Windows Vista
You've just got to take a lot of the crap blathered by a lot of IT pundits as face value: c-r-a-p, crap!
Take the brain dead, grossly under-powered Linux PC Wal-Mart had been supposedly selling for the past few.
Why?
Actually, why not?
Really?
A better title should be:
In a post last week, on St. Valentine’s Day no less, Chris Pirillo states his 50 reasons to switch from Windows (any version?) to OS X.
After getting past his preamble about neutrality, he delivers his thoughts.
Actually, we are supposed to take his thoughts as neutral, since, in his opening statements he declared his relationships with some sponsors. Feel free to ingest a grain/several grains of salt with his recommendations.
I have taken it upon myself to provide a public service by attempting to debunk some of the outright errors, factual errors, product plugs, and gross misconceptions in his beliefs.
There you have it: an impassionate dissection of his reasons.
What did I find?
A few – total 5 good, true, or valid points.
Or 8%
8%!
He is true in his declaration that the article was not an Apple lovefest.
It was worse than that.
Without meaning to be invidious, the only thing I can say about the article is that he did his sponsors proud.
Who knew?
I have been testing Microsoft Windows Vista™ SP1 for the past several months.
Windows Vista SP1 is a worthy compatibility and optimization pack to Windows Vista. It is NOT a replacement for Windows Vista.
Contrary to the either uninformed writings of some so-called tech pundits, and the unprepared CYA rants of lazy IT administrators, it was NOT necessary to wait for SP1.
A year ago, the 'WOW' was born.
Windows Vista was released into general availability.
The rest is history: about 100 million units sold, new sales records, etc, etc.
Happy Birthday, Windows Vista.
Today, I received my first quad-core review system, a Dell PowerEdge 1900 server powered by dual Intel Xeon E5310 processors.
A few days ago, St. Steve of Jobs revealed the latest from the minds of the loops at 1, Infinite Loop, the Macbook Air.
On the heels of Gizmondo's extremely stupid remedial pranks at CES 2008, comes news that some sites are proclaiming that the next release of Windows, currently dubbed Windows 7, will be released in H2 of 2009.
Seriously, when is enough, enough?
When Microsoft capitulated after that incredibly imbecilic decision by the milquetoasts at the stupidly misnamed Court of First Instance in Europe, I sounded the alarm. (I even delivered an ode to that kangaroo court.)
16. Set a credible baseline hardware requirement for functional UE scenarios. Remember that OEMs right now can create the most basic, and basically, useless configurations, and offload buyer angst at Microsoft. I seem to remember somewhere that the Windows Mobile people got the message, and are vowing to limit certifications of Windows Mobile devices to those that would deliver a realistic user experience to buyers henceforth. The Windows client team would do well to require that sort of baseline, or a very visible disclaimer as well.
17. Create a series of reference designs embodying the most forward-thinking innovations in the desktop, notebook, Origami, and server spaces., and use them as a cudgel to move stale and environmentally unfriendly design forward
18. Use data collected by crash reports or the CEIP to create a database of programs to be SoftGrid’d. The usefulness of application virtualization cannot be understated. I would like Microsoft to use the collected data to create a database of SoftGrid containers for the most problematic 10,000 programs as reported to the databases for inclusion in either the next service pack or the next version of Windows, eliminating a source of customer anger.
19. Use the same data to expose bad software OEMs, either directly or using a proxy. I volunteer.
20. Expand the role and visibility of the Microsoft Solutions Accelerators program. While I know the wonks on the SA team have enough on their plates, I feel the gongs have not pealed loudly enough yet. This program is a godsend. It is my opinion that were evangelists sent out with the MSDN, TS2, and TechNet teams to proselytize the usefulness of the components of the Solutions Accelerators, much of the annoyance directed at Microsoft by IT pros in this Windows Vista migration era would abate, since these solutions would greatly ease, and in some cases, completely automate migratory tasks.
21. Improve and increase the current SkyDrive offerings. Seamless integration with Hotmail should be task #1 for SkyDrive. To a lot of users, it would represent Web 2.0 nirvana: Windows Live ID, mail, Office Workspace, collaboration, instant messaging.
22. Improve the stickiness of the Windows Live properties by adding usable VOIP phone services, or even a GrandCentral-like service, and a working Internet fax gateway such as j2.com offers.
23. Re-do Windows Search completely. Search as it currently is in Windows Vista, frankly, sucks! The UI is flawed, non-customizable, slow, and worst of all, the results are inconsistent. I get better results opening up a command line and entering in the search parameters there. Do I need to add that indexing is the mother of resource hogs?
7. Innovate, truly innovate, with both the user interface (UI) and the user experience (UE) from a consumer standpoint, not the staid/stale enterprise viewpoint; steal a play from the iPhone playbook for goodness sakes. From stuff I have seen (under a permanent NDA), Microsoft can be truly innovative when it comes to virtually everything to do with user interfaces and bringing a luxurious and breathtaking user experience to everyone. However, something gets lost in the translation from the designs to the delivered product, with the innovations being shed for conformal acceptance with the enterprise. The loops at #1, Infinite Loop nice up the very same product, and wow, a new paradigm is born.
8. Integrate application virtualization (SoftGrid) into every version of Vista. File this under no-brainer! This would mitigate the applications compatibility hassles for both this version of Windows Vista and the next.
9. Improve the usability of the default applications. Windows Mail. WordPad. Need I say more? While it cannot be on the same level as retail programs, basic default programs need to be useful.
10. Sign OEM distribution deals for Windows Live applications. Apart from the current shipping version of Windows Live Mail, the Windows Live family of programs deserves to be the default programs for Windows. Due to antitrust concerns, I understand why Microsoft cannot make them the default programs; however, I do not see why Microsoft should not aggressively pursue distribution deals with systems OEMs for the Windows Live products.
11. Make a definite push towards native 64-bit applications for Microsoft products. There is nothing more disconcerting than seeing that version 2007/2008 Microsoft applications are 32-bit only.
12. Stand fast on signing requirements for 64-bit apps. Another plus for Microsoft.
13. Make Home Premium the most basic model of Vista, killing Home Basic most unmercifully. This should be carried out with immediate effect! Right now, and with #15 below, Microsoft is getting killed on delivered features. I don’t see the business case for Windows Vista Home Basic, not from a consumer or IT pro’s POV.
14. Truly create a family pack for Vista, not the short-lived pseudo two-fer BS crap. Multiple households are the norm in the US of A. why isn’t there a family pack a la OS X?
15. On-demand paper manuals. For long-lasting consumer goodwill and reducing tech support hassles, restart sending out paper user manuals gratis; in this case, a truly useful manual. To save trees, the offer could/should be limited to a one-time offer mail-in or online redemption
This is my wishlist from Microsoft for 2008. Apart from #1, they are in no particular order.
1. Tell your own story! For the past several years, probably since the advent of the spate of antitrust lawsuits against it, Microsoft has let others tell spin The Microsoft Story.
As a result, the public gets information filtered through the biases of the storytellers, usually wrong, and almost always pushing some agenda.
The perception of failure those erroneous tales dump on successful products, and the dreadful stigma of that stench of failure rankles. For goodness sakes, every 0.01% market share gain by Firefox is greeted by shouts of joy, while the news a few days ago that Internet Explorer 7, or IE7, had become the dominant browser was hidden several levels deep!
What I want to see in 2008 is Microsoft being proactive with telling its story, become more aggressive in debunking stupid myths and downright untrue stories, and attempting to get back to loving the consumer side of its businesses.
I would also like to see the company re-engage Microsoft and Windows evangelism with renewed vigor and fervor, empowering committed evangelists and enthusiasts with the tools needed to battle the lies.
2. Participate in the 700 MHz auction. Either overtly, or through surrogates. In order to create new, subscription-based innovations. One can only imagine what would have happened if Microsoft had owned a national swathe of spectrum when it introduced the SPOT watches? Furthermore, securing this also flanks Google.
3. Simplify the EULA. The EULA continues to be a source of pain and confusion for end users. As a document written by well-heeled lawyers for other presumably well-heeled lawyers, it leaved end users out in the cold with legalistic verbiage. Simplify, and win back Joe 12-pack.
4. Reduce CALs fees. A personal peeve, one that always crops up during competitive bargaining sessions with L-heads.
5. Sunset Windows XP and lower with the next release of Windows. While painful, the down level floor set with Windows Vista (Windows XP) was the right thing to do. Microsoft should do the same and more for the next version of Windows.
6. Definitely make a HUGE consumer marketing push. While marketing to enterprises seems to be going about as good as can be, I will say that Microsoft has failed definitely when it comes to consumers, who seem to have been forgotten.
EDITED “Why don’t you expand on this”, asks Ash Nallawalla, (Net Magellan, ZuneUserGroup) FC member. Prior to the release of Windows Vista™, Microsoft inundated the airwaves with all things Vista. You had to be on the far side of the moon not to have heard about Windows Vista. Coupled with that was the incredible VanishingPoint game (I’m still looking for Loki’s phone number), which galvanized enthusiasts two ways: the promise of orbital travel, and the mental titillation provided by the clues to the game.
After that, nothing! Nothing at all from a consumer standpoint. It was as if it was left to the Team Blog, enthusiasts, and word-of-mouth marketing to carry the load.
Contrast that with the pervasiveness of ads and resources for IT professionals. Or, taking it to the extreme, the myriad number of ads for Apple’s music player.
Don’t get me wrong, from a business standpoint, the marketing to IT pros made my job easier. However, I want all the world blanketed with this OS, which I think is the best out there for consumers.
At this point, I see Microsoft running the risk of becoming IBM in their abandonment of the consumer.
Stardock is releasing DeskScapes for free! (Standard Edition only)
This is a big bone thrown to the users of less-than-Ultimate Windows Vista™.
Last week I was at the Microsoft Windows Consumer Experience space in New York City.
At this event, primarily targeted at the consumer, as the name proclaims, I saw the directions being embarked upon by manufacturers in the notebook space and also in the gaming and all-in-one systems space.
My takeaway: watch out!
These systems represent the vanguard of a new thought process in delivering products in the PC space, with great design being in lockstep with engineering.
I demo-ed the following systems:
In my post here , titled Apple innovates with Windows Vista RC1, I declared, sight unseen, that Apple's delayed OS upgrade codenamed 'Leopard', was a blatant ripoff of Microsoft Windows Vista, albeit build 5600, the Release Candidate 1, not...(read more)
I have been at the Windows Experience Space event in New York City for the past few days, hence the dearth of posts on this blog.
Over this weekend, I shall be posting about the event and the epiphany I had about a much-maligned Microsoft property. Stay...(read more)
In my review here of the Buffalo Nfiniti Wireless-N router & Access Point, I briefly touched upon Windows Rally™, a series of technological advancements built into Windows Vista which are geared towards simplifying network connectivity and giving users, and managers, what is now known universally (and affectionately) as the Windows Vista Experience.
From the review:
The Windows Rally™ program, formerly Windows Connect Now, is a new way for providing quick, more secure, and effortless connectivity for network connected devices.
This program gives hardware OEMs, developers, and service providers access to Microsoft technology, and technical guidance, and streamlines licensing of those same technologies, enabling the use of a common platform to deliver leading-edge connectivity products and services to their targeted customers, in the process lowering their cost of developing devices and software, and reducing the complexity presented to consumers. The use of Windows Rally™ technologies also allows software and hardware developers the benefit of creating products with a greater amount of differentiation and customization.
Read on at John.Obeto on Microsoft on NetworkWorld.com
| Date | Blog | Title |
| July 15 | AbsouteVista.com | Buffalo Nfiniti Wireless-N Router & Access Point Review. A review of Buffalo’s flagship Certified for Windows Vista™ router. |
| July 16 | AbsoluteVista.com | July 13, 2007 AMD Consumer Showcase, Hollywood, CA |
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| AbsoluteVista.com | I Played with a Phenom™, of my sorta hands-on with an AMD reference unit powered by the forthcoming thoroughbred, the Phenom FX. |
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| AbsoluteVista.com | Nkem Owoh: 419 I Go Chop Your Dollar! An actor/singer |
| July 17 | John.Obeto on Microsoft | |
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| AbsoluteVista.com | |
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| AbsoluteVista.com | Bottom-feeding jackals in Oregon flee, on payday lenders leaving Oregon. |
| July 18 | John.Obeto on Microsoft | Salesforce.com not worried? Is it bravado or ostrich-like behavior? |
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| John.Obeto on Microsoft | |
| July 19 | John.Obeto on Microsoft | |
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| AbsoluteVista.com |
I have been testing the Buffalo Nfiniti Wireless-N broadband router, a Certified for Windows Vista™ device.
I received this review unit just before the Microsoft Windows Hardware Engineering Conference, or WinHEC back in early May. Seeing that there were quite a few sessions devoted to Windows I decided to hold off on a review of the unit until I had gotten an opportunity to learn more about Windows Rally™ technologies.
Windows Rally™ Technologies.
The Windows Rally™ program, formerly Windows Connect Now, is a new way for providing quick, more secure, and effortless connectivity for network connected devices.
This program gives hardware OEMs, developers, and service providers access to Microsoft technology, and technical guidance, and streamlines licensing of those same technologies, enabling the use of a common platform to deliver leading-edge connectivity products and services to their targeted customers, in the process lowering their cost of developing devices and software, and reducing the complexity presented to consumers.
The use of Windows Rally™ technologies also allows software and hardware developers the benefit of creating products with a greater amount of differentiation and customization.
The Nfiniti router came in a rather large box reminiscent of Cisco router boxes, and I wondered why until I saw how well padded it was. The box contained the router, a quick setup guide, an Ethernet cable, a setup CD, the power supply and the warranty boilerplate verbiage.
I rather liked the looks of the router, especially since I had wanted to upgrade the network at UniMatrix Zero-1 to the equally different-looking Linksys WRT350N router.
I discarded the included CAT-5 cable for CAT-6 cables, plugged the router into the mains, connected the Motorola SB5101 modem and the systems.
Well, Ryan M., Jim B., Glen W., and the entire Windows Rally™ team do have a lot to be proud of.
After flushing the cache/memory on the Moto cable modem – thanks for the heads-up, Jim B. – I was effortlessly able to connect to the router.
The Windows Connect Now auto-configuration system worked me through the setting up of the router, including the insertion of a pre-defined passphrase, and, voilà, I was connected!
Never one to leave well enough alone, I opened up a browser window, connected to the router, and proceeded to change virtually all options available in managing the Nfiniti router, including, but not limited to passwords/passphrases, network numbers, addresses, etc.
Needless to say, I was pleased with the numerous options available.
In my test of the router, I was able to connect to the wireless-g network from the desktops, and to the a network using the UniMatrix notebooks.
Since I did not have a wireless-n card installed in any of the systems at the Orbiting Dacha, I made do with the installed adaptors.
The range superiority of the Nfiniti router versus the other routers at UniMatrix Zero-1 was never doubted. In fact, during network discovery, I located several more networks than I have ever seen listed in the Windows Vista™ wireless networks list. I was able to get connected using various several in various locations over the physical plant at UniMatrix Zero-1.
Wireless throughput was also perceptibly faster, making me move the acquisition of a similar unit to the top of my list for short-term improvements to my network.
I like this router, one for the use of Windows Rally technologies for easy setup, and secondly for the performance.
Admittedly, this system has not been tested with a wireless-n card, however, if my perceptible feelings of faster speed are any indication, there is no doubt that it would perform as expected.
As a result, I am giving it a SmallBizVista.com Preferred Award, especially for ease of use, configuration, and value in the consumer/SOHO space.
John Obeto II
Editor-in-Chief, SmallBizVista.com
Publisher, The Interlocutor
July 15, 2007