Microsoft couldn't be happier with Windows 7. It has almost completely removed that stain that was Vista and has now shipped nearly a quarter billion copies of this puppy. That means that one in five Windows personal computer is actually using the latest version of Windows. Not bad for an OS barely a year old.
I was never a fan of XP -- it always flaked out on me after a while. And I wisely avoided Vista (as did the IT department for my company).
Now I'm on Windows 7 and am reasonably happy. Actually, I am way happier after uninstalling Symantec and putting on Microsoft Security Essentials (who would have thunk?). Now the Web is faster and I'm not blocked from visiting what Symantec though were rogue sites, like Hotmail and redmondmag.com!
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/05/2010 at 1:18 PM3 comments
Google apparently isn't afraid of the U.S. federal government and is suing the Interior Department because a cloud RFP specifically required Microsoft products.
The Interior was apparently only looking for solutions that included Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Suite, soon to be renamed Office 365. The Interior's rationale is that BPOS is simply more secure and has a better e-mail toolset.
What say you? Is Google better or worse that BPOS? Share your opinion at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/03/2010 at 1:18 PM5 comments
Dell is moving deeper into the cloud with its plans to buy Boomi. While Dell deals primarily in hardware that runs off-the-shelf third-party apps, Boomi is a cloud integration firm that eases the tying together of cloud apps with on-premises hardware and software.
Boomi already has one great reference account: Saleforce.com uses its integration software!
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/03/2010 at 1:18 PM0 comments
One reader discusses the recent negativity towards the Microsoft brand:
As a news guy, I'd guess this is not the first time you've seen a strong company treated like it was yesterday's news.
I mean it's really all about the next hot restaurant, company, trend, technology, etc. Business focused PCs are soooooooo last year. All the buzz is about the eventual convergence of consumer entertainment and the PC/computer.
Still, Microsoft keeps a hand in the consumer entertainment market. Some have done well, like the Xbox, while others have not -- the only place I have seen a Zune is at the store. Microsoft is not out of the game yet.
-Andrew
Here are some of your thoughts on the relationship between third-party software vendors and Microsoft:
I run a full suite of applications from a major software manufacturer, and almost all of the components are now developed in Java. When I started working with these products in 1997, it was all solid as a rock. As each component was converted to Java, it became less stable and more problematic. Moving to Java made it easier for them to add features and develop across platforms, but the subsystems became more sensitive to memory issues and Java versioning, which is a nightmare.
Based on years of observing things break, my rule of thumb now is to try to use ONLY the version and release of Java on which they developed a particular version of their product; it usually will not run properly on an earlier release (meaning the _xx number), and it will break if you update the Java to a later release. If an essential security update for Java comes out, it is safer to ignore it than to install it and risk having the entire enterprise application grind to a halt.
Recently they released some of their code in 64-bit, which means that some of the Java programs run as 32-bit apps, and others as 64-bit, and you must install both flavors of Java (x86 and x64) on your server. I am now convinced that the only Java-based applications that are reasonably stable are those that run completely outside the Java version that is installed in Windows, and instead use a specific jvm that the application installs in its own directory space, similar to how the Unix gurus tell me that they do it.
BTW, the last version of Java that I actually had no problems with was Microsoft Java 1... because it was MADE to run properly in Windows.
-Christopher
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
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 11/03/2010 at 1:18 PM0 comments
I initially scratched my head over this one: It seems that Microsoft just bought Canesta, which makes computer chips that support 3D graphics. But isn't Microsoft a software company?
Sure, for the most part. But it also has the Xbox, and Canesta's 3D chips can detect motion, such as gestures, which can then control game play.
There are also rumors that this same kind of motion capture will be part of the next version of Windows -- that could be pretty wild!
Here's a trivia question: What company pioneered motion sensing and what computer did it run on? Computer historians are free to write me at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/03/2010 at 1:18 PM0 comments
For most of North America, Daylight Savings Time rolls up on us this weekend (most of the world started without us, changing their clocks last weekend). With the time change, it's time once again to make sure your systems and applications are in sync. Take care of it now, so you can take advantage of that extra hour of sleep.
- By Michael Domingo
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/01/2010 at 1:18 PM0 comments
Another version of the Microsoft browser hit the wire last week, and the feature-complete, ready-for-Web-delivery version is imminent. At PDC, Microsoft claimed 10 million downloads, so this one has seen more eyes than optometrists at a convention.
Are you testing the IE 9 platform preview? With what you've seen so far, will you be rolling it out to the troops? Tell us why or why not at [email protected].
- By Michael Domingo
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/01/2010 at 1:18 PM2 comments
You can get your hands on Windows 7 Service Pack 1 as of last week. It's a release candidate, with the final version due some time early next year.
If virtualization means nothing to you, then SP1 probably hasn't registered on your radar. Other than security updates and fixes, you might find two new features for Windows Server 2008 R2 of interest: dynamic memory, for pooling available memory for use with virtual machines; and RemoteFX, which improves graphics performance out to thin clients (for streaming results for your company's unofficial fantasy football league, of course).
Windows 7 SP1 might seem like a pivotal release, if you tend to believe in the idea that no one upgrades or migrates to any new OS before the first service pack, at the very least. But the numbers of Windows 7 converts one year later -- about 240 million licenses, according to the company -- appear to have disproved that notion. Or maybe it proves the theory of some that Windows 7 might be a Vista update.
Have you upgraded your company to Windows 7 already, or are you waiting for the SP1 release? (We'd also be interested in hearing if your company plans to stick with XP, insane as that sounds.)
-Michael Domingo
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/01/2010 at 1:18 PM7 comments
For some reason, this week was 'Beat on Microsoft' week. Stories went around that the Microsoft brand was dying, the PC was dying and that Microsoft has missed every important innovation in the last five years. Oh, and Ray Ozzie left.
Hey, Microsoft is far from perfect, but from a macro level, the company is doing pretty dang good.
All these stories came out before Redmond released its latest financials (there were even some snarky pieces predicting a bad quarter).
As a long-time Microsoft follower I know better. In my gut I just knew that Microsoft would have a blow-out quarter and I was right. This company sets more records than Michael Phelps.
This past quarter revenue jumped an astounding 25 percent over last year's, to over $16 billion. If my high school math is correct, that's a run rate of over $64 billion, without accounting for future growth.
Is Redmond challenged? Sure it is. But in my view, if Microsoft is going to really blow it, it will take years to show -- they have that much inertia.
Am I all wet? Share your prognostications at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/29/2010 at 1:18 PM2 comments
Microsoft loves to change product names and even has its own beta software nomenclature. There used to be alpha software (early test code), beta (later test code) and gold (where the code is locked down). Now we have community technology previews, release candidates, release-to-manufacturing and on and on. All of these have their own acronyms that I won't bore you with. It's harder to track this stuff than it is to parse a Dennis Miller standup bit (anyone got a thesaurus and Encyclopedia Britannica?).
This why you may be confused when I say Lync is now RTM.
First things first, Lync is the new name for Office Communications Server. The name is so new that Word 2007 flags Lync as a typo and suggests I use lynx or lynch instead (at least Word didn't suggest Linux!).
The RTM refers to the fact that Lync, formerly Office Communications Server, is code-complete and ready to be shipped.
Now it gets weirder -- Microsoft announced this week that Lync (formerly Office Communications Server) is done. So why is the product launch set for Nov. 17 in the Big Apple? Because Microsoft is big enough that it can launch a product that is already essentially launched.
I've seen demos of Lync, er Office Communications Server, and it all looks pretty neat. From one screen you can do telephony, Web conferencing, track where your co-workers are, etc. Creepy and fun all at the same time. It also strikes me as a bear to configure if you really want to exploit all it can do.
Have you used Office Communications Server, I mean Lync? How hard was it to set up, and how did your end-users respond? Fire up the communications device of your choosing and share your thoughts at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/29/2010 at 1:18 PM1 comments
If you are pretentious enough to coin a company motto of "Do no evil," you should be circumspect enough to actually follow that code -- or at least have the appearance of trying. Google CEO Eric Schmidt is either a hypocrite or living in a dream world, as he continually sloughs off suggestions that his company is anything but pure. Instead, he puts the onus on us to protect our own privacy -- from him!
He suggested that if we were afraid of anyone finding out what we do online we shouldn't do it. He then advised us to change our names to escape our Web pasts (he later told John Stewart it was a joke, but this was weeks after the damage was done. If it was a joke, why not address it immediately?).
His latest boner is telling us that if we don't like StreetView invading our privacy, we can just move. To where? To another house spied on by StreetView?
StreetView is even more insidious than I once thought. Now Google has admitted StreetView sniffed out e-mail addresses and passwords (on top of the Mac addresses Google already copped to).
In both cases, Google claims the data gathering was an accident. How can such a genius company make so many amateur mistakes?
If we listened to Schmidt, we can change our names and move. Jeepers, that won't raise too many red flags with Homeland Security! It's bad enough when our own government invades our privacy, but a private company? Dang.
Do we need tougher rules to restrict what companies such as Google and Facebook can do with our online information?
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/27/2010 at 1:18 PM18 comments
Ray Ozzie may be leaving Microsoft, but he also hopes to leave a mark. When he joined five years ago, he took a cue from Bill Gates and penned a company-shifting memo. Where Gates bet the company's future on the Internet, Ozzie took it a step further and pushed Redmond up to the cloud.
In what will probably be his parting shot, Ozzie argues that the move to the cloud may fundamentally change the very devices we use.
He equivocates a bit, providing his post-PC vision -- "if it (the death of the PC) were ever to occur." Ozzie sees us using multiple devices to access a common set of functions and a common set of data, and these may or may not include a fat PC, laptop or netbook.
Ozzie claims Microsoft is obsessed with protecting our data and privacy in the cloud.
Who do you trust or not trust in the cloud, and how might the cloud impact future IT employment? You tell me at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/27/2010 at 1:18 PM2 comments