When questioning what ever happened to single sign-on technology, Doug asks you to share your password thoughts:
I have an openID but not too many places uses it. My main tool is LastPass, in combination with a Ubikey -- two-factor authentification. Works great and is secure. Would recommend it to anybody.
-Louis
I have the little notebook for each site I use regularly, Online E-mail, frequently used sites, etc. For the stuff that needs to be secure, like the PayPal, Apple, iPod –ahem- stuff, I have another little notebook in the lockbox safely tuck away. My computer is not one that is accessed by other people, just myself and my wife. We use a netbook for general surfing. At work, all I can say is that I don't use a notebook with passwords, but I do use phrases as passwords.
To be honest, for secure stuff like banking, general billing and credit cards, I still don't do that stuff online. One can argue that someone can intercept the snail mail, true, but the guy from Romania isn't coming over here to snoop through my mailbox outside my house. Also, if a person is snooping in my mailbox, he can be prosecuted. If the credit card company, bank or utility is hacked, I am not the one that is liable for the security breech.
-Steve
You asked 'How do you keep track of all your log-ins and passwords?'
It's called Pencil, a piece of paper and a kitchen table where the spouse keeps all the junk mail. Buried under a thick stack of junk mail where nobody, myself included, will ever find the said list.
But, of course, the Geek Squads among us keep these things on their NetBooks or WiFi-enabled phone so that a good hacker can have easy access to them. LOL.
-Hans
Unfortunately, I've been forced to use an Excel spreadsheet with all my usernames and passwords. I avoided it as long as I could, but with the sheer quantity of accounts, both frivolous and work-related, many with different requirements for username length and makeup, and varying password requirements as well, I reached a point that I couldn't remember them all and got tired of resetting passwords all the time. I keep the file on my PC hidden, and the printouts where only I know how to find them, but I am fearful of the day that list gets found by someone else.
-Matt
I've yet to find a really fool-proof way to keep and track user names and passwords SECURELY, so I continue to use the stone-age method of little wire-bound notebooks -- one for my job-related stuff and one for my personal/friends/family accounts. Neither one of these little notebooks lives with any specific machine. That way if one of my laptops gets stolen, heaven forbid, I haven't also lost my 'keys.' I've got most of the important passwords memorized, but that is becoming increasingly difficult too as I work with more and more customers at the university where I'm employed. So I suppose my 'method' could be called the 'grey-matter paper' method of tracking passwords <grin>.
-Gordon
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Posted by Doug Barney on 04/18/2011 at 1:18 PM7 comments
Looks like the topic of printers is a hot-button issue with readers, so we're features some more of your opinions:
I wound up buying a Brother all-in-one inkjet printer for about $100 -- there are a number of similar models that print, scan, copy and fax. I then purchase the ink at 77ink.com because they have cartridges for about $2 each. When they are empty, I bring them to Staples where they give me $3 store credit for the empty ones. I figure I get my paper and ink basically for free. Also, Windows 7 auto detected the printer -- all the more impressive because I have it on my wireless network and not physically hooked up to any PC. (My previous HP deskjet would not allow sharing over the network between PCs, in addition to numerous other problems).
-Paul
You have touched on a sore spot for me. As an IT Manager and IT Administrator, I have seen just how 'intrusive' printers can be -- not just on computers, but into the time wasted on them by employees and IT (see, here I am typing an e-mail about them when I should be working). I am always on the hunt for better printers -- easier setup, more stable software, reasonable supply costs and decreased intrusiveness.
And why do we stay with HP? Because of the workhorses of the past -- yours was a LaserJet 1000 -- ours is the unstoppable LaserJet 2200! We picked up 12 of these about five years ago off a business lease. I have deployed these printers to construction sites around the world, and it is what our Accounting department still prints our paychecks on -- from a Windows 7 64-bit machine!
But, about two years ago, I drew the line in the sand against HP printers, specifically, the software. The more recent HP products, even the large, 'high-quality' printers would give me problems to no end. If it wasn't the driver and subsequent 400MB software package (that never seemed to work as advertised) then it was the printer itself with either jams or error codes. But the final straw for me was when a particular HP printer software install had the incessant urge to try to log onto our Active Directory domain...as the logged in USER! This, as you would expect, resulted in the continual locking out of the user from directory resources. Hours and many trace routes later, the software was uninstalled. I'm sure the software was eventually fixed, but you know how us administrators can be -- an 'attack' on our network is an attack on us.
We have since moved to Brother Printers, and though I have always had my pet peeves with Brother, the reality is its printers work and the software works too...most of the time.
-Travis
HP DeskJet 500: The Pinto of printers, but the Cadillac in performance. Printed about two pages per minute. Printed every color as long as you wanted black. And the quality really was great. Printed cases and cases of paper without ever having an issue with it. Was forced to recycle it for a laser printer, but I must have used that printer for at least six years. I still trumpet it as the greatest printer ever made.
-Michael
Favorite: HP Laserjet 5. TRUE workhorse. Still have several running at work. Only trouble we ever had was when someone turned off the power save mode and the fusing roller overheated. But it wasn't too expensive or difficult to replace the part. Lesson learned!
Least: TIE between an HP 5550 and a Canon inkjet that I refuse to remember the model number for. The HP 5550 drivers for XP refused to install on my brand-new Dell XPS computer (about five years ago) running XP. HP kept trying to blame it on Dell without even trying to troubleshoot why it wouldn't work. The HP generic driver worked, but could not use beyond the most basic of features on the printer. The Canon just quit working. Canon said it needed a new print head (separate from the print cartridge) that cost more than the printer did new!
I wish someone would come out with a multi-function (scan/print... Does anyone really fax anymore?), COLOR, network laser printer that doesn't cost an arm and a leg (less than $200) with decent performance and toner life. I'm still waiting...
-Owen
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Posted by Doug Barney on 04/15/2011 at 1:18 PM1 comments
Hyper-V, to virtualization aficionados, is still considered a bit behind what VMware has to offer. But Microsoft is a patient sort, and will wait as long as it takes to reach parity or best the folks at VMware.
One small step in this direction is the first Service Pack for Hyper-V Server 2008 R2.
The Hyper-V pack is similar to the Service Pack for Windows Server 2008 R2 that came out this winter. That's no real surprise due to the fact that Hyper-V comes with this version of Windows.
One of the two top features for Hyper-V is RemoteFX. This improves the graphics performance of VDI-based thin clients.
The other is 'dynamic memory' which swaps memory around on the fly on an as-needed basis. The promise by more efficiently using memory is that you can cram up to 40 percent more VMs on a single server.
Do you like Hyper-V? Fans and foes equally welcome to respond at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 04/15/2011 at 1:18 PM0 comments
So Facebook is the hottest thing since Tabasco. It is now valued at $50 billion and founder Mark Zuckerberg (unless you believe those two Harvard rowers, or the new guy trying to sue for half of the company because he invested $1,000 years ago) is worth a cool $14 bill. And the site just went through a redesign, one I barely noticed. So is Facebook the new powerhouse? No. As one Redmond Report reader just pointed out, it is just a Web site.
Google took a simple search engine and built a multi-faceted empire. I don't see Facebook making the same moves, and without constant innovation, it could become the next MySpace. Does anyone remember MySpace?
What is your favorite and least favorite social network? Answers readily received at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 04/15/2011 at 1:18 PM0 comments
IE 9 just shipped to a decent amount of acclaim, and already Microsoft is talking about IE 10. As it did with IE 9, the drum beating begins with what Microsoft calls a "Platform Preview." This really isn't an alpha or beta -- it simply doesn't have enough features to justify either term.
While there really isn't an IE 10 UI yet (at least for public consumption), developers can play with CSS 3 and see the new gradient backgrounds that CSS 3 and HTML 5 enable.
Microsoft says it will release a new preview every three months as it builds towards an actual alpha. Me, I'll wait for at least the beta.
Reports have it that IE 10 won't run on Vista, which for most of us sure ain't a problem.
Posted by Doug Barney on 04/15/2011 at 1:18 PM1 comments
Readers share their thoughts on the state of HP and its printers:
HP has sucked ever since Hurd decided to go big-game hunting and screw the cash cow printer business. I took my last, nearly new HP printer to the dumps because its software didn't work correctly, and HP tech support said, tough sh#*. I wouldn't use an HP printer if you gave it to me for free.
I now have a simple little Epson Stylus NS515 ink jet that works flawlessly.
-Anonymous
HP printers have gone down in quality, and their drivers have gotten more and more intrusive and flaky. When it takes 30 minutes or longer to install drivers for a printer, you know there is something wrong.
For light printer usage, I now recommend to my clients to get Brother Printers. With light usage, they last quite a while and are cheap enough that you almost don't mind ditching them when they eventually break down.
With heavy usage, I now recommend Dell Printers. They work well for the most part, although there are some security rights issues when using them with a Terminal Server.
Xerox Phaser printers are very good, but expensive and can't be laminated.
Gone are the days of buying an HP laser printer and using it for 10 to 15 years.
-Westley
Just this week I found the same lack of HP LaserJet 1012 driver support for Windows 7 when setting up a new PC for a customer. I was not pleased, but at least the customer had a HP LaserJet p1606 available. The HP LaserJet 1010, 1012, 1015, 1018, 1020 and 1022 are all out of production, but like most HP LaserJet products I've worked with going all the way back to the HP LaserJet II, they seem to outlive the computers they are connected to. This particular HP LaserJet series was cheap, reliable, reasonably fast and used an affordable 12A cartridge. I run a 1018 and 1020 in my office, and they have been working for almost four years.
I agree with your comment regarding the laziness of HP in not offering support on older printer models that are still likely to be in service. I think the HP we all used to know and love (or at least like a lot) has been gone for quite a while. I'm sure Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard would be shocked to see what a mess HP has become in recent years.
-Tim
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 04/13/2011 at 1:18 PM9 comments
For the past two Christmas and birthday seasons (I was born in December) I've asked my entire family for Best Buy gift certificates. That means I now have enough to buy a couple of low-end thumb drives.
Actually, it is a little more than that. When I started I was saving for a Netbook. Two years ago they were cool. I'm not sure the last time I heard someone brag about their hot new Netbook. Now it's all iPad.
And it turns out the iPad can do most anything a Netbook can do -- without all the crashing and viruses. Through desktop virtualization you can run Windows apps, and without it you can get to the Web and your e-mail.
So maybe I'll wait for another Christmas, kick in some of my own doe and buy an iPad.
What is your advice and how do you make your iPad an effective part of your work life? Write me in detail and maybe you'll be part of my next article. The address as always is [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 04/13/2011 at 1:18 PM12 comments
Let's be honest, most of us (all of us?) have lists somewhere of out log-ins and passwords. With demands for complex passwords, we have to. And for most sites, all the logical user names are taken. So I end up being DouG8256 -- a real intuitive user name! (DouG8255 was already taken.)
For years I have heard vendors beating the single log-in drum. I haven't heard a peep for a long while, which tells me, especially for online, it has failed.
Microsoft made a valiant effort with Passport, but its Web sites were the only one that used it.
How do you keep track of all your log-ins and passwords? Spill the beans at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 04/13/2011 at 1:18 PM22 comments
I'm spending a lot of time covering the cloud and like much of what I see. 2011 will be a year of steady progress. IT will evaluate, test, plan and, in some cases, implement. For many, it will be a year of watching how new cloud solutions mature, and defining the exact economics of these alternatives. We always like to think that technology changes overnight, and it can in terms of offerings. But actual use is based on lots of testing and lots of analysis. The cloud may be a revolution, but won't be nearly as quick as the Bolsheviks.
Amazon prospers: I know, I just said the cloud will take some time to take over. But one company, Amazon, has been in the business for a long time, and will do quite well this year. If its cloud infrastructure is good enough to power the ever-growing, responsive, and uncannily efficient Amazon e-comm business, it should be trustworthy enough for the early cloud pioneers.
Have you tried any cloud services? Give us a full report at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 04/13/2011 at 1:18 PM2 comments
For the second time in less than a month, another high-profile tech trends and analyst firm has released its mobile forecast that points to Windows Phone 7 devices making some serious gain in the market.
While none of the recent speculative analyses (including last week's release of Gartner's mobile forecast report) has any company overtaking the steamrolling Google's Android OS, they do point to Microsoft's latest mobile attempt leapfrogging from the bottom of the pack to claim second place. Gartner actually forecasts a 19.5 percent share in the market by 2015, up from this year's modest 5.6 percent.
Apparently analyst firms are predicting the transfer of the Symbian market share straight to Microsoft, thanks to the recently inked deal between it and Nokia. However, when we first reported the IDC analysis that showed similar numbers, commentators had a field day tearing apart the flawed logic that every single Symbian owner will only jump ship for Microsoft. Not to mention the fact that the Nokia deal won't even start bearing fruit in the form of new devices until sometime late into 2012.
When it was just one report, it was easy to scoff at the predictions. But now that another (somewhat) trusted leader in the tech analysis game comes out with similar claims that many think are outlandish (just check out reader comments on the two news stories for proof on that), is there some information that these firms have that we don't know?
The problem with trying to crystal ball the consumer market is that you don't know what is coming around the bend. By the time 2015 rolls around, Apple may be onto iPhone 7 or 8, Android could have a couple of missteps that lead to consumer distrust and Research In Motion could be sucked into by another company (wow, it's really easy to be a technology trends analyst!). The point is that we don't know what the landscape of the mobile market will be by the end of the year, let alone in four years, and these reports should be taken with a huge grain of salt (especially if using them to beef up your investment portfolio).
What do you think the future holds for the mobile market, and will Microsoft actually find some mobile success? Send your thoughts to Doug at [email protected].
--By Chris Paoli
Posted by Doug Barney on 04/11/2011 at 1:18 PM1 comments
Here's the next batch of reader mail on the new browser versions of Firefox and Internet Explorer:
Yes, I noticed Firefox 4 to be vastly worse than earlier releases... Enough so that I had to change default browser from Firefox to Chrome (and Firefox had been my default for over a year).
Loudly agree with the tabs and other user experience comment -- and hiding things I use often does not win new friends...
Chrome is not as stable as I would like. I do run IE 9 for some things but could actually be forced to make it the default because Chrome is not covering everything I would like it to (especially some business internal sites and a few commercial/news sites).
-Anonymous
IE9 has been out for a bit. Here's what I don't like:
- Favorites on right side
- Status Bar information is gone
- Look and feel
- No search bar
Just when you get used to using a Microsoft product, it moves everything around. Haven't looked at Firefox 4, but if I have to learn something new I might as well switch to Chrome.
-Brian
I have used Firefox for three or four years now, and I upgraded to version 4 when it was available. I have to say, I have noticed none of the issues you have. FF 4 installed the first time. Of course I did upgrade from a previous version -- I didn't install from scratch. I can still drag my bookmarks to whatever folder I want them to, with absolutely no issues. When I tell it to sort my bookmarks by name I get exact alphabetical order. Right-clicking a bookmark allows me to delete immediately, the Delete is not grayed out. Lastly, I have yet to have FF4 crash, not even once. Not sure what is going on with your FF, but I've been happy with it since the moment I upgraded.
-Ken
Actually I have had no issues with Firefox other than SharePoint looks kinda funky in it. But then again, we are back to the monopoly thing. At least Google doesn't ugly up its apps if you don't use Chrome.
You do need to remember, though, that I am not a gadget guy. Computers and software are just tools, and I use them as such. If it wasn't for my iTunes addiction I would not need a computer at home. At work I only use the browser to find and retrieve software and driver updates. I am sure there I am missing something but I have other diversions. There you have it, another David Op Ed at no cost to you.
-David
Well, I haven't tried Firefox (lately anyway), but I've been using IE 9 and I'm fine with it (or to say it the old way, 'and it's fine with me!').
Then again I'm not one of those wild-eyed open source guys that says IE is a joke. I'm pretty agnostic about tech, generally (mainframes, Unix, Windows, open source).
I tried Chrome a couple months ago and didn't like it so I removed it -- but then I had to go look on the Internet to find out how to fix some problem my PC was then having as a result (links not working because IE was no longer the default). Does this mean Google deliberately screws up your machine because it dosen't want you to remove Chrome? Or it's just buggy...
Anyway, so far I have no reason to leave IE.
-Jeff
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 04/11/2011 at 1:18 PM2 comments
Analyst firm Gartner has been telling IT pros for a while now that they have to migrate to Windows 7, and the "danger zone" for getting that done will be 2013. It can take a year or more to get ready, and organizations will start feeling the pressure next year to complete all of the prep work in time. Basically, Gartner's message is that it is inevitable that you will move to Windows 7.
This migration, in many cases from Windows XP, will entail some pain. Even Gartner admits a lack of good tools to address Internet Explorer 6 Web app compatibility issues, which is a corollary to the Windows 7 migration problem.
Gartner certainly carries big clout when it comes to opinion making. It all seems so inevitable. However, a chat I had with Aaron Suzuki, CEO of Seattle-based Prowess Corp., offered another scenario: He feels, based on discussions with Prowess' large enterprise customers, that many companies would rather pay for custom support from Microsoft or use tools from independent software vendors than make such a change to their systems. The timeline for these customers to move is different from what many analysts say, Suzuki explained.
"Based on the feedback we've gotten back from customers, they just don't have this sense of urgency, and they don't always feel that a timeline is critical, and a lot of them are just waiting for their ISVs to take care of the issues so that they don't have to do crazy app compat things and come up with wild workarounds," Suzuki said in a phone interview.
Although there's talk about using desktop virtualization solutions and application virtualization as a method for addressing compatibility issues, customers are just saying "No," and waiting for ISVs to produce a solution, he added. Suzuki agreed that customers will start paying more attention to the migration issue around 2012. By 2014, we'll see people on Windows 7 and achieving a steady state, he said. While Microsoft will eliminate its extended support for Windows XP in April 2014, meaning no more free security patches, that's not a big motivator for enterprises, according to Suzuki.
"Especially in the enterprise, the opinion and overwhelming attitude is, 'We give those guys so much money, they should be on our schedule,'" Suzuki said. "It's our agenda, not theirs. It's much more of a practical business [consideration]."
Enterprises can't afford major disruptions and unnecessary risk, he added. There's not so much anxiety about Microsoft's end-of-life schedule for Windows XP. That view holds for enterprises as well as companies in the lower and upper middle markets, he explained.
"The other thing to keep in mind is that all of these people have solved the problems that Windows 7 claims to fix through vendors solutions and their own internal stuff," Suzuki said. "We have this encryption that we've bought from another vendor. We don't need to rush just to take advantage of BitLocker or Directory Services or whatever."
The number of the OS doesn't matter to these customers. They will likely just pay for the extra support.
"We've had a couple of customers say straight up, 'It's cheaper for us to pay for the individual attention that we require than it is for us to scramble and hack things together and make it work.'"
Of course, Prowess has a stake in the migration scenario as a provider of various system imaging tools, including SmartDeploy, which Suzuki describes as a tool for "VM-centric hardware independent Windows deployment." The company also offers a tool called SmartMigrate, which coverts an XP PC into a virtual machine, allowing another operating system to be deployed around it.
So, what's true? Is migration to Windows 7 inevitable or is it just an unnecessary problem defined by Microsoft's schedule? Do you feel the pressure to migrate to Windows 7 or not? Share your pain, successes, gripes and guffaws with Doug at [email protected].
-- By Kurt Mackie
Posted by Doug Barney on 04/11/2011 at 1:18 PM10 comments