Redmond columnist Mary Jo Foley asks an intriguing question: Do we really need eight or more separate iterations of Windows? And by eight, I'm not counting XP vs. Vista vs. Windows 7. We're talking eight different product families, such as the client, server, cloud, embedded, phone, etc.
The problem is all these efforts are disconnected because each sector is run by different teams. They aren't in sync and not enough core technology is shared.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 11/12/20103 comments
VMware is clearly aiming for the cloud with vSphere, but that is not the allusion I intended in my headline. By cloudy I mean VMware's future is uncertain.
VMware, as I see it and reported recently, has two main problems: Microsoft and itself.
Microsoft, although late in the virtualization market, is taking direct aim at VMware. Redmond now has Hyper-V, which is getting better each day and is free, as well as a line of desktop and application virtualization tools. Microsoft also has a rather amazing partner in the form of Citrix. That's the technical challenge.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 11/12/20104 comments
Google, the company that respects privacy about as much as the Stasi, recently lost over $8 million (chump change for these chumps) in a class-action suit because its Buzz Gmail extension gave strangers access to user personal data.
Most class-action suits are a crock. The lawyers make the millions and the plaintiffs get pennies. In many cases, all you get is a coupon to save money the next time you buy something from the company that ripped you off in the first place.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 11/10/20101 comments
Readers chime in on whether Google is right or wrong for suing the Interior Department over its choosing of Microsoft-based cloud apps:
I think you are missing the point. It is not my opinion on whether Google's apps are superior to Microsoft's. It is the Interior Department's leadership that has to make that decision. What I don't like about the Feds in this case is they are not allowing an open competition in the marketplace to work itself through the system.
-James
To me the issue isn't if the MS product is more secure or not. When you're dealing with a government entity that is spending (and spending and spending) our tax dollars, it is wrong for them to request "bids" that only allow one product.
The purpose of the bidding process is to ensure that the service is received for the best price. What would people think if they requested a bid for a fighter plane and in the proposal specified that only Lockheed Martin planes would be accepted?
Maybe the MS solutions is more secure (how weird is that?!), but to artificially cut out any other service without proper investigation is wrong and defeats the purpose.
-Matt
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Posted by Doug Barney on 11/10/20101 comments
Microsoft has a new report that discovers facts so obvious even Jessica Simpson could have found them.
The profound realization is this: If you move your IT operations to the cloud, you save electricity. And if you save electricity, you'll emit fewer greenhouse gasses.
Let's see here... If I stop running so many machines in my data center, I won't need as much juice? You don't need Encyclopedia Brown to figure that one out!
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Posted by Doug Barney on 11/10/201012 comments
I wrote for ComputerWorld in the mid-80s where the biggest topics were spaghetti code, the year 2000 (yup that was a huge issue 15 years before the new century) and downsizing.
When we think of downsizing, we think of pink slips. Back then it referred to replacing mainframes with microcomputers (yup, that's what we called them) and LANs.
I think it was John Landry, CTO at Lotus at the time, who changed my view on downsizing. His theory was that if all you are doing is transferring the functions of a mainframe to micros, you're wasting your time. If the mainframe works, just leave it and devote your energy to new applications that offer competitive advantage.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 11/10/20105 comments
Marc Andreessen, the high-tech titan with the hardest name to spell (even his first name is tricky) is reentering the browser space. His idea is not quite revolutionary, but is far different than what IE, FireFox, Chrome and Safari are currently up to.
Similar to how Outlook 2010 ties into social networks, the new RockMelt browser revolves around social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace (does anyone even use this anymore? You tell me at [email protected]).
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Posted by Doug Barney on 11/08/20102 comments
One reader discusses the need for collaboration with Microsoft and other third-party software companies:
There are three programs that ought to somehow be included in Microsoft Updates -- Adobe Flash Player, Adobe Reader, and Java Runtime. These three programs are probably on almost all Windows PCs. Yes, Oracle and Adobe have started providing notification of updates -- the problem is you have to be an admin to install them, and most business users are not going to be admins on their PCs. That means that those of us who are admins have to figure out ways to keep these programs up-to-date. While there are work-arounds for doing this, nothing is as simple and seamless as Microsoft Update.
While we have not been "attacked" through these three products to this point (that I am aware of!), it only takes one machine that does not get an update to ruin your day.
I have heard rumors of collaboration among these three vendors to distribute updates through Microsoft Update. I hope they can look past their differences and work together.
- Jim
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Posted by Doug Barney on 11/08/20100 comments
Conspiracy theorists thought the worst when they learned that Steve Ballmer dumped $1.3 billion worth of Redmond stock. The sky is falling, Microsoft is collapsing, Ballmer is bailing.
Now I'm not a rich man, but I did go the most expensive college in the country (Army brats like me sometimes get great scholarships), and my line of work allows me to hob nob with the rich and famous.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 11/08/20105 comments
After months of chest pounding, Windows Phone 7 phones are finally launching. LG, HTC and Samsung are all announcing units. The HTC device has Dolby-quality sound, allowing it to sound more like a Hi-Fi and less like a tinny old transistor radio.
LG is shipping with a 5 MP camera and slide-out keyboard, while Samsung has the highest resolution at 480x800.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 11/08/20104 comments
The last few Patch Tuesdays have been a bear for IT pros everywhere -- there were more patches than an old pair of Robert Plant jeans.
This month you can relax -- there are only three patches to worry about, and two are merely 'important.'
In a shocker, IE (which usually has more holes than a Dunkin Donuts display case) is getting no fixes.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 11/05/20100 comments
I just mentioned that IE is getting no patches this month. That doesn't mean all is well in IE world. There is a Zero-Day remote code execution exploit that impacts XP, Vista and Windows 7, Microsoft revealed this week.
There is a workaround, and Microsoft is feverishly coding up a patch. One Web site (that is now shut down) was found to be the source of the malware.
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/05/20100 comments