IE7 RC1 for Download ASAP

Matt, though, our serial e-mailer, isn’t too worried that working with Microsoft will pose a threat to Firefox:

"I'm not sure what MS would gain as far as stealing secrets from Firefox developers, considering that it is an OSS project and therefore MS can download and view all the code anytime it wants. The most they might glean is hints as to future directions, etc., but that is pretty much open as well. It probably is mostly a PR ploy. It's like offering to do something for your wife that you know she will do herself anyway. You get all the credit with none of the work! The next time MS gets bashed for its proprietary ways, they can point to their offer and say, ‘See, we offered to help an OSS project that is the greatest threat to IE in our history, so we must be good guys, right?’"

Right. The key word in "open source" is indeed "open."

But Andrew, who writes all the way from Oman, isn’t so sure...: "As far as ‘up to no good,’ all being fair in love and war, I would not trust Microsoft if I were Firefox. Altruism from a monopoly? I somehow don't think so!"

Wise words, I suspect. It pays to be careful when Redmond’s involved.

Posted by Lee Pender on 08/24/2006 at 1:19 PM0 comments

Is Microsoft Trying To Trap a (Fire)Fox?

Sounds innocent enough, right? Well, it probably is. But that didn't prevent some open-source fans from postulating that Microsoft is somehow trying to lure Firefox developers to Redmond in order to weasel secrets out of them, or recruit them, or... something.

There is a little tidbit from this story that adds a mild level of intrigue to the discussion: "Firefox already runs successfully on existing Windows, Linux and Macintosh operating systems. Testing by silicon.com sister site ZDNet UK found it also runs well in Vista beta 2, so it's not clear why Mozilla would need help from Microsoft."

Have these people ever actually used Firefox in Windows? I have, and while I've found it to be a fine browser, I have had some problems with it in the Windows environment. Maybe I'm alone there… but I don't think so. So, in that sense, there probably is some work to be done in making non-IE browsers like Firefox more compatible with Windows. And, in a broader sense, this serves as a veiled admission on Redmond's part to the well-known fact that third-party software doesn't always work as well in Windows as Microsoft's own home-cooked apps do.

But, why does Microsoft care about making an IE competitor more compatible with the world's dominant OS? Is this just an elaborate ruse to steal secrets (and devs) form Mozilla? Is it a case of Microsoft relenting that proprietary technologies are giving way to open-source alternatives (as one Ars Technica poster suggested, citing "the embrace of RSS, the Open Source lab, XML and royalty-free access to OpenXML")? Is this, ultimately, the beginning of the end for IE?

Any of those factors could be behind this move, but it's likely that none of them is. In fact, this looks more than anything else like a feel-good public relations move aimed at making Microsoft look a little less rigid and proprietary and a little more willing to work with open-source technologies and developers. And, if whatever collaboration does happen leads to improvements in IE, Firefox and browsers in general, that's all the better for users.

Still, the Firefox folks would be wise-as would partners working with Microsoft on development-not to reveal too much about their applications or their strategies. Guarded collaboration, at most, should be the order of the day. There's no need for Mozilla to help set a trap for Firefox in Redmond, especially if Microsoft doesn't seem to be in the hunting mood.

Have any Firefox experiences? Do you think Microsoft is up to no good with Mozilla? Share your thoughts here or at [email protected].

Posted by Lee Pender on 08/22/2006 at 1:19 PM7 comments

Google’s Gone Goofy

Mike wrote:

"Maybe Google had better start googling to find the mind they’ve apparently lost. 'Genericide?' It is the ultimate compliment to become a verb. They ought to be worried about new and innovative ways to improve their product or expand, not how someone uses their name as a verb. There is certainly no guarantee that just because they’re the search engine of choice today that it will stay that way. I seem to recall at one time Netscape was the de facto standard Web browser. I reach for a Kleenex, even though it’s a Scot tissue. I put on a Band-Aid, even though it’s a non-stick Curad. I just got back from Xeroxing something, although I have no idea what brand the copy machine is (and don’t care).

"It kind of reminds me of a story I heard back in the ‘80s or early ‘90s. Admittedly, I don’t know if this is true or folklore, but there was a software firm that used to code name their development projects using names of famous people. They named one after Carl Sagan, to which he apparently took offense and wrote them a letter asking them not to use his name in that way. They changed the name of the project from ‘Sagan’ to ‘[Ah, let’s just say ‘Jerk,’ but I’ll let you use your imagination here. -- LP] Astronomer’. Even if it is folklore, there’s a lesson to be learned there (and it’s still funny)."

It is still funny, Mike. Thanks for sharing.

And MrTwoPointFive, as he likes to be known, who was actually intrepid enough to make a comment on my RCPmag.com blog, rings in with:

"Thanks for alerting your readers to the unbelievable Google article! By the way, just as a final thought -- calling Duncan's Yo-Yo a ‘yo-yo’ or a Frisbee a ‘frisbee’ didn't seen to hurt Whamo too much, now did it? As far as I know, people do still jump up and down on all sorts of Trampolines and other ‘trampolines’ and use Kleenex. (Facial tissues? Basically what we here in the USA generally refer to simply as ‘Kleenex,’ which we use to blow our noses.) You know some of us even still have reports ‘Xeroxed,’ and please don't even get me started on ‘nylon’ or the term 'genericide'. Just a thought, but is ‘genericide’ even a real word? Do you think I can use it if I get the opportunity to do so the next time my friends and I get together for a relaxed game of Scrabble? I scrabble, you scrabble, she scrabbles... oh never mind."

2.5, if I were Scrabble poobah, I would fully allow the use of the word "genericide." But you’d better watch how you use the word "scrabble..."

Thanks again for writing in. Any other thoughts? On anything? Comment here or at [email protected], as usual.

Posted by Lee Pender on 08/17/2006 at 1:19 PM1 comments

Even More WGA On The Way

Got any thoughts about WGA heading your way (again)? Tell me here or at [email protected].

Posted by Lee Pender on 08/10/2006 at 1:19 PM0 comments

When You Don't Patch Windows, The Terrorists Win

And if you think Microsoft has already releases a huge number of patches this year, you're right -- a record number, in fact.

Posted by Lee Pender on 08/10/2006 at 1:19 PM1 comments

Google Nabs Another OS Expert

Also, in the land of bored teens and bad rock bands, Google has plunked a chunk of money down on being the search and ad engine for MySpace, causing much consternation, no doubt, among Microsoft search types.

Posted by Lee Pender on 08/08/2006 at 1:19 PM0 comments

Mozilla Emerges from the Underground with New Allies

Mozilla’s guerilla tactics already had Redmond, the overwhelming winner over Netscape in the first browser war, looking over its shoulder. Firefox controls as much as 15 percent of the global browser market today , and RealNetworks will now offer it, along with that pesky Google toolbar, to users who download the popular RealPlayer media player.

For the resistants, everything here makes sense. Google forks over a fair amount of money to have its toolbar set as the default in Firefox, so the more users who download the rebel browser, the happier the search giant will be. (Plus, as we know by now, Google just loves to set itself up in competition with Microsoft.) RealNetworks has a long-running feud with Microsoft now stoked by the competition between RealPlayer and Windows Media Player. And Mozilla... well, Mozilla just wants Firefox to take a bigger chunk out of IE’s market share.

What remains to be seen is whether the power of RealPlayer -- an application that has survived competition from Microsoft -- can overcome the power of IE’s bundling in Windows. Not many products have, but, like Symantec’s recent deal with Yahoo!, this three-way deal is an attempt by a few industry heavyweights to shift the focus of product integration from Windows to the Web, thereby shifting Microsoft’s role from keeper of the kingdom to struggling also-ran. The fact that RealPlayer is as popular as it is today despite competition from Redmond bodes well for this new troika. Plus, it gives bloggers and newsletter writers an excuse to use the word "troika."

As far as the new browser wars go, competition is never a bad thing. IE has always had its flaws, especially in terms of security. Some scary competition from Firefox -- say, 25 percent market share instead of 15 percent -- might be too late to affect IE7 development and features, but it could kick-start some serious innovation for the next version of Microsoft’s browser and jolt Redmond out of the complacency that so easily sets in when a company dominates a market. So, with that in mind, "Vive la Résistance," and may this browser war not end up with the Empire crushing the rebels again.

Which browser do you prefer and why? Tell me here or e-mail me: [email protected].

Posted by Lee Pender on 08/03/2006 at 1:19 PM5 comments

Microsoft Not Finished Buying Security Vendors

Goodness! Next thing you know, we’ll find out that Redmond has business interests outside of Windows and Office...

This does present a good opportunity, though, to pass on some revealing reader feedback about Windows Live OneCare, Microsoft’s competitor to Symantec’s Norton Antivirus. Apparently the two aren’t playing together well. Robbi writes:

"I have been an advocate of Symantec’s products for years and have never had it fail me. Recently I had to purchase a new computer and I, of course, put on my Norton SystemWorks software, including the Internet Security & Firewall package. I then went to install the new MSN Messenger off the Web page and with it was a free trial of Microsoft Live OneCare, so I thought I’d try it out. It worked fine for a couple of days until I put on another program and had to restart the computer; that is when things started going sour. Every time the computer restarted, I would get a blue screen with error messages about the Norton GoBack program failing. It would take me literally an hour to get it to boot fully, usually with several restores (GoBack) until I could get to a point that would work. It is a nightmare. So now I am extremely careful about how I put on new programs and restart my system. I would unload the Live OneCare, but I like the back-up program that came with it and Windows Defender for the anti-spyware.

"The back-up program in OneCare is much easier to work with than Norton’s. Both of them run great as long as you don’t do a manual live update on Norton SystemWorks because now I come up with errors on the system redirector files. When my subscription is up on Norton, it is going to be very difficult to decide whether I buy both or ditz one or the other of them."

Posted by Lee Pender on 08/03/2006 at 1:19 PM0 comments

Marx, Einstein, Colonel Sanders... and Bill Gates?

There’s no word yet on how Gates feels about being on the list, but maybe a Norwegian reporter can make one up for us, since he’s already done a fake interview with Microsoft’s main man.

Or maybe we could get the word from the guy who’s creating all the buzz in Silicon Valley, the fake Steve Jobs, whose "secret diary" has everybody wondering who’s pinning the Apple honcho’s inner thoughts. (Warning, there are a few dirty words in there....)

Speaking of China, I got a few responses to my blog entry about U.S. companies’ "principles" in doing business over there.

. Frank wrote, unambiguously: "They are in the wrong side and sooner or later they will pay for their betrayal."

As long as they make money now, though, Frank, they’ll be happy.

Bruce, on the other hand, points out that customers have always been able to do whatever they like with technology, so technology providers aren’t necessarily to blame:

"I think Amnesty International needs to rethink this statement. The sophisticated technology was designed for its biggest customer -- BUSINESS. Sure, countries buy the equipment but my guess is businesses buy and use the majority of equipment and deploy those features in self defense. Those companies sell equipment with certain capabilities; it's up to the end user to configure those features as they see fit."

A very valid point, actually.

And speaking of Gates, Mike took exception to my recent description of his charity work:

"I know you spend a lot of time trying to be insightful or cute, and much of it is a bit of both, but the following comment from the 7/27/06 edition is neither: '...as Bill Gates transitions into full-time savior of the world.' There is significant responsibility for those with wealth, and even more so for those with piles of it like Gates and Warren Buffett (about time he came around). Flippant comments like that serve no purpose and actually detract from a somewhat useful newsletter. I have a great deal of respect and admiration for someone who is willing to quit his day job, which has made him rich beyond his wildest imagination, and run a philanthropic foundation that brings so much good to so many. We need more compassion, not less, and mocking it says more about you than you’d probably care to know. A couple of different words would have been neutral and not hinted at anything: '...as Bill Gates transitions into running his foundation full-time.' Maybe it was your desire to use four fewer letters. Yea, that must be it."

Mike, you make a good point. I’m certainly an admirer of Gates’ charity work myself and wasn’t trying to belittle it (or him) in any way. It really was just a cute little throwaway comment that I made, not anything intended to be a statement -- and especially not a negative statement. But I do appreciate you pointing out the fact that it could easily have been misinterpreted.

Just one thing, though, Mike -- when have you ever known me to try to use fewer letters?

Got anything else on your mind? Let me know at [email protected].

Posted by Lee Pender on 08/03/2006 at 1:19 PM1 comments

Buck-Fifty a Beta for Office 2007

Does having to pay to download the Office beta annoy you? Sound off here or send me e-mail at [email protected].

Posted by Lee Pender on 08/01/2006 at 1:19 PM4 comments

Don't Play SAM Again

Posted by Lee Pender on 07/25/2006 at 1:19 PM0 comments

True Tales of Software Piracy

"Yes, I worked at a place that sold/installed pirated software. I think it was terrible. This was in the days of Novell, and what they did was buy software (Novell) and use it in the office and also install it at client sites. So when it was time to call Novell for support, it was a big scramble to figure out who was registered as the owner. Also, when it was time to upgrade, it was a big mess. We also sold people RAM and charged them for Compaq RAM and installed Kingston."

"Well anyway they wound up getting caught for not paying taxes, and the company was shutdown. Last I heard they had started back up under another name. The way I found out was I was sent [to a client --LP] after hours on a Friday to troubleshoot a Compaq server that was rebooting itself every 20 minutes or so. After checking the OS, on one of the reboot cycles I pulled the cover off to check for loose cards or RAM and saw that it did not have Compaq RAM. Well, the older servers were very picky about what kind of memory was installed. I let the employee know that they didn't have Compaq RAM installed and that was most likely the RAM had failed, and left the site at 11:30 p.m. and went home. The next day, after lunch, I got a call to come to the boss's office as soon as I back in the office. Man, was he mad. I was told that I should not have told them that; I should have called the office first. I thought I was going to lose my job. I did find out later that we had originally sold them the server and charged them for Compaq memory. My recourse was to start looking for another job ASAP, which back then didn't take too long.

Another one:

"Never knowingly, but we -- in a previous business -- naively bought bargain copies of Windows 98 and Office 97, and they were curiously un-holographic. The good old days -- we sold them and never bought from that source again. My beef is with the authentication process for Windows XP which frequently finds OEM copies of XP unauthentic when we put it on an HP or Dell PC which we've had to restore for a client plagued by spyware or general OS constipation. Run the restore and try to do updates and the thing chokes. Then you can find an Internet hack to circumvent it or suffer calling the Microsoft off-shore bozos to try to resolve it. And there is no good reason for it to fail the authenticity test! This is unreasonable and overzealous. Then there is the problem of motherboard replacement. Theoretically, this happens if you get a replacement motherboard for a computer with OEM Windows the OS authenticity is voided. Some Microsoft dork called a reseller friend of mine telling him he was committing piracy because he relicensed an HP computer on which he had replaced the motherboard under warranty!"

Got any more? Let me know at [email protected]. Incidentally, a hearty thank you goes out to Christopher, Sherri and Harry, who all wrote thoughtful soccer-related e-mails to me last week and let me know that Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos did, indeed, open in Boston last weekend. I saw it Sunday night and loved it. If you saw a stumpy guy in a green St. Etienne jersey in Harvard Square Sunday evening, that was indeed your intrepid author. Thanks for the tips, everybody.

Posted by Lee Pender on 07/25/2006 at 1:19 PM0 comments