Beating Microsoft

Office 2007... Why Isn't It Truly Online?

2007-01-31T12:49:00.000-08:00

As usual, Slate nails it....

Office 2007 is still driving me nuts because I don't know where things went. But now I can see where it's going, and I can see the future me happily pecking away in Word 2007. But that leaves me wondering: If they really wanted to redesign Office from scratch, why not do like Google Docs & Spreadsheets and offer a full-featured Web-based version? I'd be happy with that right now, not in some indefinite future.

Ballmer dispels notion that Vista is last client OS

2007-01-30T08:04:00.000-08:00

Why do you feel the need to be so defensive about this, Steve?

Microsoft Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Steve Ballmer on Monday attempted to end rumors that Windows Vista will be the last Windows client OS, claiming that Microsoft has "plenty more where that came from" at a press event to mark the consumer launch of the new OS and Office 2007 in New York.

Sitting alongside executives from some of Microsoft's most important partners -- such as Intel, Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Dell -- Ballmer said there is plenty of room for innovation on the PC, and Microsoft plans to continue to build upon the user-interface, security and multimedia enhancements in Vista.

"We've got a very long list of stuff our engineers want to do, a long list of stuff all of the companies here want us to do," he said. "There are so many areas where we need innovation."

However, Ballmer was hesitant to talk much about what comes after Vista, dodging a question about if and when customers will see the first service pack for Vista. "We'll put one out if we need to," he said.

-- From Elizabeth Montalbano of IDG News Service

Reasons to Give Vista a Chance

2007-01-21T18:31:00.000-08:00

Here's the teaser from the San Jose Mercury News...

Little things matter.

Vista, the new computer operating system from Microsoft, is a collection of little improvements that will save you a lot of time and grief in your daily computing.

Microsoft is billing Vista as making it ``easier, safer and more fun'' to use your PC. Nobody can be sure that Vista delivers on this until it's battle-tested in the real world, but early tests by millions of guinea pigs so far suggests Vista meets its goals. It's the first real makeover of Microsoft's Windows operating system for computers since Windows XP debuted in 2001.

Consumer versions of Vista debut Jan. 30: Home Basic for $199 and Home Premium for $239. Ultimate, for $399, is for power users or small businesses. I've played around with Vista on four different machines and know enough to say what I like about it.

It hasn't crashed on me. On reliability, compatibility or security, it should be better than previous versions of Windows, says Joel Durham, author of ``Windows Vista Ultimate Bible,'' (Wiley, 2007) an upcoming book on the most expensive version of Vista. We'll find out for sure once hardware and software companies finish shipping thousands of ``drivers,'' or programs that ensure Vista works with the computer's hardware. When I asked Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates how he felt about developing Windows Vista over five years, he said, ``Best $6 billion I ever spent.'' Is it worth your money? Well, lucky for Bill, it is.

Get on the Vista Bus...

2007-01-16T16:41:00.000-08:00

As Hunter news notes, Microsoft’s Windows Vista is launching with this cool bus tour thingy, for whatever its worth...

It's a tour bus wrapped in a desktop theme, carrying a band of self-styled “Vista influencers” to Cincinnati, Charlotte and other third-tier cities. I mocked this wannabe-rockstar idea savagely on IM yesterday: “Alright Gainesville! Are you ready to get CRAZY for Windows Vista!” but woke up this morning feeling guilty. These guys are getting on a goddamn bus to meet their customers. It could be a Cluetrain adventure. At worst, it’s a lot cheaper than a Vista Gulfstream Tour.

Naked Emperor: Microsoft & Novell Deal

2006-12-31T18:34:00.000-08:00

Mary Jo Foley interviews Jeremy Allison who is free to dish on the Microsoft Novell deal now that his tenure at Novell has ended. One of many good lines:

A nagging doubt is that if I had just spoken out louder against the deal I might have been able to change something, but I was too quiet until too late. It’s *hard* to be the one saying the emperor has no clothes, especially whilst listening to others praising the finery of the silk stitching :-) .

(originally cited by Microsoft News Tracker

Vista: Kinda Secure, Maybe

2006-12-28T17:15:00.000-08:00

Under the headline "Vista's Secure, Not Perfect", the CRN network is publishing this comment from the Vista Product Manager:

"The finding of vulnerabilities in any software is to be expected," said Stephen Toulouse, senior product manager with Microsoft's security technology group, in a blog posting earlier this week. "This is all part of the process of creating complex software today, and no one is immune to it. It's not, as they say, big news to us in the security industry."

No big news here, huh?

Vista Released, Ho Hum

2006-11-30T11:07:00.000-08:00

Even with all the touted improvements, analysts expect Vista to only gradually appear on corporate PCs, especially in big organizations where upgrading can be a costly, complicated affair. Gartner Dataquest predicts that it will be 2010 before Vista outnumbers the previous operating system, Windows XP, on business computers.

Big companies need to test internal business applications on Vista before a company can switch its PCs to the new operating system, a process that Gartner analyst Michael Silver estimates at 12 to 18 months in many cases.

In the meantime, the last operating system, Windows XP, works just fine for most companies -- especially with a security-enhancing patch known as Service Pack 2 that Microsoft released in 2004.

Kamal Anand, chief technology officer for TradeStone Software Inc., a Gloucester, Mass.-based provider of supply-chain software, examined test versions of Vista and Office and found ''no compelling need'' to upgrade his company's 100 PCs and laptops anytime soon. Instead, Anand expects Vista and Office to slowly permeate TradeStone as it buys new PCs for employees in coming years.

''Nobody wants to go through the extra time and effort and money to upgrade an existing, well-working system,'' he said.

Microsoft: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

2006-10-28T07:15:00.000-07:00

NY Times reports that Microsoft has gained money in servers (hurting Oracle, Sun, et al), but continues to bleed money in the Internet services business. Guess which part of the IT market is growing by leaps and bounds? Hint: it's not servers. See below for details.

Microsoft reported solid quarterly results yesterday that slightly surpassed Wall Street expectations, with sales growth driven by its Xbox game business and software for server computers. Both revenue and profit rose 11 percent.

Microsoft’s chief executive, Steven A. Ballmer, says Web sites like MSN give the company an online presence, adding that it has Web initiatives.
Demand for the company’s software for corporate databases and servers grew strongly, with sales up 17 percent, to $2.5 billion. Sales of Xbox game consoles, software and online game subscriptions jumped 70 percent, to more than $1 billion. Those two businesses accounted for most of Microsoft’s revenue growth in the quarter, the first in the company’s 2007 fiscal year.

Microsoft’s Internet services business, which competes with Google, Yahoo and others, continues to struggle. Revenue declined, and the unit lost $136 million.

Vista cracked

2006-10-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

Briefly, I worked for Microsoft's Security Business Unit (or whatever it was called). Trying to sell security software made by Microsoft -- even next gen stuff -- was a lot of bullshit spinning. So it's kind of nice to see some of it start to UN-SPIN in the Vista world.

Microsoft is furious after a security outfit Authentium worked out a way of disabling one of the security features on Vista.

According to PC Magazine, Authentium has managed to switch off Vole's PatchGuard software so that it could install its own security systems.

Vole has vowed to work quickly to make sure that Authentium's hack does not work. It said it would be doing this for the good of the user as those who do not use PatchGuard could find themselves vulnerable to attack.

However all this puts Microsoft in a strategic position it does not want to be. In the past, Vole only had to worry about hackers and crackers, now it appears that legitimate security companies are now going to start looking for holes in which they can stick their software.

Not only that, any move that Microsoft makes to close those holes used by legitimate security companies are going to attract the attention of anti-trust regulators. Those in the EU are particularly concerned that Vole is using its dominance of the operating system market to shut out rival security vendors.

The move by Authentium is a shot over the bows of the Mighty Vole as a warning of what the software giant might be letting itself in for if it does not let them into Vista.

By Nick Farrell: Thursday 26 October 2006, 08:12

Microsoft releases new Web browser

2006-10-19T08:46:00.000-07:00

IE 7.0 new release is more in line with competing products such as Opera Software ASA's Opera and Mozilla Corp.'s Firefox. Internet Explorer 7, or IE7, adds features such as tabbed browsing, which lets people open several Web pages without cluttering their desktop with multiple open browser windows.

Microsoft has been heavily testing the new browser, releasing five beta versions over 14 months, and has periodically offered security updates for IE6, first released in 2001.

Still, a lag of more than five years between official releases has cost the company. Web analysis company WebSideStory estimates that Internet Explorer's U.S. market share is about 86 percent, while Firefox commands about 11 percent of the market and smaller offerings account for the rest. Two years ago, IE had about a 93 percent share.

Here's the kicker:

Matt Rosoff, analyst with independent researchers Directions on Microsoft, said Internet Explorer is important to Microsoft's business because most people believe an operating system should include a way to immediately access the Web.

Still, he said, Microsoft might not have seen much reason to spend a lot of money upgrading sooner since most people continued to use the older version.

Google Gets YouTube

2006-10-17T22:18:00.000-07:00

Former Microsoft evangelist Robert Scoble comments on the company's decision to build its own video-sharing site: "Microsoft still thinks it can build a big audience by cloning the technology. Hey Steve Ballmer, that strategy won't work! You can't clone the Beatles -- this is NOT a technology-only play!"

(courtesy of Todd Bishop in the Seattle P-I)

Google vs. Microsoft Office

2006-10-15T22:00:00.000-07:00

Google Inc. is taking another step in its online challenge to Microsoft Corp.'s Office software, combining its Web-based word-processing and spreadsheet programs into a single offering.

Google is bringing together its existing Writely and Google Spreadsheets sites into a single, free offering known as Google Docs & Spreadsheets.

Both programs let users create and share documents online, from within a Web browser.

The new strategy is similar, on a smaller scale, to Microsoft's packaging of programs such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint into the unified Microsoft Office suite.

The Web According to Ballmer

2006-10-12T22:05:00.000-07:00

Selected quotes:

"Classically, we're the Windows company. When it provides $20 billion in profit, it's pretty important. "

" In some of these things, you'll have to decide, if you're the big guys: Do I want to play at the application level or do I merely want to play at the commerce and other platform level in a way that strengthens the rest of my assets and allows me to make money?"

"We wanted to win that MySpace deal. At some point, we said we can't do this. Now Google can afford to spend more than us and Yahoo because they have more people in their ad system, so they're getting better yield, effectively."

"Explain how the business for Xbox changes from the first generation of the console to the current generation with Xbox 360. Generation one was lose money—gross margin loss on the console for the lifetime. You've got to take a lifetime view. We did have a lifetime view that said if you add all the revenue from selling consoles and all the costs of shipping consoles, it was negative."

And, from the Comments:

"Ballmer's glib talk about failed products like XBox should make shareholders angry. After promising to break even on the original XBox, now he claims they planned to lose money over the life cycle of the product! XBox and XB360 have so far cost shareholders more than $3 billion, and now Microsoft faces a price war as Sony and Nintendo ship their next-gen consoles. As for Zune, all I can say is why? They have adopted a player product that has already failed in the marketplace, added some half-baked software, and will sell at a price that has zero advantage over the market leader, Apple. This is a strategy for success? "

MS Zune is not an iPod killer

2006-10-10T11:25:00.000-07:00

Microsoft's Zune looks good on paper, but it's not going to kill the iPod because of three things:

1. It's not cool and never will be.
The iPod is streets ahead in the things that really matter: ease of use, aesthetics and -- here's the tough one -- cool. The Zune is not cool. You can tell that at a glance. Take the choice of colors. It'll come in black, white and brown.

Wait a sec -- brown? Surely this is some sick joke gone horribly wrong. Or are they trying to rip off LG's Chocolate phone?

The Zune's best bet is waiting it out until the iPod becomes passé, which seems unlikely given that Apple is constantly redesigning and refreshing the device.

2. The Zune will be locked down tighter than the queen's knickers.
The Zune's interesting features -- Wi-Fi sharing and the music subscription plan -- will be subject to a strict digital rights management scheme, and given Microsoft's reputation in this area (PlaysForShit) -- I'll bet the Zune will drive customers to the iPod.

After all, PlaysForSure is such a technical and marketing disaster Microsoft is abandoning it altogether in favor of the Zune, which will attempt to tightly integrate hardware, software and services, just like the iPod.

But whereas Apple's FairPlay digital rights management scheme seems to be working very well (surprisingly, there aren't widespread reports of glitches and problems), Microsoft's penchant for complex and glitchy verification systems bode ill for the device.

3. Wi-Fi song sharing will not catch on in public.
The Zune's only original feature is Wi-Fi song sharing, which will allow Zune owners to search for others nearby and temporarily trade songs over the air. Traded tunes will be playable up to three times over three days, and can be flagged on the player for later purchase online. Otherwise they disappear.

But while it's obvious that sharing songs will be fun with friends at school or college, it's not an activity that will take off in public. It'll largely be confined to peer groups.

How do I know this? Because that's what's happening with iTunes music sharing, which does more or less the same thing with a computer over a network, instead of peer-to-peer.

Amazon.com Drops Search Engine Features

2006-10-03T09:57:00.001-07:00

The AP writes that Amazon has CUT the most widely touted features for its A9 search.

Apparently, Amazon.com spokesman Drew Herdener said the company is "shifting its priorities to areas where it can provide the greatest benefit for customers."

But this sucks for Amazon, because (as the AP notes), "A9 had put considerable effort into taking detailed, street-level photos of 20 U.S. cities, which people could use to map directions and find businesses. Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. also have invested heavily in such photographic search technologies."

This is an admission that Amazon has lost the battle for SEARCH (not that they ever had any chance of winning it -- Despite its big-name parent, A9 hasn't gained much traction among users. It ranked No. 32 among search engines in the United States, accounting for just 0.1 percent of all searches, or 3.2 million searches, according to August data from Nielsen/NetRatings. Google ranked first with more than 3 billion searches in the same period).

Sucks to be you, Amazon.

Oh, and furthermore... Amazon.com also is discontinuing a toolbar that helped keep track of such information. People who used the service will be able to retrieve their own personal data, such as Web site bookmarks, by following instructions on the A9 Web site.

Now, Amazon is turning to MS for help -- they're going to use Microsoft's new search technology, called Live Search.

Wonder how that's going to go for them?

Good News for MS Security

2006-09-29T10:05:00.000-07:00

I thought this was worth noting... it wouldn't have happened 5-10 years ago, and it shows how far MS security and public-interest security concerns have come... !

Nine Microsoft employees received certificates of "Exceptional Service in the Public Interest" for aiding the FBI in the resolution of the 2005 Mytob/Zotob computer worm investigation. The case resulted in the arrest of two individuals located in Morocco.

Windows XP - Cocky Microsoft

2006-09-25T12:11:00.000-07:00

A posting over at OS Weekly made me think about the future of Windows. After all, Windows continues to be the behemoth in the market-place, and even if Vista tanks (as a product), it probably won't tank as a business, which will continue to assist MS in shipping crap to market...

Windows XP usage has actually climbed to 84.18 percent. If it takes you a minute to swallow that figure, then I completely understand. While it may appear that people are switching in droves to OS X, the numbers reflect a very different story, and they help to explain why Microsoft continues to not be engulfed by fear of what OS X will ultimately do to Windows.

As you would expect, some people are questioning the validity of the data from this report, and even if it’s not right on the money, it does reflect what we already know about Windows - there is a huge gap between the amount of people who are using it, and the amount of people who are using the Mac OS.

People can attack Vista as much as they want to, but even if the quality of the product itself turns out be what you would expect from a failure, it’ll probably still be a big success. Windows commands the market, and when you’re on top, you have room to be a little cocky and self-righteous, but unfortunately, this has also caused them to not listen to or act on what their users are saying as much as they should.

Microsoft Lands Facebook

2006-08-22T10:16:00.000-07:00

Microsoft failed to sign MySpace to an advertising deal, so the software giant went out and landed Facebook, the second-largest social networking site.

Late Tuesday evening, Microsoft announced that Facebook had agreed to allow the software company to provide search and advertising listings to Facebook's 9 million users. The Wall Street Journal reported that the arrangement was for three years.

There are indications that the deal was an attempt by Microsoft to quickly rebound after watching Google walk away with the exclusive rights to provide advertising to MySpace's 100 million registered users earlier this month. Microsoft said in a statement that talks between it and Facebook started only last week.

Dude! That's moving fast on a deal! They must have had executive sign-off on the terms a long time before they actually sat down to deal.

Ballmer - Classic

2006-07-03T10:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Fourth of July!

So, I'm a little bored with Microsoft's lack of current antics. Here's an oldy... but a goody, from our friend Steve B.

Big MS News: Gates to Retire, Ozzie to Take Over

2006-06-16T10:34:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Corp. today announced that effective July 2008 Bill Gates, chairman, will transition out of a day-to-day role in the company to spend more time on his global health and education work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The company announced a two-year transition process to ensure that there is a smooth and orderly transfer of Gates’ daily responsibilities, and said that after July 2008 Gates would continue to serve as the company’s chairman and an advisor on key development projects.

The company announced that Chief Technical Officer Ray Ozzie will immediately assume the title of chief software architect and begin working side by side with Gates on all technical architecture and product oversight responsibilities, to ensure a smooth transition. Similarly, Chief Technical Officer Craig Mundie will immediately take the new title of chief research and strategy officer and will work closely with Gates to assume his responsibility for the company’s research and incubation efforts; Mundie also will partner with general counsel Brad Smith to guide Microsoft’s intellectual property and technology policy efforts.

Microsoft pushes back Adobe on PDF

2006-06-15T10:20:00.000-07:00

Check out the Microsoft press statement about Adobe and PDF.

Here's the story. Microsoft has that wonderful "embrace and extend" strategy we've all heard so much about. In recent days, there were motions, rumors -- even threats -- from Microsoft, that they were going to do the SAME thing to PDF that they did to other "open" standards like Sun's JAVA, IBM's DOS (I know this is debatable), etc., etc.

Long story short, they would take PDF, extend its functionality so that a "standard Adobe" PDF wouldn't function inside the environment of MS Office -- but that PDF would become even "better" in the MS Office environment.

No, it's not playing fair. But that's what Microsoft does. They WIN. That's the point. Fuck the fairness.

What I like the most about their press release is the degree to which they are bowing and scraping before Adobe. Check these lines out: "Adobe is a participant in the 2007 Office system beta program and can see for itself that Microsoft has not extended the PDF specifications."

Furthermore: "To our knowledge Adobe has not imposed limits on how third parties support the PDF format or differentiate their products through extensions. Nevertheless, Microsoft wishes to confirm that it will not extend the PDF specifications published by Adobe. Microsoft hopes that, with this assurance, Adobe will withdraw its objection to including support for PDF in 2007 Office system."

As in, please, please, please don't tell all the users that we're EVIL again. That hurts. Please. It really hurts my feelings... whiners.

Scobleizer Setting Us Straight

2006-06-11T10:37:00.000-07:00

Robert Scoble is leaving Microsoft. Scoble is joining PodTech.net, the podcasting network. He will be moving from Seattle to Silicon Valley, and will be bloggin about his life down there.

Big news for folks like us, who rely on the MS blogging community (internally) to keep us informed. No more Robert Scoble to kick around.

However, he posted a response to TechMeme about his departure, saying that recent articles there really "chapped his hide."

here's part of Robert's response:

I love Microsoft and Microsoft did not lose me — at least as a supporter and friend. I am not throwing away my Tablet PC or my Xbox or my other Microsoft stuff. :-)

.... no one at Microsoft has complained to me about my views for a very long time. In fact, the harsher I got the more support I got. Friday I visited with Jonathan Schwartz, CEO of Sun Microsystems. Management at Microsoft didn't say a thing about that. Imagine if your employees went to your fiercest competitor and had a very public lunch, wouldn't you be up in arms? Not at Microsoft. At Microsoft I am encouraged to change the world and make things better for our customers.

So these are good things to know... and why are you leaving Microsoft then, Robert?

Beating Microsoft to the Punch

2006-05-18T19:19:00.000-07:00

There was an interesting story earlier this year about a Russian guy who created a patch for the Windows Meta file (I've linked to the original above).

Here's the introduction to the ZDNet interview with Ilfak Guilfanov...

"In a rare move, security experts at the SANS Institute's Internet Storm Center and at F-Secure are advising people to download Guilfanov's patch, which aims to fix a flaw in the Windows Meta File.

This vulnerability has spawned a torrent of exploits that seek to take advantage of the wait while Microsoft works on its own patch. The software company has said it will release a WMF patch on Jan. 10, as part of its monthly security update cycle. That would come 14 days after the flaw was first publicly disclosed.

People eager to download the unofficial patch inundated Guilfanov's personal Web site, which had to be temporarily shut down as a result. He has since reduced his home page to its bare minimum.

In this case, Guilfanov, a senior developer at DataRescue in Liege, Belgium, has gained the trust of security companies, which usually are reluctant to suggest that customers use a patch from someone other than the original maker of the software.

BUT, what's interesting is that an "open source" patch is now being recommended by MICROSOFT. Pinch me. Has the world changed overnight? Alternate universe? What's going on, people? Where's the profit in this?

Microsoft iPod parody

2006-05-05T11:39:00.000-07:00

How MS would do the iPod packaging and marketing -- incredibly, this was done internally at Microsoft.... to what end, I wish I knew!

Microsoft "Experimentation Platform"

2006-04-29T10:46:00.000-07:00

What the Heck is this? Anyone know?

Microsoft is working on an "Experimentation Platform" for innovation on the Windows Live platform.

"The Experimentation Platform will enable product groups at Microsoft and developers using Windows Live to innovate using controlled experiments with live users," according to a Web page dedicated to the effort. "Such a platform will enable testing new ideas quickly using the best-known scientific method for establishing causality between a feature and its effects: randomized experimental design."

The site, however, is a recruiting site rather than the project itself, according to Microsoft. "We are always looking to rapidly innovate on our services and platform, and encouraging experimentation is important here," a company representative said in an email.