Microsoft hasn't exactly seen an executive exodus, but instead a steady departure of key execs, including Bill Gates, Jeff Raikes, Ray Ozzie and now Bob Muglia.
Muglia isn't nearly as famous at these other three, but as a 23-year veteran and most recently leader of the Server and Tools division, Muglia had a lot of power.
For those not steeped in Microsoft organizational history, Servers and Tools brings in around $16 billion a year (at least that's the run rate) and sells development tools, the Windows Server family, security and management software and Azure.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 01/12/20110 comments
This month's Patch Tuesday was almost insanely light -- maybe because not all flaws got patched!
First and foremost is an IE flaw in its graphics rendering engine that could let hackers install malware and gain elevated privileges (two of hackers' favorite things). Microsoft is working on a fix, but like Paul Masson, will ship no patch before its time. That doesn't mean Microsoft will wait till another Patch Tuesday. When the fix is in, it may ship it out-of-band.
Posted by Doug Barney on 01/12/20110 comments
It's only the second week of January and we already have a frontrunner for reader e-mail of the year:
Doug, I just want to throw this out there, and if you want, you can send it right back (Anchorman). I really like you. This is kind of like one if those late night texts that should never be sent.
I'm drunk right now, sitting in total darkness in my living room, wife in the room all huffy with the door locked, all cause I told her to "Relax, its not that big of a deal" when she was freaking out because of how carelessly I opened a letter WITH MY NAME ON IT, which I ripped the contents of (which were an invitation to my friends wedding) a tad, (you're on my side right? You better be!) reading your newsletter (on my Android telephone) (this is becoming like a set of nested if statements resulting in a giant run on sentence, sorry to insult your English skills), I doubt this is even comprehensiveable (yeah, new word). So forget all that.
What I'm really trying to say is that I really appreciate your newsletters. I read them almost every day on the train on the way to work. And it's pretty awesome that they are free because they are better than the coffee on the train (which I have to pay for). So please, keep up the good work. I could never keep up with the times without my Redmond Report! I'm feeling a little self conscious about what I may have written earlier in this message and kind of want to reread it, but I really have to pee, so I'm not going to.
Bottom line is, delete what you've just read from your memory, and tell yourself "This is why I do what I do" (because people enjoy it, not because of the money, Doug!) ) Sorry for sending this, I realize I should just delete it, but the Jim Beam and Pepsi Max have taken control of my fingers. To recap, I like you, And I hope you keep writing newsletters until…
-Anonymous
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Posted by Doug Barney on 01/12/20112 comments
After a half decade solely in the inept hands of AT&T, the iPhone will soon finally be available on another network: Verizon.
I for one am happy. I use Verizon because it reportedly has the best service especially in New England where I live. I say reportedly because on Cape Cod, a pretty populous place, coverage stinks, and most times people call me in North Central Mass, another pretty populous place, it never connects or alerts me (and yes, the ringer in on). "Hey guys, I'm not screening my calls. I just have a lousy phone with lousy service!"
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Posted by Doug Barney on 01/12/20114 comments
Intel and Microsoft have been in the sack together for so long they both have bed sores. Now Microsoft has a new partner with news that the next version of Windows is expected to support both Intel and ARM – maker of tablet and smart phone chips. The end of the Microsoft/Intel duopoly means future Windows devices will turn on faster, be more stable and hopefully offer true utility-style computing.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 01/10/20114 comments
As if you didn't have enough time off over the holidays, now I'm going to help you get out of more work. Every Friday, associate Web editor Chris Paoli gathers up links to silly, unimportant and altogether fun sites.
This time around he reports on what you can do on the Internet that could have you serving hard time, a clever skit by Larry David mocking people talking on Bluetooth headsets, and funny faces for the latest CES keynote addresses. Nice job Chris. Now could you please get back to work!?!
Posted by Doug Barney on 01/10/20110 comments
Patches, it turns out, are only effective if they are installed. That is the case with Office, which got a fix for a Rich Text Format hole in November. Hackers know that many machines don't get patched, and the patch itself is a blueprint for how to attack these unpatched machines. Some hacker dweeb has done just that, posting code that exploits this hole.
Suites from Office XP all the way up to Office 2010 are vulnerable, and the posted code lets hackers gain full privileges, mess with your data, and install malware.
Posted by Doug Barney on 01/10/20110 comments
Here are some thoughts on Microsoft's attempt to block Google from buying ITA Software:
Microsoft going against Google for becoming a monopoly is like the pot calling the kettle black. Microsoft is grabbing up companies left and right to become number one online. It's just another way to control the competition. It happens to a lot of large corporations. Microsoft has even been called a monopoly many times.
In a capitalist market, the best get to the top. Injecting government intervention in their success or failure is more of a dictatorship. Look how Ma Bell came out of the government mandated breakup. Not even close to the huge success it once was. It built this country's phone system to become what it is today. Who knows if the Internet would even be what it is today without them.
-Dustin Harper
If owning ITA will let Google dominate online travel does that mean ITA already has a monopoly on online travel? If so, what's the diff? Is it one monopoly per customer? Of course, Microsoft has already exceeded that limit. Google's just playing catch-up.
-Anonymous
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Posted by Doug Barney on 01/10/20110 comments
Patch Tuesdays are always unpredictable. Some months are brutal, others are cake walks. This Tuesday is the latter. Get this: There are only two patches! Two measly patches! As usual, remote code execution is the culprit in both.
That's the good news. The bad news is there are a couple of flaws that are known but not yet fixed.
One flaw involves the graphics rendering engine for Windows, and impacts XP, Vista and Windows Server 2008. Hackers can create image files that can create stack overflows to gain access to elevated privileges. So far no attacks have been reported.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 01/07/20110 comments
If Steve Ballmer wasn't CEO of Microsoft, he'd probably be on television. Man, that guy can put on a show. And every year Steve schleps out to Vegas for the Consumer Electronic Show. Bill Gates used to do the honors, but is too busy saving the world (if you thought you detected sarcasm, you'd be wrong. His foundation does incredible work).
This year, as widely expected, Ballmer talked about tablets. But there was much more. He hinted at a fundamental revamp of Windows itself, far faster, smaller and more reliable. Just like the iPad OS!
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Posted by Doug Barney on 01/07/20111 comments
Recently we reported on Paul Allen's unsuccessful bid to sue nearly the entire software industry for patent infringement. The patents, won by Allen's company Interval Research, involve some pretty fundamental aspects of Web computing. As such he sued everyone from AOL to Google. For some reason he left Microsoft alone, perhaps because Redmond is responsible for his $13.5 billon in net worth (just for the record, Mark Zuckerberg is worth a cool $14 billion).
An earlier suit was dismissed because the charges were too vague and the court gave Allen more time to put some meat on the lawsuit's bones. Now he's back with more details on just how AOL, Facebook Yahoo, Apple, Google, YouTube and others purportedly violate patents held by Interval Licensing.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 01/05/20113 comments
It is clear that Microsoft got smoked in the tablet space -- first by the iPad and now by Android. Many forget that Microsoft, with its pen computing initiative, has had tablets for years. They just never really caught on.
But do you expect Microsoft to simply give up? Not on your life. Last year it promoted Win 7 tablets, but they just never really caught on. I looked at Bestbuy.com and couldn't recognize the names of the companies selling Win 7 tablets.
At this month's Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, Microsoft will take another stab as it is expected to announce the development of a new line of tablets running on ARM chips. Even though Windows Phone 7 already supports ARM chips, some expect these new tablets to take up to two years to emerge. By then the iPad and Android will be well ahead of where they are now.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 01/05/20116 comments