WinInfo Short Takes: Yes Virginia, There is a Longhorn Server

WinInfo Short Takes: Yes Virginia, There is a Longhorn Server: "Well, the internal debate over whether to deliver a Windows Server update in the Longhorn timeframe is apparently over. According to sources in and close to Microsoft, the software giant is now working on a version of Longhorn Server that will succeed Windows Server 2003 and precede Blackcomb. Longhorn Server will provide customers with the important core technologies from Longhorn, including a .NET-based user interface and graphics library called Avalon, a SQL Server 'Yukon'-based file system add-on called Windows Future Storage (WinFS), and low-level anti-virus APIs, among other features. Currently, Longhorn Server is still considered a minor update, however, and not a major update like Blackcomb."

Download details: Data Access Architecture Guide

Download details: Data Access Architecture Guide: "This document provides guidelines for implementing an ADO.NET-based data access layer in a multi-tier .NET-based application. It focuses on a range of common data access tasks and scenarios, and presents guidance to help you choose the most appropriate approaches and techniques."

More Microsoft Patterns & Practices

Netflix's Patent May Reshape DVD-Rental Market

Netflix's Patent May Reshape DVD-Rental Market: "The patent gives Netflix intellectual property protection over the technology at the core of its business: the way that a customer sets up his or her rental list; and the way the company sends the DVD's. The patent also grants the company exclusive control over many other small parts of the process of online DVD rental."

SearchWin2000.com: What admins need to consider in advance of Yukon

SearchWin2000.com: What admins need to consider in advance of Yukon: "Sorenson: SQL Server Yukon will run on Windows Server 2000, as long as Windows 2000 has whatever the latest service pack is at that time. For someone with SQL 2000 running on a Windows 2000 [server], if they don't want to upgrade the OS, they will [be] able to do an upgrade replace. They won't get to use any of the SQL Server features that require Windows 2003 functionality, such as clusters, thread handling and some additional performance gain. But the server will run and the applications will run. "

Google Toolbar

Google Toolbar Came across a reference to this in today's Boston Globe: "Online search engine Google introduced several new gadgets in its popular toolbar for Web browsers, hoping to build even greater brand loyalty amid heightened competition. The new software includes a feature that automatically blocks pop-up ads, as well as a program that automatically fills out Internet forms seeking a customer's name and address. The function that fills in forms offers an option to store credit card numbers too, but the information is encrypted on the hard drive of a user's computer instead of Google's computers, for security and privacy reasons. The toolbar also enables users to transfer online content to Internet journals known as Weblogs, or ''blogs,'' by pressing a button. (AP)" (italics mine)

MiTAC Mio 8380 (Phone Scoop)

MiTAC Mio 8380 (Phone Scoop): "The first Windows Powered Smartphone to be announced with a folder form factor. This tri-band GSM world phone is powered by an Intel XScale processor, and also sports an integrated video and still camera, external display, MMS, MIDP 2.0 Java, class 10 GPRS high-speed data, speaker-phone, and an SD card expansion slot."

Not in the US yet... but a strong leading indicator Via Scobleizer

Joho the Blog: QuickTopic goes Pro

Joho the Blog: QuickTopic goes Pro "QuickTopic, my favorite fast-and-easy discussion board, is now offering a Pro (= for pay) version. For $49/year, you get to make it look visually like a part of your site, get administrative tools, and get to use QuickThread which lets you create a QuickTopic thread out of any existing email thread. QuickTopic's normal version is still completely free to users."

Congrats to Steve Yost!

justinknol.net - a stack of useful stuff: Lotus Workplace Strategy

justinknol.net - a stack of useful stuff: Lotus Workplace Strategy: "The above is all public, via the Webcast mentioned above, but yesterday I went to a Briefing at our local IBM Office, where more details were forthcoming. Obviously, I'm going to respect what was told to us in confidence (Craig says I'm OK), but the story was all good. I think there has been some serious thinking going on over at Lotus and the results are impressive. They have not just been sitting around, painting things purple, and telling everyone to brush up on JSP. I was very impressed - this is a great story.
At the moment, my view is that the effort to produce a sophisticated web-based collaboration applications with Notes/Domino is much greater than to create the same thing targeted at the Notes Client. With the new Lotus Workplace strategy in place, creating web collaboration apps will much, much easier.
Notes is not dead, but there is a new dawn on the horizon."

Via Ed Brill

Jon's Radio: Fixing RSS's public-relations problem

Jon's Radio: Fixing RSS's public-relations problem "Yesterday I spoke with two acquaintances, both of whom have decades-long track records in the high-tech biz, and neither of whom has ever used an RSS newsreader. When I mentioned RSS as an alternative to mailing lists, both said the same thing: "But I don't have time to visit 30 different websites in order to find things out." Of course, that is exactly the problem that RSS solves. And has been solving, for me, since 1999."

Mac vs. PC, 2003 Edition: Are Apple's G5 Benchmark Results False?

Mac vs. PC, 2003 Edition: Are Apple's G5 Benchmark Results False? "Sadly, Apple's claims are as questionable as ever, but what's astonishing is how quickly the truth has come out. Almost immediately after the keynote, while Mac fanatics worldwide continued chortling over their perceived victory, people around the Web began looking into the benchmarks Apple used to prove the G5's prowess. Predictably, things aren't as simple as Apple's followers would like to believe. More alarming, even dual processor G5 machines still don't match the processing power of a single processor Pentium 4 system, contrary to what Apple announced Monday.
...
What's most bizarre about all this, of course, is that Apple makes good products. Let's be clear on this point: Mac OS X is excellent, and the Panther release, while not overly exciting, looks solid. And the company's hardware is of tremendous quality (I own two Macs and an iPod), with the PowerMac G5 clearly continuing this trend. And there are still excellent reasons to pick a Mac over a PC in certain situations. But Apple has been stretching the bounds of credibility with its performance claims for years now, and this latest example is, by far, the most bold. This situation, ultimately, is an embarrassment for both Apple and its customers. Perhaps the company needs to think its claim that the PowerMac G5 is the "world's fastest computer." Quite clearly, that is not the case."

WSJ.com - Former Ally of Oracle Aids PeopleSoft Defense

WSJ.com - Former Ally of Oracle Aids PeopleSoft Defense "Larry Ellison, the chief executive of Oracle Corp., cheered from the sidelines through much of the 1990s as attorney Gary Reback mobilized Silicon Valley to spur the government to take action against Microsoft Corp.'s monopolistic practices.
Now that Mr. Reback is again practicing law in Palo Alto, Calif., after a three-year stint as an entrepreneur, Mr. Ellison's cheers for his erstwhile ally may well be turning to groans. Mr. Reback's first local client is PeopleSoft Inc., which has retained him to turn his extensive antitrust knowledge against Oracle's hostile, $6.3 billion takeover bid."

PeopleSoft better hope he's a bit more successful this time...

Microsoft wants to get people talking

Microsoft wants to get people talking "Microsoft Corp. plans to bring its speech-recognition technology to the corporate market next year with software that lets computers respond to voice commands over the phone.
The program is being tested by at least 10 customers and will be available in the first quarter of next year, said Kai-Fu Lee, a Microsoft corporate vice president in charge of the company's natural interactive services division."

Video Chat Sofware Reviewed

Video Chat Sofware Reviewed "Even in their preliminary incarnations, these programs illustrate two important points. First, the addition of voice and video changes the experience so profoundly, it's not really chat any more. Second, Apple and Microsoft may as well have come from different planets.
For example, Microsoft, true to tradition, has focused on expanding its list of features, while Apple has worked toward elegance and simplicity. Messenger is a cacophony of brightly colored buttons, panels, blinking advertisements and, in the new version, animated (and even homemade) smileys; iChat AV maintains the clean lines and brushed-metal "surfaces" of its text-only predecessors. The new features of Messenger 6 include custom window backgrounds and interactive games like checkers; iChat AV is dedicated solely to communication. Messenger 6, in its ultimate form, will be free; iChat AV will cost $30 (but will be free with Apple's next operating-system release, Mac OS X 10.3, code-named Panther, due by year's end)."

This kind of reporting must profoundly annoy the Windows Messenger product team; MSN Messenger is not the strategic IM client from MS... (Of course, it's not the reporter's fault; MS has very confusing real-time positioning at the moment.)

BTW with iChat, iSight, regular $129 Mac OS upgrades, etc., you're ultimately signing up for a rather large iAnnuity, if you're a leading-edge Apple customer...

Stewart Alsop: Alas, Poor Microsoft ... You Used to Be So Interesting

Stewart Alsop: Alas, Poor Microsoft ... You Used to Be So Interesting "Will Longhorn rock the world? I don't think so. For one thing, the computer industry has dreamed of universal file systems since the days of the Nixon administration or even earlier. Microsoft won't be any better at achieving that dream than IBM, Digital, Xerox, Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems, or any other company that has attempted the same thing.
Even if Longhorn is a big improvement over Windows, it still won't ignite a revolution. Why? Because—and believe me, I never thought I'd say this in a million years—Microsoft's software is good enough. We all bitch and moan about one shortcoming or another, as I've often done in these pages over the years. But there's not a whole lot Microsoft can do to make its programs so much better that they justify the suffering we have to endure any time we upgrade to something new. Longhorn might get geeks all sweaty with desire, but to the rest of us, it's still just an operating system."

Via Ray Ozzie

tim.oreilly.com -- Buy Where You Shop

tim.oreilly.com -- Buy Where You Shop "If you like shopping in bookstores, remember this: many independent booksellers are on the ropes. (One store owner we know resorts to ordering books on personal credit cards when she is put on credit hold by publishers because she can't pay her bills.) Even in the chains, computer book sections are in danger of shrinking in favor of other sections where sales are more robust. If you value the bookstore experience, my advice is this: buy where you shop. I buy lots of books online. I read about them on a blog or a mailing list, and buy with one click. But when I shop for books in bookstores, I buy them there, and so should you. Don't just look for the best price. Look for the best value. And if that value, for you, includes the ability to page through a book, support your local bookseller."

Executive Shuffle at Microsoft

Executive Shuffle at Microsoft "Microsoft Corp. on Monday reorganized its platforms group, combining the Developer and Platform Evangelism Business, the Windows Server System Business, and the Enterprise Storage and Management Business under the existing Servers and Tools Profit & Loss center (P&L), which will be headed by senior vice president Eric Rudder.
However, Paul Flessner, who was senior vice president of the server platform division and who led the Server and Tools P&L, will "return to his roots of engineering management and will lead the Exchange, SQL and eBusiness Divisions, while reporting to Rudder," a Microsoft spokesman told eWEEK on Monday.
This is not a downward or sideways move for Flessner, the spokesman said, as Flessner "was looking to do less business work and more engineering."

Microsoft Unleashes Office 2003 Beta 2 Refresh

Microsoft Unleashes Office 2003 Beta 2 Refresh The "Refresh" seems much snappier and more stable to me (e.g., the Research Task Pane doesn't occasionally consume 100% of CPU time anymore...), but it still has a few obvious problems, e.g., table handling in Word 2003.

2003/06/26 update: was probably user error on the table printing... Word 2003 seems very stable and robust overall.

Microsoft Executive E-mail: Toward a Spam-Free Future

Microsoft Executive E-mail: Toward a Spam-Free Future: [Bill Gates:] "Like almost everyone, I receive a lot of spam every day, much of it offering to help me get out of debt or get rich quick. It's ridiculous."

WSJ.com - IBM, Microsoft Hunt Same Prey: The Small-Business Customer

WSJ.com - IBM, Microsoft Hunt Same Prey: The Small-Business Customer "With the announcement Wednesday, IBM turns up the heat. Instead of matching Microsoft pricing, as it had been doing until recently, IBM is undercutting it. It will announce a $20,000 price for its WebSphere Commerce Express, used to run Internet-based businesses, which it says is 24% below Microsoft's competing product, called Commerce Server Standard. Earlier, IBM cut the price of its DB2 Express database software to $5,449 per 50 users, well under Microsoft's SQL Server at $7,967.
Stephen O'Grady, an analyst with Red Monk LLC, a small-business market consultant in Bath, Maine, says: "IBM is pricing very aggressively. But they're going against the incumbent here. Lots of small and medium businesses just think Microsoft and go to them to buy a solution."

As Bill Gates once said to Jim Manzi, many years ago: "It's not a good idea to get into price competition with someone who has more money than you do."

Apple Unveils Impressive New OS, 64-Bit Hardware

Apple Unveils Impressive New OS, 64-Bit Hardware: "On Monday, Apple unveiled its upcoming Mac OS X 'Panther' operating system and the 64-bit PowerPC G5 systems on which it will run, ushering in what will no doubt be a new era of debates over the relative merits of PCs and Macintoshes. Apple's new designs are quite impressive: It's Panther OS, due in late 2003, offers features Windows users already enjoy, such as Fast User Switching and file encryption, while the PowerPC G5, based on IBM's 64-bit POWER4 server architecture and due in August, finally gives the company a system that can, in some ways, compete again with the fastest PCs. After offering paltry performance improvements for the past two years or so, Apple's move to the G5 processor gives the company a competitive product for creative professionals, scientists, and video editors."

BTW here's an overview of the 64-bit versions of Windows, including Windows XP 64-bit, which has been on the market for two years. Fascinating that Jobs can still leverage his "reality distortion field" on demand...

Apple Announces Chip Deal and Other Moves to Lift PC's

Apple Announces Chip Deal and Other Moves to Lift PC's "What does the competitive landscape look like out there?" he asked. "Our competition was going to be out there in 2004, they've slipped until 2005, and some people tell us it will actually be in 2006," he said, referring to a new version of Microsoft's Windows operating system, code-named Longhorn, that has been delayed."

More to file under "wishful thinking"

Microsoft Announces Windows Mobile, A Strategic Addition to the Windows Brand Family

Microsoft Announces Windows Mobile, A Strategic Addition to the Windows Brand Family: "Microsoft Corp. today announced Windows Mobile (TM) , a new global brand for Microsoft® software for mobile devices such as Pocket PCs and Smartphones. The launch of Windows Mobile 2003 software for Pocket PCs kicks off the new Windows Mobile brand, which extends the Windows® brand to the full range of mobile devices. The new Windows Mobile brand helps customers more readily understand and identify the software inside Pocket PCs and Smartphones and the consistent experience they can expect. The brand also reflects Microsoft's commitment to the mobile space in bringing its software for mobile devices into the Windows brand family."
...
Microsoft's Windows brands now include these:
Windows XP. Microsoft's most advanced desktop operating system, Windows XP is at the center of ongoing personal computing innovation. With Windows XP, home users can experience the digital world as never before, while business users can work smarter and faster. Specialized editions include Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Tablet PC Edition and Windows XP Media Center Edition. More information can be found at the Microsoft Windows XP Web site.
Windows Server 2003. Windows Server (TM) 2003 includes all the functionality, such as enhancements in security, reliability, availability and scalability, that customers need in a Windows Server operating system to do more with less. In addition, Microsoft has improved and extended the Windows Server operating systems to incorporate the benefits of Microsoft .NET for connecting information, people, systems and devices. More information can be found at the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Web site.
Windows Mobile. Windows Mobile software, including Pocket PC and Smartphone, seeks to enable intelligent communications: not just connecting devices, but connecting people and their data so they can get things done. Windows Mobile solutions reduce the complexity and constraints that hobble the flow of personal and business communications, helping individuals and organizations achieve their productivity goals. More information can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/mobile/."

ActiveWin.com: Interview with Eric Gunnerson, Program Manager: Microsoft Visual C# .NET

ActiveWin.com: Interview with Eric Gunnerson, Program Manager: Microsoft Visual C# .NET: "But I think my absolute favorite feature is really a non-feature. As we like to say on the design team, 'Simplicity is also a feature'. I spent a fair amount of time writing and testing C code, and while I was pretty good at templates, I never fully understood them, and reading other people's templated code was always a pain. I read a comment once that programmers don't like languages that make them feel stupid, and C certainly did that to me a number of times. C# is definitely my kind of language in that regard."

Microsoft Games Vice President Calls the Kettle Black

Microsoft Games Vice President Calls the Kettle Black
: "Peter Moore, the Microsoft corporate vice president responsible for Xbox, was speaking at a gaming summit in London this week when he suddenly unleashed a scathing attack on Nintendo's product strategy, concentrating especially on its best-selling GameBoy device. '[Handheld gaming] is a very solitary, time-killing activity,' he said, noting that Microsoft had no plans to enter this market. 'We believe that the future is the social element of gaming, and that's going to be done through a console, not through a handheld gaming device.' And who would know more about the gaming market than the man who loses $50 on every game machine he sells? After all, the Xbox isn't raking in the big bucks that the GameBoy is. Furthermore, someone should point out to Moore that gaming is the fastest-growing nonphone application for cell phones. Someone should force this guy to spend interminable hours alone on a plane, train, or bus. "

Yeah, MS will focus exclusively on multi-player, time-killing game activities, but apparently not any place/time/device...

The Tech Rebound That Isn't Quite

The Tech Rebound That Isn't Quite "When it surveyed more than 600 C.I.O.'s worldwide earlier this year, Gartner found that their top three goals, in order of importance, were cutting costs, shoring up information security and supporting innovation. "It shows you how much pressure C.I.O.'s are under, when cutting costs is No. 1 and supporting innovation is No. 3," Mr. Hunter observed."

NYT: What We Watch, Read and Download

What We Watch, Read and Download "Despite all the evidence that federal investigators of corporate scandals have amassed from e-mail over the last year, few companies have taken steps to make sure their employees know and follow rules for proper use of e-mail. That is a conclusion, at least, of a recent survey of more than 1,100 employees and executives at companies of all sizes.
The survey found that while half of the companies monitored employee e-mail, and three-quarters of the companies had e-mail policies in place, fewer than half provided employee education programs on using e-mail."

The Corporate Blog Is Catching On

The Corporate Blog Is Catching On ""There is a sense that blogging is about to explode in the business area, but who's brave enough to do it yet?" asks Halley Suitt, director for client development at Yaga Inc., a company in San Francisco offering a payment technology for Web sites. She is also a blogger, at halleyscomment.blogspot.com. "Many early bloggers were wild entrepreneurial types," she added, but now the phenomenon is drawing "more legitimate executives.""

Actually, I think this may be yet another indication that the mainstream blog meme has jumped the shark. Blogs will still be interesting and useful in many contexts, but they're not for everyone and they're not going to revolutionize mainstream media anytime soon.

Discovery Channel Xbox documentary

"We watched the Discovery Channel show on the Xbox and, boy was that weird. Most of the show was filmed in the labs where we were hanging out today. Total deja vue. ..."

[via The Scobleizer Weblog]

Check the Discovery Channel schedule -- I suspect it will repeat. I watched last night; it was a well-produced show.

ongoing · RSS: Promise and Peril

ongoing · RSS: Promise and Peril "The smart people already knew this, but I’m still just picking up on it: RSS has huge business potential. Here is a laundry list of a few things you could (and I think should) use it for. There are big-money implications. But there’s at least one big obstacle too."

Handspring's Gorgeous New Phone

Handspring's Gorgeous New Phone "
Feature-wise, this phone is loaded. It has a camera that snaps 640 x 480-pixel photos; a five-way navigation knob; and a slot for an SD expansion card. Unlike most cellphones (and earlier Treos), it has separate speakers for your ear and for the speakerphone. That second speaker can play MP3 music files, too, so your phone can be your radio as you paint or lie on the beach.
Handspring has also addressed two complaints about the original Treo. First—hallelujah -- there’s now a separate Applications button that summons your list of Palm programs. Second, the new Treo’s battery is as strong as the earlier battery was weak. Handspring estimates that in the final design, you’ll get about six hours of talk time per charge.
This phone can send SMS (short messaging service) text messages to other phones—no surprise there. But think about it: Most SMS messages trigger responses, and responses to responses. So Handspring’s SMS screen looks exactly like an instant-messaging chat window, with previous exchanges scrolling up like a screenplay. It’s an ingenious, clutter-saving stroke."

PCE ::: Personal Computing Envirionments

PCE ::: Personal Computing Envirionments Check out the pictures -- you too can be comfortably Borg-ified. Came across a reference to this company in wsj.com today.

Microsoft Hires Tanya Clemons as Corporate Vice President of People and Organizational Capability

Microsoft Hires Tanya Clemons as Corporate Vice President of People and Organizational Capability: "Previously, Clemons was vice president of Global Executive and Organization Capability at IBM Corp., where she was responsible for leadership development for the company's senior leadership. She designed and implemented IBM's first common framework for leadership and culture change, now used throughout the corporation. Along with responsibility for executive education programs and the organization development process, Clemons created and deployed experiential-based career development models for key roles in the organization."

There seems to be a trend here...

Gore Reportedly Has Set Sights on Creation of a Cable Network

Gore Reportedly Has Set Sights on Creation of a Cable Network "After giving up on making another run for president — at least this time around — Al Gore is pondering the life of a media mogul.
Mr. Gore is pursuing the creation of a cable network, several people involved in the discussions said, and has met with media executives to explore program formats and distribution possibilities."

Weblogs are ten years old

Weblogs are ten years old "I was reading this totally funny thing, a History of the Internet, and it mentions weblogs as being invented in 2001.

At first I didn?t think about that, but then I did, and I realized?for all the talk about weblogs these days, weblogs are actually very old.

In fact?I did some quick checking, and I think weblogs were invented ten years and four days ago. Check out the June 14, 1993 date at the bottom of the archive for What?s New with NCSA Mosaic.

Happy tenth birthday to weblogs!

More modern weblogs date back to 1997. For instance, here are the first posts for Scripting News and CamWorld.

The first weblog authoring software that I know of is NewsPage, from May 1997."

[via inessential.com]

Messenger 6 rocks

Messenger 6 rocks "Scoble is right: "MSN Messenger [6]..... is freaking freaking freaking awesome" and Joe Wilcox of Jupiter Research is dead wrong when writing about the acceptance of Ink in MSN Messenger: "Given that most Tablet PCs are targeted at corporate users, initially, this feature [inking] will have limited appeal in Microsoft?s consumer instant messenger." Wow is Joe wrong. And I mean way wrong. I've been receiving Ink instant messages starting at 11 AM sharp. Everyone loves it. Yeah, reality is still relevant and I already have my wish list, such as I'd like to be able to copy-paste from Journal and I want a strikeout gesture and emoticons in ink mode. But we Tablet PCers are going to love MSN Messenger. No doubt about it. Here's just one prediction: You're going to see people walking about tradeshows and inking instant messages back to their cohorts "You've got to see such-and-such." Friend, former boss, Toshiba Tablet PC user, and CEO of ArcanaNetworks, inked over his wife's sentiments about all the excitement he had for Messenger 6 this morning: "I don't get it. First you were all excited about replacing paper and pen with computers. And now you're all excited about adding paper and ink to your computer." Yep, she got it right. We're taking the best of both worlds and making them even better by integrating them where it makes sense...."

[via Incremental Blogger]

Scripting News in Manila: Winer on smart tag technology

Scripting News in Manila: Winer on smart tag technology: "Two years ago today, issues around Microsoft's (now defunct) Smart Tags in MSIE exposed key questions about integrity in web-writing"

Actually, smart tag technology is significantly expanded in Office 2003, and there's a new smart document feature as well. Winer and Walt Mossberg quite effectively (and spuriously) stigmatized smart tag technology two years ago, but it is definitely not defunct. To be more precise: yes smart tag technology was yanked from IE in 2001 due to the controversy Winer referenced, but it is still a big part of Office XP and a bigger part of Office 2003.

Silicon Valley - Dan Gillmor's eJournal - Oracle's PeopleSoft Bid, Ellison's Revenge

Silicon Valley - Dan Gillmor's eJournal - Oracle's PeopleSoft Bid, Ellison's Revenge "But Oracle's methods continue to leave a sour taste. As Adam Lashinsky notes in his latest Fortune commentary, Oracle was so embarrassed by its performance in a phone call with analysts that it didn't post key material to its Web site. What's Oracle hiding? The fact that it can't answer essential questions, that's what -- and that should be a red flag. Nobody in his or her right mind should trust Ellison any further than, say, Bill Gates when it comes to honor in business practices.
As all this proceeds, the sounds you hear in the background are chuckles. Microsoft, moving into this line of business, and SAP, already there in great force, could be the big winners when this is over."

Anonymous Source on MSNBot

Anonymous Source on MSNBot: "They have Google in their crosshairs. They are trying to replicate every feature of Google in the next year, and have tie-ins with the next version of IE (including a 'search' box right on the browser toolbar that by default points at MSN Search) and in Windows Longhorn (the Search function in the shell will have an Internet option that will go to MSN by default). They made a build-vs-buy decision in the last few months (in fact they made an informal offer to purchase Google, which was refused). "

I.B.M.'s Opponent in Suit Criticizes Linux Advocate

I.B.M.'s Opponent in Suit Criticizes Linux Advocate "SCO's amended suit against I.B.M., filed late Monday, contends that Mr. Torvalds, who has overseen the development of Linux, appears to have a casual attitude toward intellectual property rights. Linux is distributed free and improved upon by a far-flung network of developers.
...
SCO executives assert there is a "don't ask, don't tell" mentality toward intellectual property that pervades the Linux programming culture. As an example, they point to an e-mail message exchange last August on the Linux mailing list. One programmer said there was a patent matter that "we can't just ignore."
Mr. Torvalds replied, "Actually, we can, and I will."
"I do not look up any patents on principle because (a) it's a horrible waste of time and (b) I don't want to know.""

Uh oh...

ASP.NET Web Matrix: Reloaded

ASP.NET Web Matrix: Reloaded: "Although still not a '1.0' product - its current version number is 0.6.784 - it remains a highly productive tool with many intriguing features, some of which are simply absent in the much higher-powered Visual Studio .NET. In fact, one thing that impressed me most about Web Matrix is it doesn't attempt to be a scaled-down version of VS .NET at all. It's obvious from using the tool that the designers really thought about what was most relevant to the average, non-enterprise ASP.NET developer and tried to fill in some of the Web development holes that exist in VS .NET. The best way to describe Web Matrix is as a Web development tool for developers who simply find VS .NET to be overkill."

Collaborating on Collaboration

Collaborating on Collaboration: "The makers of Groove and SharePoint designed them to address different customer needs, and their resulting architectural differences are more complementary than competitive. Groove was designed to support personally-controlled collaboration in an edge/client-distributed model (with optional enterprise integration), readily supporting secure collaboration among decentralized, dynamic teams. SharePoint primarily is focused on enterprise collaboration with a more document-centric, centralized architectural model. It's worthwhile to look at the ways in which Groove and SharePoint are similar, how they differ, and to summarize the current and likely future Groove/Microsoft relationship from a customer perspective."

FYI my latest Smart Solutions column

MSN Messenger 6 Allows IM Lovers to Express Themselves With Style

MSN Messenger 6 Allows IM Lovers to Express Themselves With Style: "MSN Messenger 6, available beginning today at 11 a.m. PDT from http://messenger.msn.com/download/v6preview.asp, helps users create their own online identities through customized display pictures, backgrounds and emoticons. They also can share more of themselves -- silly or serious -- with IM contacts by competing at live online games, sending photos to their friends, or sharing animated emoticons that breathe life into that sad old :). In addition, MSN Messenger 6 lets users connect in fresh, new ways -- via a webcam, a multitude of mobile devices or a Tablet PC -- while blocking spam and helping protect privacy."

What you won't find in this press release (or the corresponding Q&A):
1. A reference to Windows Messenger, the IM client bundled with Windows XP and Microsoft's strategic offering for enterprises
2. Any references to standards such as SIP and SIMPLE

Obviously Microsoft's consumer- and enterprise-focused product teams have different priorities.

A data model for log entries

A data model for log entries "And so it begins..."

[via Don Box's Spoutlet]

So why no diagrams?...

WSJ.com - Sun Says It Could Benefit From SCO-IBM Linux Fight

WSJ.com - Sun Says It Could Benefit From SCO-IBM Linux Fight ""There's no question we're going to go after the AIX base and say Solaris is free and clear, with no legal or intellectual cloud hanging over it," Mr. McNealy said at a press conference."
...
He said Sun isn't vulnerable to any legal claims from SCO because it bought a Unix license outright years ago.
Mr. McNealy said Sun has more invested in the open-source software movement than rivals IBM and Hewlett-Packard Co., which he said can fall back on the Windows operating system from Microsoft Corp."

Microsoft goes direct to drive profits | CNET News.com

Microsoft goes direct to drive profits | CNET News.com "During the past two years, the Redmond, Wash.-based giant has increased the amount of software it sells through its Enterprise Agreement (EA) licensing program, under which the company sells applications directly to businesses.
That's a big switch from previous plans, under which Microsoft relied on a worldwide network of resellers to find customers and sell its software, ideally for profit. Resellers are always pulled into EA agreements, but to service deals largely consummated by Microsoft. Microsoft then pays them a commission out of fees paid to Microsoft by the customer.
...
"We now estimate that 30 (percent) to 35 percent of large customers have Microsoft Enterprise Agreements," said Alvin Park, an analyst at Gartner. That's up from 15 percent in the recent past."

Microsoft Blog Policy Coming Down the Pike?

Microsoft Blog Policy Coming Down the Pike? "Despite the fact that more and more Microsoft employees have jumped on the blogging bandwagon, Microsoft has not announced any kind of corporate blogging policy...at least so far.
But it seems as if Microsoft corporate is beginning to take more of an active interest in how its employees are expressing their opinions in their Web logs.
On Tuesday, as part of its ongoing series of discussions about Microsoft and community, the company is holding an internal panel to discuss employee Weblogging."

Microsoft Announces Beta Availability of New Version of Microsoft Producer For Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003

Microsoft Announces Beta Availability of New Version of Microsoft Producer For Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 "Microsoft Corp. today announced the availability of the beta version of the new Microsoft® Producer for Microsoft Office PowerPoint® 2003 (Producer 2003). Producer 2003, a free add-on for PowerPoint 2003, adds a host of new features that make it faster and easier for everyday business users and content professionals to create engaging rich-media presentations by synchronizing audio, video, and PowerPoint slides and images.
Producer 2003 offers users enhanced integration with PowerPoint 2003 as well as unmatched audio and video quality thanks to built-in support for Windows Media® 9 Series. It also introduces cross-platform compatibility with support for Mac and Netscape users, which broadens the potential audience for Producer-authored presentations, and complies with the basic requirements for Information Management System (IMS) and Shareable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) e-learning standards. The beta version of Producer 2003 is available for download."
Elsewhere: "To use the beta release of Producer 2003, you must have PowerPoint 2003 beta 2 or higher (available as part of the Microsoft Office System Beta 2 Kit 2003) or PowerPoint 2002 with Microsoft Windows XP Professional or Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional. Licensing for the beta release of Producer 2003 is covered under the Office 2003 End-User License Agreement or the Office XP End-User License Agreement."

Prominent Programmer Will Leave Transmeta

Prominent Programmer Will Leave Transmeta ""There was no huge particular reason to leave Transmeta," Mr. Torvalds wrote in an e-mail message. "But I've felt somewhat guilty lately about the fact that I've spent a lot more time on Linux than I have on my real work at Transmeta."
The Linux operating system has experienced particularly strong growth in corporate markets. Gartner, a market research concern, recently reported that Linux increased its market share in the server market, but the overall market declined in 2002.
Mr. Torvalds will become the first fellow of the Open Source Development Lab, a nonprofit consortium based in Beaverton, Ore."

Ed Brill: How many times have I heard "Notes is dead"?

Ed Brill: How many times have I heard "Notes is dead"? Couple thoughts on this recurrent theme:
1. Notes is not like dBASE; nothing else on the market does everything that Notes does today.
2. IBM's ambivalent positioning/advertising/attitude about Notes obfuscates this fact in a lot of ambiguous WebSphere-centric noise.

The ASP.NET Web Matrix Project (Reloaded!)

The ASP.NET Web Matrix Project (Reloaded!): "ASP.NET Web Matrix is a community-supported, easy-to-use WYSIWYG application development tool for ASP.NET. It can be installed via a quick 1.3 MB download (about 5 minutes using a 56Kb modem). New features include: Access database support, J# support, design time enhancements including improved table editing and user-control rendering, many bug fixes, and much more! Best of all? It's absolutely free!"

I'm still perplexed by ASP.NET Web Matrix -- either it's a placeholder until MS can cram all of its features into Visual Studio.NET or the Microsoft "strategy tax" dimensions Steve Gillmor and others have discussed are not uniformly enforced... The FrontPage team can't be too thrilled about overlap, in any case.

Has Oracle's Chief Disarmed a Rival?

Has Oracle's Chief Disarmed a Rival? "If Oracle ever reaches a deal to buy PeopleSoft, Mr. Ellison has said he intends to shut it down and transfer its customers to Oracle's eBusiness Suite software. But a takeover is viewed as remote because of possible antitrust objections and since PeopleSoft's board has already rejected the offer and filed a lawsuit on Friday against Oracle, accusing it of unfair trade practices.
So far, he is already pursuing one of those goals: The hostile bid that was announced June 6 has created so much uncertainty about PeopleSoft's future and that of J. D. Edwards & Company — the software company that PeopleSoft agreed to acquire earlier this month — that some potential clients are being advised not to place orders. (Ted Kempf, an analyst at Gartner Research who advises companies about software purchases, told his clients last week to avoid PeopleSoft until the takeover fight was resolved.)"

Boston Globe Online / Business / Companies get into weblog act

Boston Globe Online / Business / Companies get into weblog act: "Blogs are an elaboration of the old personal Web page concept. But the blog, thank heaven, quickly transcended the original paradigm, with its photos of the family dog and discussions of Junior's potty training accident. Come to think of it, though, most blogs still aren't much better."

Steve Gillmor: Fix it in the mix II

Steve Gillmor: Fix it in the mix II More issues and insights from Steve Gillmor.

ongoing · Semantic Web: Gripes and A Way Forward

ongoing · Semantic Web: Gripes and A Way Forward Check out the Mark Butler ppt (the "slide deck" link) -- an outstanding assessment of the RDF vision/reality.

My $.02: the people who created RDF were right to work toward a meta-metamodel that isn't constrained by document-centricity, but they should have spent more time exploring another general-purpose meta-metamodel, the relational model (as in Codd's definition, not any current implementation). There's a lot of unnecessary re-invention going on, as a result.

Silicon Valley - Dan Gillmor's eJournal - MySQL Ascendant

Silicon Valley - Dan Gillmor's eJournal - MySQL Ascendant "Monty Widenius is the Helsinki-based chief technology officer and co-founder of MySQL, the open-source database software that is becoming one of the huge success stories in the genre. He's chief architect and guide for the development process, and is obviously pleased at how far the product has come since he started developing database software more than two decades ago.
MySQL has some 4 million users. Widenius' focus on ease of installation and backward compatibility, not just robust data-handling (which is essential), help make the software so popular. Increasingly, he says, it's being used in embedded systems."

Small world -- SAP recently licensed its DBMS technology to MySQL (details). SAP, which will still control twice as much of the ERP etc. market as Oracle even if the Oracle-PeopleSoft-JDE deals happen (unlikely), has essentially open-sourced its industrial-strength DBMS...

Scripting News in Manila: Winer on MS (again...)

Scripting News in Manila: "Roz Ho, the general manager of Microsoft's Mac Business Unit, has confirmed that no future versions of Internet Explorer will be released for the Mac.'
Sad to see the angst-filled commentary on various weblogs on this announcement. It's no surprise to me. Microsoft has been telegraphing this for years. They never wanted the Web. Never. They had to control it because it threatened them, or so they thought. Their strategy is to lock things back up to the way they were before the Web, in 1994 or so. Read what Bill Gates said then. 'The Internet is a great phenomena. I dont see how the emergence of more information content on a network can be a bad thing for the personal computer industry. Will it cause less personal computers to sell? I think quite the opposite. Less copies of Flight Simulator or Encarta?' Later, it became clear to Bill that my thesis was correct. The Internet had made all his complex technology irrelevant. He had been routed around. It was cool! It took him ten years to erase the Web as a threat. It's done now. He owns it, it's in the trunk (I know you don't like to hear this) it's locked, and they're driving it off a cliff into the ocean. It's weird to see people just figuring this out now. Don't go back to sleep, please. This is reality. What we all do next should reflect this. "

(Somebody call Oliver Stone; there has to be a movie in this somewhere...)

Cover Pages: XML Articles and Papers June 2003

Cover Pages: XML Articles and Papers June 2003 A 60-page spec, just in case you thought URIs were based on a simple model...

NYT: No Concession From I.B.M. in Linux Fight

No Concession From I.B.M. in Linux Fight "SCO would scarcely seem a match for I.B.M., the world's largest computer company. But SCO certainly has name-brand legal representation in the firm of Boies, Schiller & Flexner, which is led by David Boies, the lead trial lawyer for the Justice Department in the Microsoft antitrust case.
For years, SCO — whose previous corporate name was Caldera Systems — has tried to build a Linux business of its own. Since Linux's code is distributed free and is improved and debugged by a loose-knit, far-flung network of programmers, most companies pursuing a business in Linux try to make money by offering technical support for Linux or developing specialized software that runs on Linux.
A year ago, SCO brought in a new chief executive, Darl C. McBride. He quickly decided the company was losing ground "chasing the Linux dream," he said in a recent interview. So he decided the company's best path was to focus on its Unix business, largely by aggressively enforcing its license rights. But lawyers who have looked at its license agreements question whether SCO owns the broad rights it asserts."

Microsoft: No new versions of IE for Mac | CNET News.com

Microsoft: No new versions of IE for Mac | CNET News.com "Although Microsoft may continue to provide security and performance updates, no major new releases are planned, Microsoft Product Manager Jessica Sommer told CNET News.com. Sommer said that with the emergence of Apple's Safari browser, Microsoft felt customers were better served by using Apple's browser, noting that Microsoft does not have the access to the Macintosh operating system that it would need to compete."

Maybe the folks at Microsoft could show Apple how to build an effective "Chinese wall" between their OS and app groups...

Microsoft Smart Solutions article on SharePoint

Microsoft Smart Solutions article on SharePoint "Microsoft's SharePoint products and technologies are central to the company's 2003 product cycle. They form the collaboration foundation for Office 2003 and also represent the first major .NET Framework-based Microsoft server offering above the Windows platform layer. The new Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) technology included with Windows Server 2003 for personal and workgroup-level collaborations, along with its sibling Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003 (OSPS 2003) for enterprise portals, together represent a significant milestone in the ongoing delivery of Microsoft's .NET strategy."

FYI -- my view on SharePoint's role in Microsoft's collaboration strategy.

(In theory you need an id/pw to access the article; the bimonthly magazine print columns are supposed to be for subscribers only, while the monthly email/newsletter columns are open-access.)

I, Cringely | The Pulpit [SCO, Linux, etc.]

I, Cringely | The Pulpit: "So it is probable that both System V and Linux developers ripped off BSD code. Since some BSD copyrights were obliterated by AT&T, SCO would not necessarily notice that code in question was really from BSD. And since there are probably few, if any, SCO developers who were involved with the creation of System V back when it was AT&T property they would have no institutional memory of this. It would appear to them that Linux developers stole their code, and not apparent that their code was itself stolen.
If true, this taints both Linux and Unix, which is sad, but hey, life goes on. It should be very interesting to see how it all plays out. What I STILL can't figure how SCO blames this all on IBM. "

Column also includes some interesting speculation about UWB.

Boggled by Blogger

My Blogger blogs have been upgraded to the new format, so it'll probably be a while before everything is stable again (e.g., time zone was incorrectly reset this morning, the BlogThis! tool annoyingly defaults to posting to a blog I haven't used in a couple years, and for some reason my Reality Check blog is now considered to be "BloggerBasic" instead of "BloggerPro" (despite the fact that I paid for Pro and all blog instances of Pro subscribers are supposed to be Pro).

As I noted earlier this week: the blogging tool/server/service space is still very much a work-in-progress.

Lotus Geek (nifty fifty redux?)

Lotus Geek "A very interesting conversation has transpired in my "If you're a Lotus Geek like me, you should be encouraged" story. Ray Davies and I began discussing resurrecting the Nifty Fifty CD program. Now for the young whippersnappers in the audience, the Nifty Fifty were a collection of 50 Notes applications that were provided by Lotus when you bought Lotus Notes R3 (note: if my history is fuzzy or incorrect, feel free to let me know and I will correct this accordingly)."

Actually, the "nifty fifty" weren't all that nifty. I created a few of them... They were okay as basic templates but much more is required to clearly impart the ways in which Notes can be used for collaborative apps.

SQL Server Yukon Delayed to Late 2004

SQL Server Yukon Delayed to Late 2004 "Typically, Microsoft doesn't make public promises about release dates so that the company can later claim ignorance about delays. ("We only ship products when they're ready" is the usual PR spin.) But having a major-league Microsoft executive actually admit to a delay is unprecedented. Yukon is important for several reasons: The product is a major platform that will be accompanied by a new Visual Studio (VS) release, and its new data store will form the basis for the Longhorn WinFS file system extension, the Blackcomb AD, the Exchange Server Kodiak release, and various other storage-related products coming down the road. So this product truly is one that Microsoft should delay until the company gets it right. My guess is that Yukon will ship simultaneously with Longhorn--in 2006."

(Italics mine -- have to wonder if he meant Blackcomb instead of Longhorn)

Dot-Stuff

Dot-Stuff "When it comes to the java.net site, people have been asking me why the site sounds so like something Microsoft markets. java.org wasn't Sun's to use, so to paraphrase Bono in the lead-in to U2's cover of 'Helter Skelter', "this is the suffix Microsoft stole from the Internet, now we're stealing it back." You can draw your own parallels."

Via Microsoft Watch

Silicon Valley - Dan Gillmor's eJournal - Hollywood Cripples Third Party's Personal Video Recorder

Silicon Valley - Dan Gillmor's eJournal - Hollywood Cripples Third Party's Personal Video Recorder "Mercury News: Latest version of ReplayTV cuts ability to share shows, skip ads. Digital Networks said the company decided to make peace with the entertainment industry by removing the offending features in the ReplayTV 5500 series. These devices feature a ``QuickSkip'' button that lets consumers jump over sections of a recorded program in 30-second increments, and fast-forward at up to 20 times the normal speed."

Inevitable, for commercial TV, I'm afraid...

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Ellison's takeover bid rattles software makers

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Ellison's takeover bid rattles software makers "Not much has gone right for software mogul Larry Ellison during the last three years. His personal fortune plunged by $46 billion, his company's sales eroded, his bid for yachting's America's Cup failed and his clout seemed to be fading.
...
If Ellison is serious about acquiring PeopleSoft, the takeover will signify a defeat for him, said Marc Benioff, a former Oracle executive who is now CEO of Salesforce.com.
"It would mean Larry has decided Oracle can't innovate on its own any more and needs to buy customers," Benioff said."

IDG.net: Microsoft to kill popular Linux antivirus product

IDG.net: Microsoft to kill popular Linux antivirus product "Users and resellers of RAV AntiVirus, popular especially on Linux platforms, are in limbo after Microsoft Corp. announced plans to buy the RAV technology from Romania's GeCAD Software Srl.
The RAV product line will be discontinued after Microsoft completes the acquisition of the technology, Microsoft said. GeCAD, which claims its products protect over 10 million users worldwide, will support current customers through the end of their contracts, Microsoft said.
The acquisition has observers questioning Microsoft's ultimate intentions and wondering what the Redmond, Washington, software maker wants with technology that powers leading virus scanning tools for e-mail servers on Linux platforms, rivals to Microsoft's Windows and Exchange products."

O'Reilly Network: T-Mobile lowers unlimited GPRS fee [June 11, 2003]

O'Reilly Network: T-Mobile lowers unlimited GPRS fee [June 11, 2003] "Wireless data access (CDMA/CDMA 1XRT and GSM/GPRS) in the US forced those same constraints on wireless users until today. Until today, I paid $19.99/month for 10 megabytes of data access using T-Mobile's GPRS service. Then, I read a note on PocketPCThoughts.com that said T-Mobile changed their GPRS plans today to a single plan that charges $29.99/month for unlimited data-only service or $19.99/month if you have a $29.99[or more] voice plan."

I hope AT&T Wireless (my service provider) is paying close attention...

Wal-Mart to take on Netflix

"Wal-Mart to take on Netflix The retail giant is taking aim at Netflix's online DVD subscription service with a major public release of its own competitive offering."

[via CNET News.com]

Netflix is very useful, but if Wal-Mart offers a comparable service and doesn't annoy me with pop-up ads (as Netflix does), I'll switch.

Wow, this nails why I've stopped reading most weblogs (type-A blogger satire)

"Wow, this nails why I've stopped reading most weblogs And yes, Scoble is a friend (despite his not having lunched with me yet)"

[via Don Box's Spoutlet]

Some pretty harsh satire, but it's also useful to think about blog life cycles and themes; the blog-as-channel model is clearly a work in progress.

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Microsoft will buy technology of Romanian firm in antivirus deal

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Microsoft will buy technology of Romanian firm in antivirus deal "Currently, Microsoft refers customers to outside vendors for antivirus software. But as part of a broad effort to improve security and reliability of its products, Microsoft is developing its own security applications and services.
It could be a year or more before Microsoft begins selling its antivirus product. First it has to complete the GeCAD acquisition and assimilate the company and its technology.
The antivirus product will be sold as a subscription service, said Mike Nash, the vice president heading Microsoft's Security Business Unit.
"It's really meant to be something that complements things that are out there today," Nash said. "We want to make sure we're closing the gap on malicious code.""

Yeah, I'm sure Symantec and Network Associates have nothing to worry about...

Ed Brill: Not so smart (Smart Solutions subscription problems)

Ed Brill: Not so smart (Smart Solutions subscription problems) I hate it when that happens... Clearly people should not be allowed to live in towns with names consisting of more than one word.

p.s. in the "glass houses" department: Ed's Notes-based blog is doubly busticated; he notes some posting problems here and his RSS feed includes almost a full set of duplicate entries today. I don't mean to pick on Ed or Notes, or to suggest that I think the Smart Solutions subscription form bug is excusable; these are simply more timely reminders of the work-in-progress theme...

Will 'Waste' Push File-Sharing Further Underground?

Will 'Waste' Push File-Sharing Further Underground? "Waste is basically a program for setting up relatively small, private, encrypted networks, where chatting is the main method of communication. Although Waste's interface and initial applications are straightforward, the program’s promise has many coders excited. Currently, all major chat programs, such as Yahoo Messenger, AOL’s AIM, and Microsoft’s MSN Messenger, are centralized. Using these companies’ products means you understand and accept that all your instant messaging is running through a central server and can be monitored if need be. Waste, on the other hand, is completely decentralized. This architecture, coupled with its use of encryption, means users can feel completely confident that what they’re chatting about won’t be monitored by the likes of AOL or Microsoft. “That freedom is addictive,” says Lucas Gonze, a programmer who runs a Waste mirror site. “You wouldn’t accept someone in your living room checking out your conversation with your wife, and there’s no reason you should have to accept that with IM.”"

PeopleSoft Bid Mirrors Lofty Goals of Oracle Chief Executive

PeopleSoft Bid Mirrors Lofty Goals of Oracle Chief Executive "Mr. Ellison's goal is to achieve in corporate data centers what Microsoft has accomplished with desktop personal computers. Microsoft's business began with the operating system — first MS-DOS and then Windows — a basic technology platform on which software developers write applications. Microsoft then developed personal productivity applications software for word processing and spreadsheets. But Microsoft did not dominate in those applications until they were bundled and aggressively priced in a suite of programs called Microsoft Office that worked best with Windows.
Mr. Ellison sees his company's mainstay product, the Oracle database, as the corporate computing equivalent of the Windows operating system. On top of the database run a series of what are known as enterprise applications, which corporations use to automate business tasks like accounting and procurement as well as customer relations and human resources programs."

Microsoft aims higher with Web software | CNET News.com

Microsoft aims higher with Web software | CNET News.com "Rob Helm, an analyst for research firm Directions on Microsoft, said Microsoft's goal with the new FrontPage isn't necessarily to compete with professional Web-authoring packages such as Macromedia's Dreamweaver or Adobe Systems' GoLive. Instead, FrontPage is being crafted to support other Microsoft software and services, most notably SharePoint, Microsoft's collection of server and desktop collaboration software that let workers share documents and data.
"Microsoft is hoping Windows SharePoint Services will kick off an orgy of Web development inside the organization, and this is one of the ways you take advantage of that," Helm said. "FrontPage is being positioned as what you use if the generic SharePoint tools aren't enough."
"They might like to take a little business away from Macromedia or Adobe," he added. "But it's really important to have FrontPage just to support what Microsoft wants to do with the server. Microsoft needs a tool that's friendly with its way of using server resources.""

WSJ.com - Microsoft Believes Oracle's Bid For PeopleSoft Portends a Clash

WSJ.com - Microsoft Believes Oracle's Bid For PeopleSoft Portends a Clash "In an interview Monday, Mr. Burgum, who heads the Business Solutions division, said Oracle's recent maneuvering doesn't alter Microsoft's focus on small and midsize business applications. He plays down any head-on competition between the two companies in that area, saying if anything an acquisition would distract from Oracle's efforts to expand there. And he dismissed the idea that Microsoft is going to counter with a white-knight bid for PeopleSoft or a splashy deal of its own.
Mr. Burgum says the application market for large businesses is "not interesting for us." Instead, Microsoft will continue driving into the market for small- and medium-size business customers while trying to fend off any big interlopers. Microsoft's approach is to create a set of software components that its resellers can customize for specific sectors and regions. Mr. Burgum estimates that some 3,600 software vendors sell programs for smaller businesses, making the segment ripe for Microsoft to bring standardization."

WSJ.com - Oracle Bid May Threaten IBM's Software Alliances

WSJ.com - Oracle Bid May Threaten IBM's Software Alliances "Although some have suggested that IBM could jump into the fray as a white knight to buy PeopleSoft, Big Blue insiders privately dismiss that idea, saying IBM couldn't afford to alienate its other applications-software partners by acquiring a rival. Analysts agree that an IBM rescue of PeopleSoft isn't in the cards. "The chance of IBM making a bid for PeopleSoft is, if not zero, very close to it," said John Jones, an analyst with SoundView."

TIME.com: TIME Magazine Archive -- Hillary Unbound -- Jan. 01, 1985

TIME.com: TIME Magazine Archive -- Hillary Unbound -- Jan. 01, 1985 Interesting milestone -- not the article but rather the fact that time.com wants $2.50 to access the article.

News: White knight to rescue PeopleSoft?

News: White knight to rescue PeopleSoft? Interesting analysis and speculation. My $.02: the only possible "white knight" is SAP, and it would be a great combination in many respects; SAP would significantly expand its position as the leading platform-neutral enterprise app vendor. E.g., IBM may be fond of JD Edwards for its historical IBM focus, but that certainly wouldn't lead them to acquire PeopleSoft. MS would accelerate Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS) by acquiring PSFT, but $5B+ is more than Microsoft's total investment in MBS thus far, and PSFT's value would rapidly depreciate outside Windows if MS controlled the company.

Pito Salas: Web authoring tools stink

Pito Salas: Web authoring tools stink. It seems that there are two extremes: On the one hand, low end tools which are buggy and produce incredibly complex and obscure html and relatively baroque sites. And on the othe rside we have powerful kitchen-sink systems suitable for authoring microsoft.com (yes, I suspect they don't use Front Page for that :-) that require you to become expert in all the exotica of html, style sheets. I spent several hours with Dreamweaver (which is apparently the favorite among experts,) Front Page and looking at several others... I am back to using a somewhat mediocre tool called Namo Web Editor which at least is simple so you can just use it.

[via Pito Salas' Radio Weblog]

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Microsoft develops new TV software

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Microsoft develops new TV software "Microsoft is unveiling software today to help cable-television companies develop digital TV programming and services.
The software, Microsoft TV Foundation Edition, is a new technological platform designed to run on the digital cable boxes atop many television sets.
The software includes applications for cable operators to create and deliver on-screen TV guides, movies-on-demand, and interactive advertisements for their customers.
It's Microsoft's most promising foray yet into interactive TV and advanced digital TV services in a 10-year-long history of "ineffectual" efforts, said Josh Bernoff, principal analyst with Forrester Research.
In the past, Bernoff said, Microsoft TV was working on "the wrong product at the wrong time. Now it's a lot closer to being the right product at the right time," he said. "It doesn't mean they win, but at least they get to compete."

WSJ.com - Cisco Keeps Low Profile On Ownership of Linksys

WSJ.com - Cisco Keeps Low Profile On Ownership of Linksys
"But you'll have to look hard to find Cisco's famous suspension-bridge logo on store shelves crammed with networking gear from lesser-known rivals such as Netgear, D-Link and Buffalo. In a sharp departure from its traditional pattern of swallowing and quickly integrating acquisitions, Cisco executives say they plan to leave Linksys alone.
That means keeping the Linksys brand and blue-themed color scheme, while merely whispering Cisco's name in small type at the bottom of the box. It means keeping Linksys's low-cost design and manufacturing operation in Taiwan and China. It means allowing Linksys to keep separate financial software, so the unit can track expenses more closely. It even means installing Cisco executives as "blockers" to prevent other Cisco employees from meddling with Linksys.
...
Linksys has been developing more sophisticated products in recent years to push further into the small-business market. But Mr. Giancarlo says Cisco may slow or reverse those efforts, to keep Linksys focused on the consumer and very-small business market.
Alan Marc Smith, chief executive of Westcon Group, Tarrytown, N.Y., a big Cisco distributor, summarizes the strategy more pithily: "They want to limit the [Linksys] offerings," he says. "They don't want [customers] flipping to the Linksys technology for half the price."

That doesn't bode well for Linksys...

Story: Dear Steve: Time for Microsoft Linux? - ZDNet

Story: Dear Steve: Time for Microsoft Linux? - ZDNet "Here's my suggestion for how Microsoft should deal with Linux: Don't beat 'em, join 'em.
Do a release of MS Linux. Create Office for Linux. Improve Linux support in your development tools. Do such a good job of embracing and extending Linux that the world won't care when you essentially annex it for your own. A more cynical person than myself might add: Then you can kill it. I won't, because I believe Linux deserves to live."

Not a great week for Linux press thus far...

Tangent: check out Microsoft in the Mirror for some first-person accounts of Microsoft's evolution, including one chapter written by someone who worked on Xenix (essentially Microsoft UNIX, which predated NT and OS/2, and was created with the assistance of none other than SCO; see this for one historical perspective on of the MS/SCO relationship). Much of the book is focused on the trials and tribulations of adjusting to retirement at 35 and other personal perspectives, but there are some useful MS historical factoids as well.

Boston Globe Online / Business / Challenges looming for Linux

Boston Globe Online / Business / Challenges looming for Linux "Regardless of who's right, this case could force some changes in the way future versions of Linux are developed. Torvalds and his colleagues must devise ways to verify the legal purity of Linux code. Otherwise, this admirable community of innovators could be smeared as a den of thieves."

E-Mail Message Blitz Creates What May Be Fastest Fad Ever

E-Mail Message Blitz Creates What May Be Fastest Fad Ever "Now the company will see whether its list of 400,000 customers who brought Iraqi cards can be enticed to buy other products. Soon an e-mail offer of boxer shorts with flags on them will be sent to those customers just in time for Fathers' Day."

This is a good Internet advertising reality check -- it persists because in some cases it's quite effective.

Ed Brill: File under "wishful thinking" (Flessner quote and commentary)

Ed Brill: File under "wishful thinking" (Flessner quote and commentary) Interesting revisionist history in the ongoing Notes/Exchange debate

Qualcomm closing Wireless Knowledge | CNET News.com

Qualcomm closing Wireless Knowledge | CNET News.com ""Wireless Knowledge has achieved its mission of pioneering enterprise wireless data and initiating market growth, but we believe that Qualcomm's existing enterprise efforts can be strengthened by transitioning the resources," Christine Trimble, senior director of corporate public relations at Qualcomm, wrote in an e-mail."

Corel agrees to takeover by Vector | CNET News.com

Corel agrees to takeover by Vector | CNET News.com
"Software maker Corel on Friday said its directors have agreed to a takeover bid from San Francisco-based Vector Capital that values the company at $97.6 million, or $1.05 per share.
...
The bid is more, but not substantially more, than the $73 million in cash that Corel had at the end of February, the end of its first quarter."

Entropy is on the rise in the ISV space...

WinInfo Short Takes: Week of June 9 (Longhorn and TechEd excerpts)

WinInfo Short Takes: Week of June 9 (Longhorn and TechEd excerpts)
"Ballmer Verifies Longhorn Plans in Note to Microsoft Employees
Thanks to yet another leaked email message from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to his employees, we now know a few crucial details about the company and its plans ("Linux is a threat" and so on). As far as I'm concerned, the only interesting parts of this message concern Longhorn, the next major version of Windows, currently due in 2005. "In addition to the Longhorn client, there will be a Longhorn version of Office, Longhorn server enhancements, Longhorn development tools, and a Longhorn version of MSN," Ballmer wrote. "We will do the work and take the time required to get it right, because it truly is the next quantum leap in computing, which will put us years ahead of any other product on the market." In other words, yep, you guessed it. Longhorn could be delayed, even beyond 2005. Unbelievable, isn't it?
The Letdown That was TechEd 2003
And speaking of TechEd 2003: What happens when Microsoft plans one of the biggest launch parties in its history but none of the products show up? Well, after wiping that "deer in the headlights" look out of their eyes, the company's PR people started talking "vision" instead. Boring? Oh yeah. This year's TechEd was originally going to be a coming-out party for the new Microsoft Office System and Microsoft Exchange Server 2003. Instead, TechEd 2003 began as a giant apology and ended with a whimper: No new products are ready, Microsoft has no definitive release dates for those products, and the show had little real meat for its 10,000 attendees. Exchange and Office will ship at some indeterminate date later this summer, and even the promised Office 2003 Beta 2 Refresh won't ship until late June. Virtually every product touted at the show is destined for a late 2003 or 2004 launch. In one painful example, Paul Flessner, senior vice president of Microsoft's Server Platform Division, presented one of the most exciting products--Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services--during his keynote address, leading many people to believe the product is ready. It isn't ready, and the public beta won't even ship until late this year."

Oracle Takes $5 Billion Jab at PeopleSoft

Oracle Takes $5 Billion Jab at PeopleSoft "Markus Berner, a spokesman for SAP, said, "It is not SAP's policy to comment on the business strategies of our competitors, but in general hostile takeovers have a tendency to disrupt customer relationships."
Fred A. Hood, chief information officer at Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, a J. D. Edwards customer that is evaluating products from SAP and Oracle, said the takeover bid could worry PeopleSoft's customers.
"If I were a PeopleSoft customer, I'd be a tad nervous," he said. "I'd want to have a say, and I think shareholders are going to want to know what customers think." Mr. Hood said he understood the benefits of the merger of PeopleSoft and J. D. Edwards because it would expand the product line. With the Oracle acquisition of PeopleSoft, however, he said, the result for customers would be less rather than more."

WSJ.com - ORCL/PSFT: "... a ludicrous concept with malicious intent"

WSJ.com - ORCL/PSFT: "... a ludicrous concept with malicious intent" "But later in the day, PeopleSoft Chief Executive Craig Conway denounced Oracle's move as a desperate act. In an interview from Paris, Mr. Conway said the deal is an example of "atrociously bad behavior from an atrociously bad company" and PeopleSoft's directors were appalled by Oracle's action.
"It's like having a wedding and Larry [Ellison] showing up with a shotgun trying to get someone to marry him," said Mr. Conway, who joined PeopleSoft in 1999 and worked at Oracle for eight years.
...
Oracle's offer represented a premium of 5.9% to PeopleSoft's closing price of $15.11 a share Thursday. But in trading Friday on the Nasdaq Stock Market, shares of PeopleSoft surged $3.10, or 21%, to $18.21, indicating investors are betting Oracle, of Redwood Shores, Calif., may have to raise its bid to close the deal. Shares of Oracle, meanwhile, fell 32 cents to $13.04, also on Nasdaq.
...
PeopleSoft's Mr. Conway acknowledged that Oracle's move could confuse customers and result in a protracted dispute. But he vowed not to let Oracle "distract or disrupt" the J.D. Edwards acquisition or PeopleSoft's current quarter, which ends June 30. "People will see through this for what it is: a ludicrous concept with malicious intent," Mr. Conway said."

WSJ.com - Software Giant Oracle Offers $5.1 Billion to Buy PeopleSoft

WSJ.com - Software Giant Oracle Offers $5.1 Billion to Buy PeopleSoft "Software powerhouse Oracle Corp. Friday said it is making a $5.1 billion cash offer to purchase PeopleSoft Inc., the latest sign of consolidation in the still-slumping industry.
Oracle plans to offer $16 a share for PeopleSoft. Earlier this week, PeopleSoft unveiled a deal to snap up another software maker, J.D. Edwards & Co. In announcing its offer Friday morning, Oracle said it hadn't made a decision on whether the J.D. Edwards deal would proceed if its bid for PeopleSoft is successful."

Roll up for the magical mystery tour... $.07 (my standard bet) says this deal doesn't happen. SAP and Microsoft would stand to gain the most, if it did happen, since the conventional wisdom would almost certainly conclude that PeopleSoft (and JD Edwards) on non-Oracle platforms would atrophy.

Oracle and Apple have a lot in common -- they both seem to think it's okay to have fewer customers than their archrivals, as long as they have a larger percent of wallet from each customer, cradle-to-grave. Not a bad business model, in the grand scheme of things, but also one not particularly well aligned with Wall Street expectations, over the long run (unless you happen to also be a monopolist, of course).

.NET Weblogs @ ASP.NET

.NET Weblogs @ ASP.NET This aggregation site and the recent TechEd meta-blog are very interesting examples of how blogs are evolving.

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Ballmer gives Red Hat a lift

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Ballmer gives Red Hat a lift "People are bidding up any remotely related Linux stock," said Brent Williams, an analyst at McDonald Investments, who rates Red Hat shares "hold" and said he doesn't own them. Investors may think that, "If it has Microsoft worried, then it must be getting to be really huge," he said."

(See comment following the next post...)

When Palm Does a Deal, Prices Get Crazy

When Palm Does a Deal, Prices Get Crazy "When Palm agreed to rescue Handspring on Wednesday, the deal amounted to a takeunder, in which Palm offered stock worth less than Handspring was trading for. But Wall Street did not seem to notice, and Handspring traded that day for more than the value of the stock its shareholders will receive.
But in many ways, this market feels like a restrained version of the happy days before the bubble burst. Palm stock rose 31 percent over the two days after the deal was announced. Investors might have been slow in understanding how the deal would work, but they wasted no time in focusing on the possibilities of growth that came from reuniting Palm with its founders."

I am seeing many symptoms of localized "irrational exuberance" these days -- very disconcerting when I ponder the ramifications of the last such wave...

Microsoft Project 2003 Features Better Office Integration

Microsoft Project 2003 Features Better Office Integration "This week, Microsoft unveiled Microsoft Office Project 2003, the latest version of its project management family of products. Project 2003, due late this summer with the other applications in the Microsoft Office System, includes Microsoft Office Project Standard 2003 and Project 2003 Professional for stand-alone desktop application use, and the server-side Project Web Access and Project Server products. Additionally, Microsoft will offer a package called the Microsoft Office Enterprise Project Management (EPM) Solution, which is made up of Project Professional, Project Web Access and Project Server."

WSJ.com - Microsoft Hires Patent Lawyer Formerly Employed at IBM

WSJ.com - Microsoft Hires Patent Lawyer Formerly Employed at IBM "Microsoft Corp. has hired a former top patent lawyer at International Business Machines Corp., hoping to better legally protect its technology while simultaneously making it more accessible to outsiders.
The software company said it has named Marshall Phelps, 58 years old, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel for intellectual property. Mr. Phelps retired from IBM in 2000 after 28 years, last serving as vice president for intellectual property and licensing. Mr. Phelps will join Microsoft June 16."

Ed Brill: Next Exchange in 2006???

Ed Brill: Next Exchange in 2006??? "So let me get this right:
In late 2000, an internal MS memo (leaked to eWeek), indicated that "Yukon" would be key to a future MSe-mail server.
In late 2001, MS finally admitted that "Kodiak" was under development, based on "Yukon", and said it would ship in 2003
In 2002, MS says, oh, we wanted to ship "Titanium" based on the current clumsy "JET" database first!
In 2003, just days after IBM Lotus ships a mail server built on DB2, MS says, oh, we need longer for Yukon, and "Kodiak" is now in 2006!
We took Lotus Workplace Messaging from concept to shipping product in less than 12 months. MS is now tracking five to six years to do the same. I'm speechless."

File under "wishful thinking"...

Microsoft .NET Alerts Enhance Traveling Experience For United Airlines' Customers

Microsoft .NET Alerts Enhance Traveling Experience For United Airlines' Customers "With more than 100 million people worldwide currently using the Microsoft instant messaging network , which includes Windows Messenger and MSN Messenger, there is great opportunity for companies to offer value-added services and build closer relationships with their customers."

Microsoft Leader Tells Workers of I.B.M.-Linux Threat

Microsoft Leader Tells Workers of I.B.M.-Linux Threat
"Our view on this differentiates us from I.B.M.," Mr. Ballmer wrote. "They believe I.T. is fundamentally complex and confusing and that customers should pay consultants for loads of services to help master that complexity."
I.B.M. was the only corporate competitor Mr. Ballmer mentioned by name in his message. And in the Microsoft view, I.B.M. is the guiding hand behind Linux.
"I.B.M.'s endorsement of Linux has added credibility and an illusion of support and accountability, although the reality is that there is no center of gravity, or central body, investing in the health and growth of noncommercial software or innovating in critical areas like engineering, manageability, compatibility and security," Mr. Ballmer wrote."

Palm to Buy Handspring for $170 Million

Palm to Buy Handspring for $170 Million "Like prodigal children returning home, the union of will bring Donna Dubinsky and Jeff Hawkins back to Palm. The pair founded Palm in 1992 but left in 1997 to form Handspring, making products that competed head to head with Palm."

Better late than never... maybe.

TechEd Bloggers

TechEd Bloggers Very interesting event-centered application of blogging

Rogue AOL Subsidiary Leader to Resign

Rogue AOL Subsidiary Leader to Resign "``The company controls the most effective means of self-expression I have,'' he [Justin Frankel, 24] said in his Web log. ``This is unacceptable to me as an individual, therefore I must leav (sic). I don't know when it will be, but I'm not going to last much longer.''"

Dvorak: Killing Linux - Opinions from PC Magazine

Dvorak: Killing Linux - Opinions from PC Magazine "IBM thinks anything anyone has done in recent memory is traceable to something it did in the 1950s or 1960s. This is particularly true of computer algorithms. The company feels that it can always defend against suits like SCO's by rolling out endless prior art. But the lead attorney, David Boies, was the attorney for IBM in its antitrust defense years ago. Boies knows things we don't. SCO retained his new firm when the company felt IBM was pushing AIX code into Linux. The AIX code is attached to a Unix license from SCO."

Skim the entire column; he has some good points to consider.

TechEd update #1: All roads lead to BizTalk

TechEd update #1: All roads lead to BizTalk
"Residents of the Fort Worth/Dallas metroplex are mostly unaware of the Dallas Convention Center. The facility, though vast, seems to sink beneath the concrete when it isn't hosting a show.
TechEd is Microsoft's yearly fete for mid-level IT people, the life blood of companies' technical operations. This conference is one of two chances (the Professional Developer's Conference is the other) to rummage around in the brains of Redmond's best and brightest.
The subject of my first bit of face time was on the subject of Yukon, Microsoft's next major release of SQL Server. Microsoft will ship a private beta of Yukon by the end of June. 1,000 big customers and development partners will be in on the private beta, which remarkably will be feature-complete. A broader public beta is slated for early 2004. I expected Yukon to dominate both the show and my attention; it managed neither. Instead, the wow factor here is BizTalk Server 2004.
Earlier articles on Yukon put it at the center of the Windows Server System, the new moniker for Microsoft's entire stack of server software. Either through the absence of vendor-supplied details or misleading PR, Yukon looked like the filesystem for Longhorn, the next major release of Windows. Microsoft has straightened that out (Longhorn will connect to Yukon, but it's not required).
Instead, BizTalk Server 2004 will be the Sun around which the rest of the Windows Server System revolves. It seems perfectly deserving of that role, having been the unacknowledged star of Microsoft's product line since its introduction. Now BizTalk has, at long last, been rewritten in managed code. The significance of that effort is enormous. BizTalk now lives on the .Net framework, permits the use of scripts written in any .Net language, and stores orchestrations as .Net assemblies. Integration with Visual Studio .Net is much tighter. One bit that took me completely by surprise: Office XP's incredible InfoPath XML forms client is wired into BizTalk as a front end.
For those interested in such trivia, BizTalk Server 2004 is the largest managed-code application ever developed. That isn't truly trivia if you consider the effort required and the fact that the effort was invested first on BizTalk. That gives you a sense of the weight BizTalk throws around in Redmond.
Now the InfoWorld reviews process begins, and lest I wind up disagreeing with myself (I do this often, but try not to do so publicly), I'll save my other observations until I've had some hands-on time with BizTalk Server 2004."

[via Tom Yager]

Okay, that's a bit extreme, but it's nice to see Dave Wascha et al finally get some recognition for BizTalk and its pivotal role...

Jon Udell: Mozilla on the move

Jon Udell: Mozilla on the move Fascinating timing and turn of events -- read Jon's commentary and (linked) Joel Spolsky's endorsement.

Ironically, of course, this is precisely the sort of development that could cause Microsoft to revitalize (the now reportedly largely "stablized") IE, regardless of "strategy tax" opportunity costs.

Hewlett Says Plan for PC's Is Corporate Money-Saver

Hewlett Says Plan for PC's Is Corporate Money-Saver "The Hewlett-Packard technology is a fresh attempt to tackle the longstanding problem of managing and maintaining many desktop computers in corporations. Analysts estimate that hardware and software purchases account for only about 20 percent of corporations' overall costs of owning personal computers. The remaining 80 percent lies in labor-intensive tasks like training, help-desk support, systems management and upgrading software."

Server Ship Dates Start Slip-Sliding Away

Server Ship Dates Start Slip-Sliding Away ""Yukon," the next version of SQL Server, will ship in the second half of Q4 2004, rather than the first half, as initially expected. Flessner said nothing in particular was behind the slip, but said Microsoft is intent on making sure that integration of the Common Language Runtime (CLR) into the database is solid.
Ditto on "Whidbey," the Visual Studio.Net tools release that is tightly tied to Yukon. Rather than first half of 2004, expect Whidbey in the second half of next year.
"Kodiak," the version of Microsoft Exchange Server that will follow Exchange Server 2003, is now a 2006+ product, rather than a 2005 one.
"Jupiter," Microsoft's e-business server suite, is still due out in two phases. The first phase, BizTalk Server 2004, will likely next year, rather than this year. The second phase – an integrated bundle of BizTalk Server, Commerce Server and Content Server – is now due out in 2005, rather than 2004."

TechEd 2003: Flessner Lays Out Microsoft Platform Roadmap

TechEd 2003: Flessner Lays Out Microsoft Platform Roadmap "For Windows products, Flessner said that Windows "Longhorn," the next major client release, would ship in calendar year 2005, while the server-based follow-up, code-named "Blackcomb," could be expected in 2006 or later. "You've seen some things in the press about Longhorn," Flessner said. "Our Longhorn release [is] a very exciting release where we're trying to do some breakthrough work around UI and storage, and you'll be seeing a lot more of that in the coming months as we get more ... definition around that release. And then as you move further out, things get a little sketchier. Two years, three years is a long time to project, but you can expect another release of Windows Server about three years from now in the 2006 timeframe. We've really just moved the team off of the 2003 product that they just released, and [we're] now really getting focused on the definition and feature sets that we'll put into the market in '06 and a lot of [complementary features] certainly around the Longhorn product."
Other Microsoft platforms include Application Infrastructure, Information Worker Infrastructure, and Operations Infrastructure. Upcoming Application Infrastructure products include BizTalk Server 2004, SQL Server "Yukon," and Visual Studio .NET "Whidbey," all due in 2004, and Visual Studio "Orcas" and the "Jupiter" eBusiness suite, which are due in 2005. Upcoming Information Worker Infrastructure products include SharePoint Portal Server 2003, Exchange Server 2003, Office 2003, Project Server 2003, and RTC Server 2003, all due in 2003; Office for Longhorn, RTC Server v2, and SharePoint Portal Server v3, all due in 2005; and Exchange Server "Kodiak," which is due in 2006-7; "Exchange 'Kodiak' [is] the much talked about version of Exchange that will be running on top of SQL Server," Flessner said. "This will give you all of the advantages of Web services and standard toolkits built-in." For Operations Infrastructure products, we can expect System Management Server (SMS) 2003 this year, Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2004 and the System Center Suite (SMS 2003 + MOM 2004) in early 2004, and System Center v2 in 2006.
Summing up the roadmap, Flessner explained that Microsoft's mission was very simple. "Microsoft is a software company," he said. "That's really all we do. We're not confused about it. We're not a hardware company. We make a couple of keyboards and some mice and some other silly stuff but it's not anything that makes any money. I don't make any money on our services organization. We have 4,000 MCS people around the world whose job is to really engage customers early and to work with partners and bring in partners to make sure that the systems integrators around the world are helping build the applications that you need and the help you need and overall it takes all of these partners to make sure that the solutions come to market."

Wired News: Why Centrino and VPNs Don't Mix

Wired News: Why Centrino and VPNs Don't Mix So what configurations did Intel test, if not the leading VPN clients?...

Symbian handset shipments to reach 100 million worldwide in 2007

Symbian handset shipments to reach 100 million worldwide in 2007 "Shipments of Symbian handsets will reach 100 million phones worldwide in 2007, according to Ovum, the analyst and consulting company. This compares with a predicted 22 million shipments for Microsoft Smartphone OS.
But although this will make Symbian the world’s leading smartphone platform, shipping on 14 percent of all handsets that year, it will not guarantee platform ownership for Symbian.
“Contrary to popular belief, the biggest threat currently facing Symbian is not Microsoft,” says Jessica Figueras, senior analyst with Ovum. “It is the long-running debate over what Symbian is fundamentally for.”"

So... they're predicting, circa 2007, that Symbian will have 14% of the handset market, and MS 3%, but that MS will have a very strong franchise in the enterprise market. Timely reality check.

Forbes.com: Microsoft Clears The Netscape History File

Forbes.com: Microsoft Clears The Netscape History File "This history is now gone, finished, deleted, expunged. Microsoft has wound back the clock to 1995 and paid $750 million--in cash--for Netscape so it could put it out of commission.
...
In general, this settlement indicates that the so-called "browser wars" were one of the many over-hyped aspects of the Internet. Many said--and Microsoft acted as if it believed--that browsers would somehow replace the operating system, destroying Microsoft's core product. That was just an idle thought. Today, it looks like Netscape, which set off the Internet boom, was an idle thought, too."

Groove Networks - Press Releases - Groove Networks Expands Integration With Windows SharePoint Services and the Microsoft Office System

Groove Networks - Press Releases - Groove Networks Expands Integration With Windows SharePoint Services and the Microsoft Office System "Building on customer interest in its Groove Mobile Workspace for SharePoint Team Services, released earlier this year, Groove Networks and Microsoft have continued to identify integration points between the two companies' products that uniquely solve customer collaboration pain. By integrating Groove Workspace with Microsoft's Windows SharePoint Services, Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003, and the Microsoft Office System, Groove Networks and Microsoft are providing a comprehensive collaboration and portal solution that supports online/offline and mobile use, automatic desktop-to-server replication, and secure, cross-company extensibility."

Steve Gillmor: Another Fine Mesh

Another Fine Mesh
"Bill Gates finally takes this public, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal's D conference and leaked blogging. "Microsoft is also betting on mesh networks -- Gates believes that by spreading WiFi backhall [backhaul] among large numbers of clients, WiFi will facilitate broadband for everyone that may serve to replace cellular networks under many circumstances. Gates predicts mesh networks will be mainstream in the next 5 years and he's presumably already looking to build software to address the problems associated with the multiplicity of base stations."
Now we'll wait for the other part of this shoe to drop."

[via Steve Gillmor's Emerging Opps]

Mining For 'Yukon' Nuggets

Mining For 'Yukon' Nuggets "The file-system technology that is slated for Longhorn (the Windows client due out in 2005) is based on some technology that is implemented for Yukon, but it is explicitly not the Yukon database engine. Also, the Yukon release is not a dependency for Longhorn. In general, the significance of this technology is that the search and storage efficiencies that can be gained through using a relational data-storage engine, along with programming model for data access can be applied to file system operations.
People didn't understand what it meant to have the "Yukon storage technologies in Longhorn," and I think that Microsoft doesn't want to set a false expectation about what these features will look like. The benefit of using the Yukon technologies to enhance the Windows file system is that you can use these powerful tools to better manage your files; search for information; and share this information with other applications in a much more structured manner, with a dramatic performance improvement over traditional file-system technologies."

Microsoft to abandon standalone IE | CNET News.com

Microsoft to abandon standalone IE | CNET News.com ""Legacy OSes have reached their zenith with the addition of IE 6 SP1," [IE program manager Brian] Countryman said. "Further improvements to IE will require enhancements to the underlying OS."

TiVo Plans to Sell Information on Customers' Viewing Habits

TiVo Plans to Sell Information on Customers' Viewing Habits "TiVo has already changed the way people watch TV," Mr. Yudkovitz said. "We think it can also dramatically alter the way advertisers deliver their message and programmers determine their programming."

WSJ.com - Portals: Will Camera-Phones Be Used To Humiliate Ordinary People?

WSJ.com - Portals: WSJ.com - Portals: Will Camera-Phones Be Used To Humiliate Ordinary People? "One industry consultant predicts that about 15 million Americans will be carrying camera-phones in three years; world-wide, some 100 million. Their quality is poor today, but the battery life and processing power is getting better.
Soon, these devices will be able to store hours of video and capture vivid still pictures. Big Brother may be watching over us, but this new army of private Little Brothers will have far more impact on how we see the world, and, how the world -- literally -- sees us.
Cellphone companies are selling the new phones as a technology confection, a way to spontaneously snap photos of a newborn and deliver them immediately to Grandma and Grandpa. After all, most people carry their phones with them at all times. And phone maker Nokia says that more than 60% keep them powered on for more than six hours daily.
It is this instant, pistol-drawing availability that will escalate our culture's worst voyeuristic habits. Health clubs have already begun to ban the phones from locker rooms, for obvious reasons. And in the near future there won't be a barroom fistfight, politician's liaison or celebrity gaffe that goes undocumented. In this world of truly ubiquitous surveillance, serendipity doesn't matter. Someone, somewhere, will always get the shot."