Microsoft fired Negus last year claiming he kissed another employee at a different Microsoft conference in Atlanta, Ga. Negus believes he was falsely fired, and apparently the U.K. partying culture is part of his argument. I guess the idea is why should Negus get fired when everyone is acting a little nuts?
What is your wackiest office party story? We only publish first names do feel free to let loose at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 09/19/2011 at 1:18 PM1 comments
It is still probably a year or two away, but that didn't stop Microsoft from promoting Windows Server 8 at last week's Build show. While details were not as forthcoming as they were with the Windows 8 client, Microsoft did wet our server whistle just a bit.
It seems every Microsoft presentation has to be peppered liberally with the word 'cloud' these days, and Windows Server 8 was no exception. The company claims the new server OS is "cloud-optimized," and through the support of large clusters can support scalable cloud services.
And to improve uptime, Microsoft is enhancing Live Migration so there is no interruption when a virtual hard drive is moved from one machine to another.
Microsoft is also looking to lower the cost of storage by turning Just a Bunch of Disks (JBOD) into a unified cloudy storage pool.
Are you Jonesin' for Windows Server 8? If so, what would like to see in it? Advice welcome at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 09/19/2011 at 1:18 PM0 comments
Two readers share whether they are a little envious of those who received the Windows 8 tablet last week at Build:
Yes, I am jealous about the tablet, and for not making it to Build. I've got the developer preview installed already, and looking at what we'll do with it. My company is a certified Gold partner, and if you feel like sending another one out -- I'd be more than happy to try it out!
-Jason
Do the recipients of such trinkets believe they hand out these baubles out of human kindness or do they wonder what they have to do for them? I remember as a young boy, my grandfather, a coal miner from Pennsylvania, telling me there were no free lunches. Nobody gives you anything for free. They want something, and what they want is generally in proportion with price of the main course.
No, I don't need a tablet. I have a lot of toys that do not require the Internet to have fun with. I can engage in social intercourse without Facebook or Twitter. I actually read books. You remember, bound bundles of paper with writing on the paper. The font never changed. I look at these adding machines as equipment to do a job. They are machines. They lost most of the cool for me the first time I wrote a device driver. Now, they are no different than a worn out metal lathe. Another tool I can use to do meaningful work. The machine is not meaningful, the work is.
-Anonymous
Here's one reader who is not enjoying Microsoft's latest OS interfaces:
I have a Windows phone and when it rings I try to answer the call, but end up with either a picture of my thumb or a recording of me saying, 'stupid phone!'
I would like a phone that is, by default, a phone and a computer that runs business apps well -- not devices that randomly decide to become various other playthings.
I still hate the Ribbon interface and would like to get away from the cartoons (icons) that supposedly save me from menus.
-Eric
Share your thoughts with the editors of this newsletter! Write to [email protected]. Letters printed in this newsletter may be edited for length and clarity, and will be credited by first name only (we do NOT print last names or e-mail addresses).
Posted by Doug Barney on 09/19/2011 at 1:18 PM1 comments
Every year or two I send editors to what used to be called the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference (it's called Build). I say every couple of years because Microsoft holds these events when it has significant new software, and not based on an arbitrary annual schedule.
The last time around Microsoft gave developers netbooks loaded with tons of RAM so they could run beta versions of Windows 7 and Office 2010. My journalists, being journalists, were not eligible.
This time around the tears are greater as Microsoft handed out some 5,000 Samsung tablets running an early version (a way early version) of Windows 8.
This bad boy has 4 gigs of RAM, a solid state drive, and a sharp 1366 x 768 display.
The machine has a split personality, acting as either a standard laptop (through a Bluetooth keyboard) or pure tablet. As if this wasn't sweet enough, Microsoft tossed in a full year of 3G connectivity.
Are you as jealous about not receiving one of these Samsungs as I am? Don't cry into your Cheerios. Cry to me instead at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 09/16/2011 at 1:18 PM0 comments
On Wednesday I talked about some Windows 8 basics -- many of which are aimed at consumers who are snapping up tablets like Rosie O'Donnell snaps up cookies.
But Windows 8 isn't just aimed at the iPad. It is also designed to maintain Redmond's monster enterprise business.
IT often has to reassign computers, which means wiping out all the old data, settings and unneeded apps and starting with a clean slate. Win 8 will do this through the new reset function that reconfigures the computer with a clean slate.
Many IT pros are used to running their PCs off a thumb drive, which is handy for traveling and troubleshooting. This should be easier with Win 8's "Windows to Go." Security gets more beef with a new boot method that requires a trust digital certificate before allowing the OS to load.
What IT features do you want to see in Win 8? Send your wish list to [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 09/16/2011 at 1:18 PM4 comments
As I previewed Monday, this Patch Tuesday had a scant 5 patches, and these were only "important," far less crucial than "critical."
In fact, Adobe released more than twice that, shipping out 13 fixes. And unlike Microsoft, which explicitly documents what each fix does, Adobe ships out fixes without a lot of detail.
Back to Microsoft, elevation of privilege and (as usual) remote code execution (RCE) patches led the charge. The Windows Internet Name Server got an elevation of privilege hole plugged, while rich text docs and Excel got RCE patches.
How does Microsoft patching stand up to other vendors? You tell me at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 09/14/2011 at 1:18 PM0 comments
Being wired used to be cool. But with WiFi, wired is squaresville, man. IDC sees the wired writing on the wall and predicts that wireless connections to the 'Net will blast past wired ties in four years.
And mobile devices by 2015 will be the number one way we all get to the Internet. That means that the number of PCs accessing the Internet will stall and then ultimately fall.
Will we see Wired magazine change its name to Unwired?
You buying these predictions? Share your views at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 09/14/2011 at 1:18 PM0 comments
Readers react to the news that Windows Explorer in Microsoft's next OS will feature Office's controversial Ribbon toolbar:
I've used the ribbon for years and still hate it. It not only made 2007+ difficult to use but it made older versions, which I'm forced to use, confusing too. If ribbon is the future for Microsoft then Microsoft is not the future for me.
-Pode
At first I despised the ribbon. Then, after a few sessions working with it in Word, Paint and Excel, I grew to like it. Plus, if the 'quick' click isn't readily available, customize the tool bar! The biggest problem with Office isn't the menu system, it's the ever-expanding feature list!
-Clarence
As a sysadmnin I agree the ribbon is not an enhancement. I thought at first I would like it, but in practice I don't. I think that arrogant MS should wise up and give people a CHOICE of what menus/tool bars and/or options to use. I also think that MS needs to realize that while techies can easily adapt to change, many users do not. Each time a UI changes it is a major deal -- not always a good one to those folks who don't adapt well to relearning. It also is a matter of efficiency. If it does not help productivity, (in my case it does not because I'm hunting for the features I use) why do it? Often I find myself just wanting to do it the old toolbar/menu driven way.
-Anonymous
Way to tick-off your customers, Microsoft! Nothing like a 'my way or the highway' attitude to inspire customers to look for alternatives to your software.
-Anonymous
Share your thoughts with the editors of this newsletter! Write to [email protected]. Letters printed in this newsletter may be edited for length and clarity, and will be credited by first name only (we do NOT print last names or e-mail addresses).
Posted on 09/14/2011 at 1:18 PM5 comments
As I expected, Microsoft not only released new details of Windows 8 at its Build Conference, but also gave out working code to developers.
As the sneak peak screen shots that have kicked around for months demonstrate, Windows 8 is probably the most radical Microsoft OS change since the move from DOS to Windows.
Win 8 looks more like a phone or tablet OS than is does a PC operating system. In fact, for those of you that use Windows Phone 7 (there must be at least a couple of you out there) Win 8 will look very familiar.
Win 8 also offers a new development paradigm (Redmond just loves to change its development paradigms, doesn't it?), with many new apps to be written in XAML, HTML 5 or JavaScript. Hard core apps, though, I'm sure will be built the old fashioned way. Hey, look how long it's taking to get developers to move from VB to C#!
Windows 8 will also run on a new range of ARM-driven devices, but not all older x86 apps will necessarily follow. Instead a new class of apps will be built mainly in HTML5. These apps are referred to a "Metro-style", as opposed to existing x86 programs which are now as they have always been called "desktop apps." It's nice to see Microsoft using an older, well-understood term rather than inventing new nomenclature.
Metro apps can be driven by pen or touch, and the interface is scaled down just as with a smartphone.
Are you ready for a new interface? Your thoughts welcome at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 09/14/2011 at 1:18 PM4 comments
Readers chime in on HP's handling of its webOS-based tablet:
The popularity of the $100 HP TouchPad should speak volumes to any (non-Apple) tablet maker. If you want to compete with Apple in the tablet market you cannot charge Apple prices!
HP's most recent statements demonstrate that HP wants to be more like IBM than like Dell. It want out of the commodity/consumer PC/tablet market. Fine. Let it spin off (or sell) that business.
It will be up to that new PC/tablet unit to decide how to compete against Dell and the others. In any event, you cannot compete against Apple at Apple price points.
-Marc
Perhaps HP's plan all along was to have a 'fire sale.' Maybe it figured it would generate a media blitz causing partners like Best Buy to sell the tablets at what's probably a loss for them, and then say, 'hey look at all the demand!' If so that's a pretty lousy way to treat your partners and the market. I'm waiting to see the Win 8 tablets before I decide whether to buy that or an iPad.
-Anonymous
You know, HP makes some great printers, but they should stick to that. They are second probably only to Roxio at having the worst software experiences around. It takes an act of congress to get its printer or other software and drivers to install -- much less resolve a problem with one. I have one HP fax that gets its software blown every couple of weeks whenever there are a group of software updates that come along. I have to keep the installation CD on my desk all the time. Its software always seems to interfere with all my other software. I really hope it just get out of the software market, or find another party that will do a good job for it.
-LB
Share your thoughts with the editors of this newsletter! Write to [email protected]. Letters printed in this newsletter may be edited for length and clarity, and will be credited by first name only (we do NOT print last names or e-mail addresses).
Posted by Doug Barney on 09/12/2011 at 1:18 PM2 comments
This week Microsoft hosts its Build Conference, which used to be called the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference. So not only does Microsoft change product names at the drop of a hat, it also does so with conferences.
Quite frankly I could give a hoot about the arbitrary name change. PDC and (now) Build are where we get real details (and code) that point to the next major rev of major pieces of OS software.
This one is all about Windows 8, and I can't wait to get a fuller set of details than the meager scraps we've been left with. The biggest deal is if they give out code. Developers then can share their real-world views of the features, UI, early performance and stability.
Hopefully I'll have some solid deets on Wednesday for you.
We should also hear more about IE 10 and see some updated code, but this has nowhere near the impact of Windows 8.
What is your opinion of Win 7 and what does that tell you about Win 8? Hit me up at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 09/12/2011 at 1:18 PM2 comments
Last week I talked about myriad Microsoft online mail services simply ceasing to function -- pooping out, dying, failing and going nowhere but south for several hours (for most users). At first, as some of you loyal Redmond Report readers pointed out, there was no explanation.
Now Microsoft has found a scapegoat: DNS. It was really the fault of DNS. After all, DNS is DNS. It was instead clearly a DNS configuration, maintenance or management error -- one that has been rectified.
One Redmond Report reader, Rick, says his service was down for five full days. Another Live@EDU user was down for an evening, but had the same thing happen three weeks ago. He was frustrated that Microsoft gave scant details, describing the response as a "pay no attention to that man behind the curtain" ploy.
Have your Web or cloud services been stable or suspect? You tell me and I'll tell the rest at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 09/12/2011 at 1:18 PM1 comments