I've been covering IE 9 quite a bit, mostly because so many of you tell me it is so much better than IE 8, 7 and especially 6.
Today we should really find out for sure, as this puppy will be available tonight. The product should be pretty clean. After all, beta testers gave some 17,000 different bits of feedback.
One of the biggest new items is HTML 5, which offers Flash- and Silverlight-style graphics, video and animation. But HTML 5 is still a work in progress, so Microsoft is only supporting those features it deems most stable.
Meanwhile, Microsoft is begging corporations to migrate IE 6-dependents apps to the far more standards-friendly and secure IE 9. Of course, in this economy, anything that costs money is looked at very carefully. I expect to continue to see IE 6 apps for a while.
For more on IE 9, check out this recent Q&A we did with Microsoft's Senior Director of Internet Explorer.
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/14/2011 at 1:18 PM4 comments
One reader shares his thoughts on how Microsoft can find success with its Windows Phone 7 brand:
I read your article on Microsoft having lost phone market share last year. I have a Windows Phone 7 device myself and love it, but I didn't get it on launch day. I think a large reason that WinPhone7 hasn't taken off yet is because people typically can't go buy a new phone whenever they want -- they are likely hooked into some two-year contract with limited upgrade timeframes.
Hopefully in 2011 people (due to upgrading their phone hardware) will find WinPhone7 an attractive alternative. I believe Microsoft will need to keep up its TV advertising for most of the year, and get the phones to Verizon and other carriers ASAP -- it seems that consumers don't prefer AT&T; although in my area (Illinois), many businesses do. Microsoft also needs better commitment from HTC and other vendors like Samsung -- I mean, come on HTC and Sammy, how many different-yet-so-similar Android models do you need to make? Is twenty not enough? If Microsoft starts keeps pushing out successful WinPhone7 software updates quickly and regularly, I think it will have better numbers come year's end.
(On a side note, I think the Nokia deal is great for Microsoft and Nokia -- think the HP and Compaq merger: Everyone thought it would fail but it turned out they needed each other. Nokia was dying and hasn't been relevant in the states for nearly ten years, and Microsoft needs a hardware vendor to be very enthusiastic about WinPhone7.)
While we're talking about WinPhone7 I miss my Windows Mobile 6.5 device for two reasons: tethering via USB, Bluetooth, or WiFi (no other phone did it for free like WinMo did) and an RDP client. It appears it's all 'about the apps, baby.'
-Doug
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Posted by Doug Barney on 03/11/2011 at 1:18 PM1 comments
Microsoft is trying to make managing virtual machines a little easier through a Web-based portal that can be used by managers overseeing datacenters or by IT pros to provision applications and services. To that end, it has rolled out a new beta version of System Center Virtual Machine Manager Self-Service Portal 2.0 Service Pack 1 (SCVMM 2.0 SP1).
SCVMM 2.0 SP1 may be a mouthful, but it's another tool to automate workflows based on the user's role. Microsoft added a few improvements with the beta, such as greater virtual machine import support and the ability to set expiration dates for virtual machines, among others.
The catch is that the portal is designed to work with Microsoft's System Center Virtual Machine Manager product, if you've paid for it. Microsoft has another virtual machine manager that's free with Hyper-V.
Is your shop using System Center Virtual Machine Manager and the new portal or something else to manage workflows for your virtual machines? Tell Doug about your favorite tools at [email protected].
-By Kurt Mackie
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/09/2011 at 1:18 PM1 comments
Enterprises aren't necessarily following secure software development procedures, according to a newly issued report. The report surveyed more than 170 IT pros and found just 48 percent with acceptable security procedures when developing software. Management appears to be rebuffing the costs associated with it, in some cases.
The finding is bad news for in-house software developers at organizations. Would it be a boom for Microsoft, which has been advocating its secure development lifecycle (SDL) model as an approach for others to adopt? It would seem so. However, a Gartner analyst recently questioned the effectiveness of Microsoft's SDL approach.
In analyzing mid-year 2010 data from Secunia and IBM, Neil MacDonald, a vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner, found that Apple's software had more security vulnerabilities than Microsoft's software. However, Microsoft's software had the highest number of vulnerabilities that were rated "critical."
MacDonald offers speculation about why Windows continues to generate critical flaws, even as Microsoft has improved its SDL model over seven years' time. Either the bad guys are getting better or SDL "is losing its effectiveness in finding the really difficult bugs," he commented.
It looks like software development security is hard to do, and expensive. Has your shop implemented a secure development lifecycle or is security just an afterthought to getting the job done? Tell Doug what works, or isn't working, at [email protected].
-By Kurt Mackie
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/09/2011 at 1:18 PM4 comments
Here are a few more of your responses to using the Apple tablets for more than just play.
We just signed up corporate packages for iPads and are still at the elementary stage of things. We have the standard stuff working -- e-mail, VPN for file access -- but that's it. We are now looking at implementing SAP Business objects to do BI. Once we can push that data to iPhones and iPads, it will start to justify having them in the office.
-Anonymous
Several schools (such as the University of Minnesota) are giving iPads to incoming freshmen.
Makes you want to go back to school, doesn't it? First you'll have to get a rad backpack and do something with your hairstyle to fit in. Hehehehe.
-Anonymous
The only users that use iPads in the job are finance-related users. There are no corporate applications and none in the pipeline that I know of. We have a smaller number of mobile users and don't expect any tablet requests to really increase in our user environment.
Currently, iPads are purely supplemental as they do not replace any mobile device. The apps are cool but they don't address basic business applications required by our users.
-Joe
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Posted by Doug Barney on 03/09/2011 at 1:18 PM1 comments
Last Friday I talked about the iPad 2, and the passion the iPad (1 or 2) stirs. The passion is real, and according to Gartner, this little unit is slamming PC sales big time.
Many of you wrote me last week explaining how the iPad is becoming a true corporate computing system. I'm going to take your experiences and craft a cover story that will advise others in IT in how they too can make the iPad work in a Microsoft-dominated corporate environment.
Gartner researchers don't see the PC market shrinking. Rather, it is just not growing as fast as they originally thought. In fact, PC sales will grow this year by over 10 percent. Not too shabby.
Lately, there have been a lot of commentaries about the death of the PC, killed off by tablets and Web devices. What these dunces don't realize is that all our applications run on PCs.
Tablets and whatnot can surface these apps, but they can't really run them the same as a real computer can.
Is it realistic to think PCs will go away in the next decade, and what will replace them? Say it don't spray it at [email protected]. And please, I'd love more stories about the iPad playing a true business role. Your iPad stories are very welcome at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/07/2011 at 1:18 PM4 comments
Microsoft used to love IE 6. Now it just wants to forget it ever happened. Why would Redmond turn on what used to be one of its favorite products? Because IE 6 is so different from IE 7, 8 and 9 that supporting it is a huge hassle -- for IT and Microsoft.
The big issue is corporate apps that are written to IE 6, a browser that took great liberties with standards. Microsoft wants a fresh start to have browser apps written for the much more standards-friendly IE 9.
Have you run into IE 6 hassles or are still keeping it around because your apps won't run on anything else? Come clean at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/07/2011 at 1:18 PM5 comments
Two decades before Steve Jobs even thought of the word iPad, Microsoft was working on what was then called Pen Computing. In fact, Microsoft Pen Computing effort is one year away from being able to drink legally. (Although it is old enough to go to war. Go figure!)
That's why it is so odd that Microsoft, arguably the tablet inventor, is seen as so far behind the eight ball.
I think it is because Microsoft has always had a thick client mentality. And thick clients do not a good tablet make.
Microsoft may be repeating this mistake with a new breed of tablets expected next year. Apple was roundly criticized for not basing the iPad on the MacOS. It turns out Apple was right -- light is better.
The new Windows tablets won't be based on Windows Phone 7 (the iPad is based on the OS that drives iPods and the iPhone) but Windows 8. I've had Windows 7 flake out enough on me to know this is a bad idea. I can't see Windows 8 solving all of the problems caused by Windows.
But you know, Microsoft doesn't have to win every war. What's wrong with Apple and Android owning the tablet market? You tell me at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/07/2011 at 1:18 PM4 comments
Here's just a few of the ton of responses we've gotten from those sharing their workplace iPad stories:
So this is the first time I am actually responding to one of your write-ups. We have deployed 14 iPads (we're a pretty small community bank in Maine with about 75 employees) starting in December and finished up the roll out in early January. All members of our board of trustees and executive management team have one to use for several different things: First is we have gone totally paperless with our board reports, which is saving money and time with regards to the printing and snail mailing of them. We are using a great app called Goodreader that allows the board members to search for certain keywords, highlight sections, insert notes and create bookmarks as to where the note is. I think over time this will be a much more efficient way for them to read the reports and organize their thoughts on things. Our board is made up of members of the various communities we serve so it has a very interesting cross section of folks on it. I will say it was very satisfying for me to see them all sitting at the board room table with their iPads out in January for the first official paperless meeting.
The president of the bank has also started having some of us on the management side read books from the iBook app. This has created a much different way to read than our traditional way of reading. It's a neat experience when video is inserted into the book, and you can actually hear the author talking about what he or she was thinking when a particular section of the book was written. It creates a much more interesting connection with the author. Don't get me wrong -- I still thoroughly enjoy having a paper book in my hand to read, especially while sitting on a beach (during vacation of course) with my favorite beverage of choice. But for business-based books which can sometimes be as dry as a desert, it provides an interesting way to keep the reader interested.
We are currently working on our plans for the next six to 12 months of what to do next with these devices. I have no doubt that they are here for the long term and will make us a much more efficient organization with our toys (oops I mean tools).
-Keith
We're just getting them into our organization. Or I should say, users are beginning to bring them in to work.
We currently allow them to connect to our Exchange server to get e-mail, but that's about it. We have some users that access a few Citrix-published applications, and I've run a XenDesktop on my iPad from time to time. Right now we're trying to implement an easier way to connect users to Citrix applications for use out in the field. What's nice about this is that all the data is in our network and never on the device that you know will get lost or stolen.
-Andy
Here at the college I work for, in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, we were all PC. Even the few Macs that one of my departments received as a donation are running Windows under Bootcamp. That is until the iPads started showing up. Now people use their iPads for work a lot. The e-mail and calendaring functions are incredible, the Exchange calendars look so much better on the iPads than in Outlook that people keep their iPads on their desks with the calendar open all the time.
Lately, we have been using our iPads to get into SharePoint for remote access to our desktops. I can use it to remote into any of my computers or servers I support.
I can answer a call while I am in the food court having lunch! That rocks! Even though I had to purchase my own iPad (the school only provided them to the associate deans) I am so not switching to Droid! I already have over $100 invested in apps, and I will want to transfer them to the new iPad when I get it next Friday. Yes, I will be in line next Friday at 5 p.m. to get our family's second iPad. Now our two daughters (5 and 7 year old) will not need to take turns any more (unless my husband and I need to play at the same time).
Yes, it is the most useful and enjoyable gaming console we ever had. And we have a Wii, a PS3, a PSP, a few different Game Boy systems and even a couple of IPod Touches. Games are cheap enough to be able to afford a new one every week or so.
Also, my kids use them as an educational tool to practice spelling, sight words and math.
Another thing we really enjoy doing with the iPad is Geocaching! It makes us go and play outside every weekend as a family. We discovered so many new places in our neighborhood that we never knew existed.
On long family trips, no tiny GPS compares to the GPS maps on the iPad. It also makes it easy to research hotels, hiking trails, anything.
Yes, we love our iPad and can't wait to get the IPad 2, not necessarily for the cameras but more for the option to connect it to our plasma and to play games together.
-Andreea
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 03/07/2011 at 1:18 PM0 comments
Predicting the number of patches each Patch Tuesday is like guessing what dumb thing Charlie Sheen will say or do next -- it's impossible.
Last month was a whopper. Thankfully, this month came in at a paltry three patches. And only one was deemed "critical." The other two are merely "important."
As usual, the fixes address remote code execution (RCE).
One analyst believes the release of service packs for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 fixed many flaws -- one reason this patch cycle is so light.
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/04/2011 at 4:59 PM0 comments
I mentioned that I was up in Redmond for most of the week. And you know who else showed up? About 1,600 Microsoft MVPs!
There was a clampdown on journalists so tight that it would make Muammar Gaddafi proud. All 1,600 attendees signed non-disclosures and so far no real news about future products has leaked out.
If you aren't familiar with MVPS, these folks are true experts in Microsoft technologies. They help spread the word, solve problems and give feedback on where Microsoft should be going.
It's a cool program and becoming an MVP is a real honor.
Are you an MVP or have been helped by one? Share your experiences at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/04/2011 at 4:59 PM0 comments
The whole world knew that Apple was going to announce the iPad 2 this week. What we didn't know was that Steve Jobs himself would do the honors. To me, that's even better news than the unveiling of the iPad 2!
The new unit has two cameras, a dual-core processor and is far thinner than the already svelte iPad 1.
I was traveling this week to Redmond, and my boss toted along his iPad. He's got that thing doing everything a laptop can do -- and he has a lot more fun doing it.
iPad users have possibly even more passion than Mac users. They love these things. If I didn't have so many kids in or about to be in college, I'd have one of these puppies too!
I'm starting to look into how IT ties iPads into corporate systems. What have you done with your or your end-users iPads? Let me know at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/04/2011 at 1:18 PM2 comments