It's hugely popular in the
retail
channel
, anyway.
And speaking of productivity suites (dig that smooth transition), Jim not only
read Tuesday's entire newsletter entry on Google
and Capgemini, he took the time to write us about it:
"Like you, I think Capgemini's backing of Google's office suite will
just cause Microsoft to create lighter-weight and less-expensive versions
of Office, so what would be the point of moving to Google? Plus, there is
so much Microsoft Office documentation, books, training, online forums that
OpenOffice, Star Office and Google's suite just don't have. Then because Microsoft
wisely designed Office products so that one could extend them via VBA or compiled
add-ons, millions of businesses have custom code that can be reused in MS
Office, even in lighter-weight, less expensive versions. I know from experience
OpenOffice, Star Office cannot make use of compiled Office add-ons nor of
non-compiled add-ons, nor can they correctly work with VBA (macros) except
very simple ones. Google's office suite won't work with any existing Office
custom coding. In addition, with Microsoft's building of many data centers
around the world, applications like SoftGrid and more, you can expect Microsoft
will be offering an excellent Office product as SaaS. Competition makes good
things happen and only makes Microsoft create better products, which is what
we are seeing."
More
Posted by Lee Pender on 09/13/20071 comments
It was inevitable, really. Sun Microsystems finally acknowledged, fully and
completely, the power of Microsoft this week. Three years after making peace
with Microsoft, pocketing a nice little package of cash and opening up to interoperability
with Redmond, Sun has become a Microsoft OEM. The former rivals announced this
week that Sun will begin building x64 serves
with
Windows Server 2003 software installed
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Posted by Lee Pender on 09/13/20070 comments
Just as the weather is cooling down (at least where we are),
VMware
is heating up
. We've heard the figure 10,000 bandied about in reference
to the number of attendees at this week's VMworld in San Francisco. We haven't
confirmed that number ourselves, but if it's accurate, it roams in the same
ballpark as Microsoft TechEd and Worldwide Partner Conference numbers. Maybe
even a bigger ballpark. VMworld is big. Let's just say that.
More
Posted by Lee Pender on 09/12/20070 comments
On the west side of Paris (France, not Paris, Texas), contained within a sort
of bubble in the city limits, sits
La
Défense
, a skyscraper complex that would have all the earmarks of
a city of the future...if we were still living in 1985. Conceived in the 1950s
as a place outside of Paris's more enchanting "quartiers" to stick
vulgar commerce and keep the less charming, more corporate flow of Francs (now
Euros) away from the city's cafés and museums, La Défense is glass
and steel, brick and concrete, business suits and dress shoes. It's more Manhattan
than Paris, except without any of the things that makes Manhattan (New York
City, not Manhattan, Kan.) one of the most exciting places in the world.
More
Posted by Lee Pender on 09/11/20073 comments
Channel
monster CDW
is back with more numbers for your consumption. This time, the
Large Account Reseller is looking at adoption of Vista and Office 2007. The
crux of the findings is that Vista -- which almost 30 percent of "IT decision
makers" are either using or "evaluating" -- seems to be a good
springboard to adoption of Office 2007. While not particularly surprising, that
little nugget still seems interesting. From the
More
Posted by Lee Pender on 09/07/20070 comments
Even in the dog days of August, concerned readers took the time to contact
us on a couple of hot topics.
On the first, the infamous
Windows Genuine Advantage, David reports in fine British English:
"I have had problems with WGA on the install side -- firstly when
it was offered up as an update openly and it crashed my main PC. I was able
to restore the system once I'd realised the problem after a couple of hours
and set the update to not bother me again. A year or so later, it came through
as an update disguised as something else, causing the same problem, but due
to the subterfuge it took out the PC for the best part of a day. Eventually
I had to do a driver update to fix the problem and only later discovered the
cause.
"I complained both times to Microsoft and received a feeble response
the first time and nothing the second time! All this trouble to benefit MS
and no one else -- it really annoyed me that this had not been thoroughly
tested and was offered as a critical update. I have since advised all my clients
to be extremely wary of MS updates and never to leave them on automatic."
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Posted by Lee Pender on 09/07/20070 comments
There was a time, of course, when Microsoft couldn't do without vendors like
Symantec (and maybe it still can't -- but that remains to be seen). Big security
players were the cops who kept Windows from looking like some dark, dangerous,
back-alley operating system and held most -- if definitely not all -- of the
attacks that threatened various versions of the OS at bay. Windows needed security,
and Symantec and friends happily -- and profitably -- provided it. And they
still do.
More
Posted by Lee Pender on 09/07/20071 comments