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.
Adding to that confusion are Mondrian and Singularity -- OSes built from scratch at Microsoft Research that quite possibly may never reach the light of day.
Foley contrasts Redmond with Apple, which uses one OS for multiple devices -- iPod, iPad, iPhone, and another for the Mac. Simple dimple.
Mary Jo sees some movement towards consolidating these versions, but presses Microsoft to do even more.
If you were running Microsoft, how would you manage OS development? Your best advice is welcome at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/12/2010 at 1:18 PM3 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.
The bigger challenge is one of corporate philosophy. Now let me state for the record that I admire VMware greatly. They are a pleasure to work with, and their typical employee has double my measly brainpower. The only reason I am justified in offering advice is I talk to customers and virtualization third parties. And from these convos I see VMware making many of the same mistakes that doomed Netscape.
Netscape was simply not friendly to third parties. I've lunched with probably two dozen virtualization CEOs and at least 23 have told me Microsoft is far easier to work with. Now that may well change in the future, but it is today's reality.
The other issue is that VMware is building an elaborate and impressive cloud ecosystem around its core hypervisor. That may make technical sense, but IT fears this level of lock-in. VMware simply must be open to other virtualization technologies.
VMware has a massive lead, but it is shrinking fast. I want this company to make the right moves so we are talking about them 10 years from now, not wondering where they went.
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/12/2010 at 1:18 PM4 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.
The Buzz suit is particularly egregious since not a dime goes to those whose rights were trampled. Instead, Google is giving money to various and sundry privacy organizations. No wonder so few bother to get involved in class-action suits.
Have you ever gotten justice through class action? Please tell me there is some kind of light by writing to [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/10/2010 at 1:18 PM1 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
Doug wants to know if you still use MySpace:
My kids (teens) and their friends use both MySpace and Facebook, though the latter is the busier of the two. (I find it interesting that my Outlook spellchecker recognizes MySpace, but not Facebook).
Oh, and I like Fran Drescher's laugh, but that may be because it's attached to Fran Drescher's body.
-Gerry
A lot of bands use MySpace.
I'm linked to Little Fish, Bleech, The Feeling and a local vocalist Jodi Brooker.
-Mike
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 11/10/2010 at 1:18 PM1 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!
Despite the laughably obvious nature of the findings, the point is well taken for large shops that are running out of data center space and having their budgets busted by cooling costs.
A cloud-hosting company, through sheer economies of scale, should be far more efficient. And they can place their data centers where it makes most sense, such as in cool caves, cold climates (using outside air instead of AC) or near hydroelectric power stations.
The move to the cloud is inevitable, though perhaps not in a full-scale fashion. And as we make this move, we may well save some dough and keep Earth a bit cool in the process.
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/10/2010 at 1:18 PM12 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.
A decade and a half later, Landry is proven right. According to a survey by BMC, 94 percent of respondents will either keep or expand their mainframe capacity.
And with the huge rise in PC servers that suck up so much power, mainframes may be the greenest way to compute.
What is your mainframe strategy? Put away your punch cards, fire up your e-mail and share your thoughts at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/10/2010 at 1:18 PM5 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]).
The browser actually requires a Facebook account. It then collects the comings and goings of your social interactions so you don't have to hit a million different Web sites.
Andreessen isn't writing the browser this time, but instead is a key investor and a bit of an evangelist.
By the way, have seen the movie The Social Network? I thought it was more annoying than Fran Drescher's laugh. Agree or disagree at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/08/2010 at 1:18 PM2 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
Here are a reader's thoughts on Office and some of the cloud-based alternatives:
When I put my Information Security hat on, I cannot imagine putting any business information into the cloud, since I'd have to explain the security risks and mitigation with my business partners (I work for an insurance company). Putting my IT idea-man hat on, I can tell you that we've done a little experimentation with various alternatives to MS-Office. Here are the conclusions we've reached:
- The RIBBON is awful. It very hard for me to convince anyone to move off Office 2003 when they will have to face a huge learning curve and months of frustration.
- MS-Office costs a whole lot of money, but has a whole lot of features, specifically Excel and Outlook.
- Open Office works well, but many of the features (keyboard shortcuts, etc.) seem to be missing.
- Google apps work well, but even more of the features are not there.
- Microsoft Office Live (or whatever it's called) doesn't work well at all. After experiencing the non-intuitive interface, confusing "collaboration" tools, and near-total lack of collaboration, we're convinced that this is just so that Microsoft can claim that they have what Google has. They don't.
-Todd
Doug asked if Office 365 is compelling enough for enterprises. Here's one reader's response:
Nope. Not compelling at all. Microsoft is trying to live in both worlds: the world of the enterprise and the world of the consumer.
IBM introduced Bill Gates to the world of the enterprise and he soon recognized that the consumer who is also an enterprise employee could drive demand for desktop systems in the enterprise. Gates saw an opportunity and jumped on it. Once PCs were established as the dominant desktop platform in the enterprise, he tied those desktops together with enterprise-class servers.
By and large, the great bulk of Microsoft's customers are in the enterprise. They are either business customers with a large number of Windows desktops (all tied together by Windows Servers) or they are OEMs that are SELLING Windows desktops to consumers.
The emergence of cloud computing threatens Microsoft Office sales to OEMs so Microsoft is trying to provide a consumer-grade solution to protect the Office franchise. The problem is two-fold:
- After decades of excessive retail (shrink-wrap) pricing consumers are not much interested in buying anything directly from Microsoft. For consumers, companies like Google offer a much more attractive one-stop shopping experience.
- Cloud computing doesn't have much to offer the enterprise unless "the cloud" is sitting in the enterprise machine room. The security and "up-time" issues are just too great for the enterprise to trust a third party to protect their data while offering a smooth migration path as technology changes.
Unless I miss my guess, the enterprise is never going to be too interested in "the cloud" and consumers are never going to be too interested in using Microsoft branded cloud-services.
-Marc
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 11/08/2010 at 1:18 PM0 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.
The rich are different from us mere mortals. They have entire teams that manage their money and affairs, and these advisors tend to offer dispassionate advice.
My guess? Ballmer's advisers suggested he diversify a bit. Besides, the sell off represents only a minority of his Microsoft holdings. He still has a paltry $9 billion worth of Redmond shares.
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/08/2010 at 1:18 PM5 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.
Have you any interest in Windows phones? Cheers and jeers equally welcome at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/08/2010 at 1:18 PM4 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.
The only critical fix is for Office and is related to service packs.
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/05/2010 at 1:18 PM0 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 11/05/2010 at 1:18 PM0 comments