It seems as though the acceptance of Office Open XML as a standard isn't a
done deal yet -- at least, not if South Africa has anything to say about it. Excellent
write-up on this topic
here.
Posted by Lee Pender on 05/29/2008 at 1:22 PM0 comments
Apparently he'll still
spend
20 percent of his time working for Microsoft. No doubt he'll schedule everything
in Outlook, or maybe even Microsoft Project. Wouldn't it be funny if he carried
nothing but a paper calendar, though? Well, we think it would be.
Posted by Lee Pender on 05/29/2008 at 1:22 PM0 comments
So, we
asked you recently
what you were doing with virtualization...and you responded! Let's not waste
any time on this one. Here are a couple of your e-mails:
Jack writes to us from your editor's home state of Texas:
"We here at Clarendon College campuses in Clarendon, Pampa and Childress,
Texas are using it on every system in our IT lab. We are looking into running
a server-distributed solution for a virtual machine image for each of about
15 separate courses with all pertinent OSes included. Classes such as A+ classes
would have availability to Linux and Mac VMs as well as Win9x, 2K, XP and
Vista to compare during lab work and instruction. I haven't found an Ubuntu
image workaround for VMware on XP Pro host yet, but I think I will by mid-July
when we need it. I haven't been successful with Virtual PC and Ubuntu, either.
I also need a cheap version of Mac OS X to study, as well. Our networking
and infrastructure class images need to use MS Server 2008 and 2003, as well
as AS400, NetWare and Apple. As we are still in the development stage, I do
not have enough licenses except for Microsoft OSes (MS has been VERY good
to us here -- think Dreamspark and MSDNAA). We have decent host hardware,
but the challenges seem to be in the software realm. If we stay with Microsoft
products, this is EASY, though we are hoping for some cross-platform operation
as well.
"As we work through these lab settings, we are also setting the stage
for our Enterprise as well, but that is another story. Dummy terminals and
'virtual bubbles' appear to be in our near future across the organization."
Superb stuff, Jack. Thanks for going into detail. Take it easy with that Texas
summer setting in.
Edward had a story for us, too:
"We've been using virtualization for years. In the late 1990s, we
used VMware client so that our developers could create testing environments
and we didn't need to get numerous test machines. Usually, this was to test
our application on Win95, Win98, Win2000 or WinME (that was a mistake).
Working in the midrange world, we frequently would partition our systems
(AS/400s, now i5s) to consolidate and save floor space, etc. More recently,
we've consolidated several of our servers onto a single server and partitioned
it with VMware Server. This took us from 30 cubic feet of server space to
one 4U unit in a rack, consolidating five servers into one. Our next phase
in the server realm will be to replicate this one server and develop a load-balancing,
fail-over configuration. I can't imagine not using this in any shop that has
more than one logical server."
Thanks to you, too, Edward. We're still up for your virtualization stories
if you've got them. Send them to [email protected].
Posted by Lee Pender on 05/29/2008 at 1:22 PM0 comments
A few years ago, soccer legend Diego Maradona, seen
here
scoring the infamous "Hand of God" goal in the 1986 World Cup (sorry,
English readers), was in ill health -- gravely ill, many reports said. As he
lay in a hospital bed in Buenos Aires (as best we can remember; it was in Argentina
somewhere, anyway), huge crowds held a vigil outside the building and waited
for any scrap of news that supposedly came from Maradona's bedside.
The condition of poor Diego held an entire nation captive, even though there
were relatively few updates on how he was doing. The Argentine people, to whom
he was and is such a massively important figure, were hungry for any news they
could get.
We mention this because the trade press -- RCPU definitely included -- tends,
any time someone in Redmond mentions Windows, to virtually flock to Microsoft
in pretty much the same way that those folks in Argentina swarmed to Maradona's
place of convalescence. And this week, just after the Memorial Day holiday here
in the U.S., somebody at Microsoft mentioned Windows. So, here we are.
In fact, Microsoft did more than mention Windows 7 this week. Steve Ballmer
and Bill Gates -- hey, isn't he supposed to be retired or something? -- demonstrated
it at The Wall Street Journal's D: All Things Digital conference
in California. The big news? Windows 7 will have
a touch-screen interface. (As you might imagine, though, not
everybody is impressed.)
Aside from the fact that our computer screens are about to get a lot greasier,
there are only a few other things that we know about Windows 7. Although Microsoft's
Chris Flores blogged
about how much Microsoft isn't saying about Windows 7, Windows Chief Steven
Sinofsky did answer
a few questions about the forthcoming operating system in a chat with CBS's
new property, CNET.
(Also, Microsoft has apparently unleashed a hideous
logo for the not-yet-born OS -- although why we need a logo for a forthcoming
product that only has a code name is sort of beyond RCPU's comprehension.)
Anyway, most of what came out of Sinofsky's interview can be summed up pretty
quickly: Windows 7 will not have a new kernel; the kernel will build on those
of Windows Vista (hmm) and Windows Server 2008. There will be a 32-bit version
and a 64-bit version, and Windows 7 should debut sometime around January 2010
-- although Ballmer mentioned late 2009 at the D show -- give or take a few
months (or years, if we know Microsoft, but that's our little added comment).
Sinofsky and Flores both emphasized that Microsoft is going to be pretty tight-lipped
about Windows 7, despite this week's somewhat impromptu (and, apparently, less-than-comprehensive)
demo. Maybe that's because the company let the hype about Vista get way out
of control, and the OS turned out to be...well, let's just say, not as popular
as Redmond would've liked and maybe not as useful as partners and users would've
liked (although Microsoft executives still
insist that it's great). Yes, we're feeling kind toward Vista today.
So, like the reporters, fans and various hangers-on who waited so impatiently
for updates on Diego Maradona, we're throwing you these scraps about Windows
7. Diego, of course, survived and is thankfully now in much better health. Windows,
we're sure, will survive, too -- despite Vista. We're hoping that, aside from
being more "touchy feely" than previous Windows versions, Windows
7 will be lighter, simpler and more immediately compatible with other software
and devices than Vista was. We'll see. Until then...we'll, uh, keep in touch
with Microsoft for updates.
What do you want in Windows 7? What's your take on the touch screen? Or do
you just plan to use XP forever? Sound off at [email protected].
Posted by Lee Pender on 05/28/2008 at 1:22 PM0 comments
What iPhone? Windows Mobile is set to rack up some
pretty
impressive numbers. According to the folks in Redmond, anyway.
Posted by Lee Pender on 05/28/2008 at 1:22 PM0 comments
Why do we run reader feedback at RCPU? Well, for one thing, we love your contributions.
OK, so you can always make them on the
individual
blog posts on the Web site, and we love when you do. But we love running
your thoughts in the e-mail version of the newsletter because...well, because
it's less work for your editor, who doesn't have to write as much. (Kidding,
of course...mostly. Partly. A little. OK, not really.)
Seriously, you're out there on the front lines every day, and we appreciate
the fact that you're willing to take a break from your busy lives and drop us
a line. It helps us make sure that we're still in touch with your reality, which
we hope we are. Plus, some of the stuff you send is way better than anything
we could come up with.
Also, let's face it: We're living in a news-dry era. With a few big vendors
-- one of which we cover heavily here -- dominating the industry these days
and snapping up smaller players, there just isn't as much news as there used
to be. Questionable times for the economy have cut down on the news flow, as
well. We don't get nearly the briefing requests from vendors and partners that
we got even a year ago, and the actual news items of interest that come to us
or that we manage to dig up seem to have become fairly few and far between.
So, you're helping us keep going, and we appreciate it. With that in mind,
let's get to this week's e-mails. We talked last week about SBS
server pricing, and Ian had a response for us:
"I think the SBS pricing is not adding any value at all to an SMB
-- no more ISA Server on the Premium edition! Now you need to sell a third
server solution or an integrated firewall appliance. There is some other value
like the mixed CAL; however, for a typical SMB to see value at $189 per Premium
CAL is not easy when the EBS Premium CAL is $195."
Ian, we got the impression, too, that Microsoft's new pricing scheme was moving
SBS up-market (making the first "s" in the name a little less relevant),
and the guys from IDC agreed with us. We'll see how that move plays out, but
with Windows Essential Business Server already positioned for the mid-market,
we're wondering why Redmond is leaving many of its smaller potential customers
behind.
Following last week's tales
of XP SP3, we have a couple more nightmare stories. Why do we run these?
Not to antagonize Microsoft -- seriously. We run them because they're interesting
to read and because some users out there might feel better knowing that other
folks are experiencing the same problems they're having.
Diane has a real doozy to report:
"I have a not-quite two-year-old HP Pavilion Media Edition with the
AMD Athlon processor. My computer is set to receive Microsoft updates automatically.
BIG MISTAKE!!! The XP SP3 downloaded Tuesday and my computer totally CRASHED.
I couldn't even get it to boot. I called my sister, and she immediately sent
an e-mail to Microsoft then proceeded to 'chat' online with HP support.
"To make a long story short, nothing HP said to try worked, and I
ended up having to use the HP recovery. I LOST EVERYTHING -- eight years of
genealogy research records, all my photos, music, etc. I don't understand
why Microsoft hasn't stopped automatic downloads from installing SP3 on the
AMD Athlon processor computers.
"I 'chatted' with Microsoft support for quite a while today and asked
if they had a software download free of charge for those of us who lost all
our files. No, unfortunately, I have to use third-party software. I can't
afford the $200-plus to retrieve all my files. What a nightmare!"
Diane, Microsoft did end up blocking
SP3 from a AMD machines, but, unfortunately, the move seems to have come
too late for you. We're sorry for your loss -- but we do thank you for sharing
the story.
Another user who didn't even want his first name mentioned sent us this tale:
"Microsoft would have done well to wait a little longer before releasing
SP3 and do some quality assurance testing on the ISO image for the SP3 update.
I downloaded the ISO file and successfully burned it to a CD but immediately
found an error when I went to install it. On the first screen (after the startup
banner), there is a link entitled 'What to know before installing Service
Pack 3.' If you follow this link, you will be presented with information on
the SP2 update, not SP3. Although this may be an insignificant error as far
as the update itself is concerned, it doesn't give me much confidence in the
QA effort that Microsoft put into this update.
"I submitted a report to the Microsoft online support center and received
a polite 'thanks' for my submission, but my trouble ticket has been closed
without any acknowledgment of what, if anything, Microsoft intends to do about
it. Given the other problems that have surfaced, I'm not holding out much
hope that this is even on the radar."
We don't blame you, anonymous contributor. We do thank you for writing.
Have anything else to add? Chances are we'll probably add it. The address,
as always, is [email protected].
Posted by Lee Pender on 05/22/2008 at 1:22 PM0 comments
What's a virtual desktop infrastructure without thin client devices?
HP
and
Wyse
this week both released new thin clients designed to fit right in with the virtual
desktop.
Posted by Lee Pender on 05/21/2008 at 1:22 PM0 comments
Do these vendors coordinate this stuff, or are they spying on each other or
something? In the same week, VMware, virtualization titan, and Citrix, virtualization
challenger, released competing news about competing desktop virt (seriously,
do we always have to call it virtualization?) products.
Here's
VMware's news and
that
of Citrix, with an added note about a new
Citrix
partner program.
Oh, and while we're talking about VMware, its parent company, EMC, had news
this week of its own about an application
mapping tool that can help discover and manage virtual resources as well
as physical stuff.
Posted by Lee Pender on 05/21/2008 at 1:22 PM0 comments
No matter how many times we write about this product or how many times we see
the name, we'll never stop thinking that Hyper-V
sounds
like the name of a character from the '80s breakdancing classic
Breakin'.
(Or, if you prefer,
Breakin'
2: Electric Boogaloo).
So get your funky soundtrack on for Keith
Ward's story, which details the latest super-fly (def? phat? We have no
idea) release candidate of Hyper-V.
Posted by Lee Pender on 05/21/2008 at 1:22 PM0 comments