How many times have you seen software break and the fix is to shut down some software? It's like telling a guy with no brakes not to push the brake pedal.
Our latest example of this time-honored tradition is Adobe, whose Reader has a hole big enough for hackers to drive a zero-day attack through. The flaw lies with JavaScript and the fix is -- you guessed it -- to
turn off JavaScript
.
Posted by Doug Barney on 05/04/20090 comments
As an industry long-timer (I started covering PCs on June 4, 1984), I well know who Ray Kurzweil is. This pioneer in optical character recognition, text to speech, and synthesizers (where would Yes have been without him?) never stopped inventing. Now Google has tapped Kurzweil to help run a
new Google-sponsored university
called Singularity.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 05/04/20090 comments
So the last item has you thinking about Windows 7. Want to try it? You can, and not just a beta, but a nearly done release candidate. RC1 has been
out through BitTorrent
for a while, and I even snuck a peek at it this week in Las Vegas (what software goes in Vegas stays in Vegas).
You can now go the official route and get the RC direct from Microsoft. If you subscribe to MSDN or TechNet, the software is all yours. If not, just wait 'til next Tuesday when there will be an overall public beta.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 05/01/20090 comments
OK, so you're excited about XP Mode and ready to download the Windows 7 RC. But what you really want is a replacement for your dull XP or less-than-satisfying Vista. What you want is a final version of 7.
Can you wait 'til October? That's when the rumor mill predicts a release. One piece of evidence? Acer plans to ship a Windows 7 box on Oct. 23.
Here's what the rumor mill doesn't understand: Software isn't like cheese, where it ages a certain amount and is ready that day. Software (should) only get released when it's ready. How on earth would Microsoft know with exactitude that it can incorporate the feedback of all the release candidate testers into a product that ships in a particular month?
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Posted by Doug Barney on 05/01/20090 comments
Microsoft has been
talking up the so-called "Mac tax"
to dissuade people from moving to Apple. Marc thinks it's a little disingenuous to call it that:
For what it is worth, the "Mac Tax" is not real! If you want, you can configure a Dell with specifications virtually identical to any Macintosh in the Apple product line and come up with very nearly identical pricing. The catch, of course, is that an Apple Macintosh is severely overpowered to meet the needs of most folks. Most folks can meet their computing needs with a $500 to $800 Dell, or they can go overboard and spend $1,000 and get a "fully loaded" Dell that will last them a good five years. Or, they can buy a "bottom-of-the-line" MacBook.
The truth is that if Apple could sell as many computers as Dell or HP, they could afford to sell low-end $500 computers, but because they don't sell a large enough number of computers to tolerate the extremely narrow profit margins Dell and HP get on those $500 systems, Apple simply cannot afford to do so. Dell and HP "take a loss" on those entry-level systems but they make it up on very high volumes and the occasional sale of $1,000-plus systems. All of Apple's systems must be $1,000-plus systems for them to stay in business.
-Marc
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Posted by Doug Barney on 05/01/20090 comments
If you aren't interested in Windows 7, you might want to skip down to our
letters section
and pass over the next three items 'cause they're all about 7.
Earlier this week we talked about an XP compatibility mode tossed into Windows 7 at the last minute. Even though 7 seems pretty dang compatible, the XP Mode news was good. Then the doubts crept in: Would XP Mode be only for well-heeled Software Assurance customers?
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Posted by Doug Barney on 05/01/20090 comments
I may have been wrong, very wrong about Windows 7. I interviewed dozens of Windows 7 beta testers, and no one said a word about a virtual XP compatibility mode. When I suggested that Microsoft give Windows 7 a virtual layer to mimic or even fully include XP, it wasn't an entirely original thought; some analysts, including from Gartner, made a similar argument.
Apparently, behind the scenes, Microsoft felt the same way. Word is now leaking out that at least some versions of Windows 7 will run XP apps in this virtual compatibility box.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 04/29/20090 comments
Microsoft may be in the process of
laying off 5,000 workers
, but there's one area where Redmond can't get enough new employees:
Windows 8
.
The job postings reveal a smidge about new features, including clustering and replication. The replication is interesting as Notes creator Ray Ozzie is considered the father of modern replication. The ads also mention that "the core engine is being reworked," which is a very good thing. Some experts, however, are focusing on the term "rework" and believe there won't be a new core.
Posted by Doug Barney on 04/29/20090 comments
During last week's big
Oracle-Sun hoopla
, Doug asked readers what they think Oracle should do with Sun's portfolio. Here are one reader's suggestions:
Here is my wholly unqualified opinion on the subject from the perspective of what I could see being the most valuable/sensible actions for Oracle: Sun hardware, along with Solaris, becomes a pre-packaged Oracle database solution complete with storage, software and hardware optimization (sort of a database appliance, if you will). NetBeans and Java, including the recently released JavaFX, get packaged and sold together (to IBM, perhaps?). MySQL becomes an Oracle-backed open source project with the goal of pushing the envelope and proving concepts that will get refined and optimized into Oracle. OpenOffice gets released to the public domain and/or Open source community to thrive or die. VirtualBox goes one of two ways -- either the whole xVM project gets placed in its own division to survive or die as a strategic counter to the other virtualization solutions Oracle is able to run on (in theory), or the xVM project gets scrapped and sold or left to die on its own.
Is this what will happen? Who knows. Is this what I would like to see? No. I like Sun the way it was (well, except for the nearly non-viability of the operation). What I want to see is marketing and business operation consolidations between the companies and the rest left alone. I just have never seen any buy-out like this happen that way.
-Thomas
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Posted by Doug Barney on 04/29/20090 comments
What kind of software does pretty much every PC have? Yeah, an operating system. But they also have a browser, especially as Microsoft still largely considers the browser and OS as one and the same. That, and the fact that the browser is the most Internet-facing tool, make it a
perfect target for hackers
.
But there's another factor making browsers so vulnerable: the features war that has us upgrading browsers faster than Donald Trump switches girlfriends. As we move to more Web-based apps, we best start battening down our browsers.
Posted by Doug Barney on 04/29/20090 comments
A few months ago, I got hammered when I mentioned a certain non-public Microsoft beta was available on BitTorrent. A reader or two complained that these were unauthorized downloads and I was an unwitting accomplice.
So now I will report that the Windows 7 release candidate is
up on BitTorrent
, but will refrain from advising you to try it.
Posted by Doug Barney on 04/27/20090 comments
One reader takes issue with the description of Microsoft as having had "
two straight losing quarters
":
Microsoft doesn't need me to defend them, really, but your choice of words, "two straight losing quarters," is deceptive, misleading or even untrue in that it implies that Microsoft lost money. A more accurate choice of words would have been "two straight quarters of declining earnings growth," which is still a critical business indicator, just not deceptive.
Upon further reflection, you could even say "declining earnings" without the "growth" if earnings are actually lower than the prior period. But it's still not losing when they're still profitable.
-Anonymous
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Posted by Doug Barney on 04/27/20090 comments