I'm working up a story on dumb IT mistakes, either ones you made or observed first hand. My guess is that all (or almost all) of these stories will run anonymously, unless you really want to get these bad experiences off your chest.
Share the worst of the worst by writing me at [email protected] and I'll be in touch.
Posted by Doug Barney on 05/09/2011 at 1:18 PM11 comments
Even though there is not yet a version of Windows that runs on ARM processors, research house IDC claims ARM will own 13 percent of the PC market by 2015. That's because Microsoft promises to port Windows 8 (or whatever it'll call it) to ARM's system-on-a-chip.
ARM processors don't need a lot of power, which was an advantage until Intel's announcement of a super-low-power consuming processor.
Here are my concerns: First, many of these ARM machines will be tablets, not full-fledged PCs. Second, I doubt an ARM version of Windows will ship before 2013. That doesn't give the company much time to grab what is roughly double the market share of the Mac, which has been around for a quarter century!
Is IDC all wet, and I am the one soaking? Let me know either way at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 05/09/2011 at 1:18 PM0 comments
Tomorrow IT pros can breathe a sigh of relief and maybe even take a real hour-long lunch. That's because Microsoft is releasing only two patches. A "critical" patch fixes remote code execution (RCE) holes in Windows Server 2003 and 2008, while an "important" patch fixes RCE vulnerabilities in versions of Office -- from Office XP all the way up to Office 2007.
My guess? Next month we'll see a far larger batch of patches.
Posted by Doug Barney on 05/09/2011 at 1:18 PM0 comments
I'm not sure if I should be surprised that Google was found to be the most reputable company in America. The vast majority of us use Google for search, and lots of its stuff is free.
You have to really follow technology to know some of the insidious things the company does, like killing media companies and invading our privacy -- all while not seeming to care.
Apple came in fifth, and Amazon (the survey, I'm sure, was done before its three-day cloud outage) came in eight.
Which companies do you respect the most? Share your feelings at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 05/09/2011 at 1:18 PM3 comments
Michael Cherry, a former influential Microsoft employee, is now one of the most influential Microsoft analysts. So when Cherry predicts that Windows 8 will probably ship in two years, I tend to believe him.
Cherry and independent analyst group Directions on Microsoft, argue that some software houses and OEMs already have an early build -- I'd guess a way early build -- of Win 8.
I'm actually a bit surprised that no real features or a sense of what this OS is about have leaked out. That all may change this September if Microsoft gives out Win 8 code at its Professional Developers Conference.
Like Win 7, Win 8 is expected to run on 32- and 64-bit chips, but will also run on ARM's system-on-chip. My guess is the ARM version will come after the Intel/AMD compatible revs.
What does Microsoft have to do to generate excitement two years from now with Win 8? You tell me at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 05/06/2011 at 1:18 PM1 comments
Should there be a better term for cloud computing? Here are some of your thoughts:
Just a brief FYI -- you don't need to use the 'cloud' to be sure your files are safe. All you need is a USB stick or a handheld USB 'Passport' by Western Digital (or your favorite brand name).
I recently read in the Orange County Register about huge data compromises for major companies who entrusted the cloud -- the cost and lost reputation has been enormous for these major players. My only concern is their boards of directors might feel the cost savings outweigh the damage to the people whose data was stolen in the form of bank account info, social security numbers and other such stuff.
Because the world is so fragmented, trusting the cloud is like trusting a twister to deliver your mail.
Enjoy your articles, Doug!
-Steven
What is commonly called/labeled 'Cloud' -- on-demand provisioning and pay-as-you-go -- was actually more accurately referred to as 'utility' in the past. "Utility Computing," to be more accurate, reflects the provisioning and billing aspects which are very similar to what most folks come to expect (maybe subconsciously) from the telephone, gas or electric company -- you walk/call-up to start the service account, then you are billed based on your usage. Those companies, in kind, are able to (mostly) scale to the usage needs of the customer/subscriber and/or build out additional capacities and capabilities.
The 'cloud' probably came out of the Internet marketers looking for something catchy... If you think about it, about the only thing the term 'cloud' aligns with in this context is the Internet delivery aspects -- which, itself, is debatable when you factor in the VPN aspects that some configurations require. The Internet, in this respect, is just a cheaper telecommunications/delivery option from the traditional private circuits -- like most other Internet-based services.
-Chiu
Doug, I'm in complete agreement with Don on his cloud opinion, including how the term cloud came about as an IT marketing catch phrase.
As an IT director, I will not push everything to the cloud as vendors would wish. I will, instead, make use of Internet-provided services that make sense to our organization.
-Howard
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 05/06/2011 at 1:18 PM1 comments
During the U.S. antitrust investigation and prosecution of Microsoft , WordPerfect and Novell were two major flies in Redmond's ointment. Two enemies became one when Novell bought WordPerfect as an effort to counter Microsoft Word and Office.
WordPerfect believed that Microsoft leveraged its monopoly in operating systems to gain a monopoly in productivity suites. The argument was not as clean as the Netscape situation, which was clearly harmed by bundling IE with Windows 95.
For WordPerfect, it had more to do with OEM relationships and Office developers' ability to get at the innards of Windows through what are called undocumented calls. The government is set to cease is oversight of Microsoft on May 12. So the timing of a renewed WordPerfect antitrust suit is strange, indeed.
Here's the skinny:
Novell bought WordPerfect, but it later sold the intellectual property, along with that of Quattro Pro, to Corel in 1996. Novell then executed an intellectual property deal concerning its DR-DOS product with Caldera, a company founded by ex-Novell boss Ray Noorda. Caldera successfully sued Microsoft over DR-DOS, distributing some of the court winnings to Novell.
An appeals court in Virginia ruled that even though Novell gave up rights associated with DR-DOS when it sold that product to Caldera, it had not relinquished rights to sue Microsoft over antitrust claims associated with its productivity software, namely WordPerfect and Quattro Pro.
The situation is way uncomfortable since Novell is now a major Microsoft partner that is focusing on the integration of Linux and Windows. Awkward!
Novell, which already got half a billion bucks from Microsoft, is looking for several billion more.
Is the world a less perfect place without WordPerfect? You tell me at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 05/06/2011 at 1:18 PM5 comments
For years the Internet intelligentsia has warned that the Internet sky is falling -- as we run out of IPv4 addresses, we'll lose the ability to expand. IPv6 was the answer, but after a decade of promoting the address scheme, IPv6 is still barely out of the gate. Â During this time various kludges have squeaked more life out of IPv4.
Microsoft, hoping to help, just cooked up a deal with Nortel to take seven million old or unused IPv4 addresses that can now be put back into circulation.
More of this type of thing may be coming. That's because the American Registry for Internet Numbers is acting a little more liberal about allowing these transfers.
Microsoft ponied up $7.5 million for the set of numbers and got what is likely a bargain due to the fact that Nortel was forced to file for bankruptcy.
Posted by Doug Barney on 05/04/2011 at 1:18 PM2 comments
Microsoft, the company critics like to claim is passé, had another killer quarter. It brought in over $16 billion and an annual run rate of some $64 billion. That ain't chump change.
While Windows faltered a smidge (down 4 percent), the Xbox 360 (and especially Kinect) kicked some major hiney. Office also did well, with Office 2010 showing some impressive upgrade results.
Profits, of over $5 billion, represent about a 30 percent margin (if my internal calculator is reasonably correct).
How can Microsoft set records quarter after quarter and still get no Wall Street respect? Is Microsoft the Rodney Dangerfield of the tech world? Opinions welcome at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 05/04/2011 at 1:18 PM2 comments
First, chunks of Amazon's cloud went down for around three days. Then, chunks of customer data on Amazon's cloud were lost for good. Now, Amazon is saying it's sorry and is finally telling the world what really happened.
An upgrade to add capacity at a Virginia data center went awry. The traffic was mistakenly diverted to a low-capacity backup router, which couldn't handle all the traffic. Because the network was compromised, various nodes were isolated, and data made vulnerable.
Amazon now has a lot to prove if it is to regain confidence -- and sign up new customers.
Are you spooked by the outage and subsequent data loss? Send your reactions to [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 05/04/2011 at 1:18 PM3 comments
Apple and Google both have black eyes after news surfaced that their mobile devices track and store your every move, even when you tell them not to. And one of the little secrets that has come to light  is that Joe Law has been given this data as part of investigations.
Hey, I'm all for putting creeps behind bars, but spying on all of us to do so may not be such a great trade (agree or beg to differ at [email protected]).
If you are a criminal or freedom-loving American, you may want to opt for Windows Phone 7. Microsoft says it tracks location only if users asks it to. But it does not do so without explicit permission and doesn't store the data in hidden, encrypted files like the iPhone, iPad and Android devices clearly do.
Is Microsoft really the one to be trusted here? Based on a few recent projects, I've come face-to-face with Redmond privacy policies and tend to think so.
Feel free to disagree at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 05/02/2011 at 1:18 PM2 comments