Vista SP2 (what Doug calls a "late beta") is
now out
. Here are your impressions so far:
For those of us in the trenches, Vista SP1 was fine (though I'm not surprised that your Dad had trouble considering how much CRAPWARE is pre-installed these days.) Cleanly installed, Vista SP1 is a great choice. SP1 brought with it much stability -- but little else.
I've been testing SP2 (first beta, then RC-Escrow, and now the full RC code). Vista SP2 does feel faster but it is still not nearly as fast as Windows 7 (which I am also beta testing). SP2 is rock-solid stable and I am using it in my own production environment without problems. What this means for me is that I will recommend SP2 to my father-in-law (who is running Vista SP1 now) as soon as it goes RTM, but for me, I am going to move all my systems to Windows 7 as soon as it goes RTM. Until then, I will run SP2 in whatever flavor I can get it.
-Marc
Maybe Vista SP2 will have the goodness of Win 7.
-Philip
I haven't experimented yet with the Vista SP2 "late beta." But, think it's safe to hope that the forthcoming Vista SP2 will actually upgrade Vista to a stable pre-release Windows 7? And bring some sort of fax app back into availability?
-Fred
More
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/06/20090 comments
This story
has been making the rounds. I first saw it on Digg, which got it from Gizmodo. Then a while later, it showed up on Drudge, which probably got it from Digg, which got it from Gizmodo. Now everyone probably knows about it.
Apparently, Vogue interviewed Melinda Gates and she disclosed that Bill won't allow family members to use iPods or iPhones. That leaves the Gates young'uns walking around with Zunes. Totally uncool!
More
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/06/20090 comments
The Microsoft Windows 7 hype machine
took aim at enterprise customers
as executives touted its high-end features. A couple of features require Windows Server 2008 R2. The ability for remote Win 7 clients to securely connect to servers without a dedicated VPN only comes with the Windows 2008/Win 7 combo. A technology that speeds up WAN connections, BranchCache, also requires the latest and greatest Windows Server 2008.
More
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/06/20090 comments
I'm always excited when a Windows guru builds a new product. What's a Windows guru? It's just an idea of mine where I chose 12 technical leaders from Microsoft third parties and tried to figure out
what made them tick
.
One guru is Troy Werelius, CEO of Lucid8. Troy's latest baby is
Recovery Advantage
. When e-mail crashes, it usually falls to IT to make it all right. With Recovery Advantage, end users themselves can recover lost or accidently deleted mail and related attachments. That way IT can spend more time on strategic work rather than on recovering a deleted e-mail with a Pam Anderson attachment!
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/04/20090 comments
The cloud promises to be the ultimate in green computing. Instead of server rooms running expensive A/C around the clock, the apps rest in huge, hopefully efficient, centralized datacenters.
Microsoft is hoping to make the efficient part ring true with new ways of building server farms. The idea is to use low-power chips such as those that power today's $300 netbooks to drive servers. These little chips use one-tenth to one-twentieth of the watts of a typical processor. If it works for Microsoft hosting centers -- and it's still just a research project -- the same approach may save you dough in your own datacenter.
More
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/04/20090 comments
Bruce thinks he knows the reason why
server sales are slumping
:
I'll tell you what the issue is: Companies are FINALLY realizing you don't have to buy new servers again and again and again, and are also starting to reuse licenses. Wait until people start seriously buying machines made with AMD chips where you can get better performance just by swapping CPU chips. Then there won't be a need to buy a new machine for some time.
-Bruce
More
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/04/20090 comments
Microsoft is confident enough in its online services that it's offering them in
nearly 20 different countries
.
For international markets, Microsoft is bundling a bunch of existing Office-compatible services such as IM and presence and selling it as Office Communications Online (guess it's ditching the Live name overseas). The more expensive Business Productivity Online includes Office Live Meeting, as well as cloud SharePoint and Exchange services.
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/04/20090 comments
I've tracked the Windows 7 beta and the IE 8 beta. Windows 7 has testers excited and anxious for the OS to ship. IE 8 has hosed more systems than the Boston Fire Department.
Microsoft, as I understand it, hasn't had a lot of Windows complaints but has heard a few howls about IE 8, which comes with the new OS. Microsoft blames browser add-ins and has
updated the beta
to fix it.
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/02/20090 comments
Excel is apparently
vulnerable
to remote code execution attacks, and Microsoft is trying to figure out why and how to fix it.
Symantec found the bug and came up the clever name: Trojan.Mdropper.AC. The attack works through a malicious spreadsheet that's masked by a legit file when the user opens it. Microsoft is working on a patch and points out the attacks have been limited so far.
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/02/20090 comments
Readers share more of their predictions for how Microsoft -- and the tech sector in general -- will make it out of the economic downturn:
Microsoft will need to do some product innovation of its own in order to survive this time around. I don't think it'll be able to steal another "Windows" from Xerox.
-Anonymous
For Microsoft, the future is clear. Windows 7 will replace XP Pro as the flagship Microsoft operating system. It is that good. Even so, its sales will fall short of desired market penetration. Microsoft's true hope for the future lies with a touch-based user interface for its Windows Mobile software and a new physical format that will replace smartphones and netbooks.
My prediction? Look for the next tech-business move to come from the past. Anyone remember Apple's Newton? That physical format, in landscape mode, supportd a virtual qwerty keyboard for speedy, touch-typing text input. In addition, it provided all the functionality of a Kindle, cell phone and workstation. Bonus: The larger, high-resolution screen means on-screen text can be larger (maybe I could even read it without my reading glasses), images display at the size of printed photos, and videos can be viewed without extreme eye strain. For end users, this is the ideal format size for tablet PC applications for hospitals, field inspectors, insurance adjusters and law enforcement officers. For Microsoft, the mini-pad format gives much-needed screen space for Windows Mobile. For Apple, it is the next logical evolution for the iPhone. Plus, Apple gets some vindication for part of its Newton product. The physical format was simply ahead of its time.
Speaking of being ahead of it's time, Trekkers will be quick to point out that this physical format, was predicted in the original "Star Trek" series.
-Dave
The problem is deeper than you imagine. You say Microsoft will be fine, but I don't believe anyone will be fine in the foreseeable future. Most people, especially in business and politics, don't seem to get how deep and painful this one will be.
What Microsoft will do is the same thing other tech companies will do: survive. It will eventually come back to one degree or another, but the old days are gone for good. Fine? I don't think so.
-Anonymous
More
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/02/20090 comments
Vista wasn't a resounding success, so many turned to SP1 for help. But SP1 wasn't a resounding success either, as we
reported
in a cover story.
Now there are two possible solutions. One is Windows 7, which you all seem to like very much. There's also Vista SP2, which is now what Microsoft is calling a release candidate and I just call a late beta. This is a big baby, coming in at a hefty 300MB. Let's hope the download works better than SP1.
More
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/02/20090 comments
You've got to love when monopolies fight. In one corner, you have Microsoft holding on to its IE monopoly by the skin of its well-maintained teeth. In the other, you have Google steadily building control of search -- with the rest of the Internet seemingly to come.
You'd think Google would have enough pride to stay out the European Union's prolonged fight against IE.
But no
. Google claims there's nearly zero competition in the browser space (maybe because Chrome has a share smaller than Moxie has in soda sales).
Posted by Doug Barney on 02/27/20090 comments