Mammoth Microsoft Patch Coming

According to a post by Gregg Keizer of Computerworld on April 7 the patches to be released on Tuesday April 12 will tie Microsoft's record for the number of posts. Keizer said:

Microsoft today said it will patch a record 64 vulnerabilities in Windows, Office, Internet Explorer, Windows graphics framework, and other software next week, and tie a December 2010 record for the number of security updates it issues.

SJSU Windows system administrators and others with computers running Windows should be aware this is coming.

Time to give up on XP

Unless you are using an old computer that you are not planning on upgrading, it is time to bury XP. Even some enterprises are still loading XP images on new hardware, but in some cases it is just not working. For example; the Ati2dvag problem where some video ATI chipsets cause persistent blue screens in XP that cannot really be fixed in XP. The solution, upgrade your operating system. I have had good luck with the latest service pack of Vista, but I would also recommend Windows 7. It's good.

Change in Microsoft mobile leadership

As the mobile device sector has been growing leaps and bounds Microsoft reportedly has been left behind in this increasingly critical market space. According to a post by Gavin Clarke in the Register, "When consumer gadgets were flying off the shelves last Christmas, Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices (E&D) unit actually saw sales drop — by 10 per cent."

Now, according to Clarke, "having repeatedly downplayed these problems, E&D president Robbie Bach is now quitting after 22 years with Microsoft, and chief executive Steve Ballmer is taking control of E&D."

According to Clarke, "earlier this year, insiders said that Windows Phone 7 (the Microsoft Phone OS that compete's with the iPhone and Google Android OS) would be lopped from E&D and folded into the main Windows and Windows Live Group under Windows 7 rising star and Ballmer favorite Steven Sinofsky." [Read More]

Microsoft kills iPad competitor

Denise Dubie of Network World reports:

According to published reports from Gizmodo, Microsoft stopped production of its planned double-screen tablet that had some industry watchers excited about its potential to increase competition in the tablet market. Courier, along with the HP Slate running Windows 7, the Dell Streak running Google’s Android OS and Lenovo’s IdeaPad U1, had industry watchers projecting that competitive offerings would bring down the cost of Apple’s iPad. [Read More]

Meanwhile, my iPad 3G has been shipped and arrives today!

I really like Office 2010

This is my first blog post from within Microsoft Office 2010. I am impressed! I like having a File menu again. It will be hard to go back to 2007 after this.

Windows Seven Review

Network World has posted a good Windows 7 Review by Harry Mccracken, PC World. Mccracken said:

Windows 7 is hardly flawless. Some features feel unfinished; others won't realize their potential without heavy lifting by third parties. And some long-standing annoyances remain intact. But overall, the final shipping version I test-drove appears to be the worthy successor to Windows XP that Vista never was.

Faculty and staff who are on the SJSU wired network and who are interested in trying Microsoft Windows 7 should contact their desktop support team. If you do not know how to do that create a ticket and we will give you information at the San Jose State University Help Desk.

Microsoft going after Google search

According to By John Fontana of Network World, "Microsoft this week will start internal testing of Kumo, the company's update to its Live Search Web site and part of its stated effort to keep the pressure on Google."

The Kumo technology appears to contain elements of semantic search technology Microsoft acquired in June last year when it bought Powerset.

Microsoft to offer free certification training

According to a post in CNet News by Ina Fried, Microsoft plans to offer free training including certification training to millions of people. Could this be a big boost to educational institutions and their staff who are strapped for resources but need to have current skills for applications for education?:

"Millions of individuals don't have the technology skills needed in today's economy. Through Elevate America, we want to help workers get the skills they need to succeed," Pamela Passman, Microsoft's VP for corporate affairs, said in a statement.

According to Fried, "Microsoft's move comes as the United States has shed millions of jobs, a small number of which came from Microsoft itself as the company announced its first companywide layoffs last month."

Technorati Tags: Windows, Microsoft, ssloansjca

Unpaid Boot Time?

Unpaid time while Vista boots results in lawsuits

According to an article in Electronista:

Certain employers are docking their employees' pay while they wait for their Vista PCs to boot up, to the tune of 30 to 60 minutes per day, resulting in class-action lawsuits being brought against the employers...

NOTE: I use Vista every day and I do not have such problems. My computer boots fine.

Microsoft Windows Azure

Microsoft's new OS for cloud computing

According to Wikipedia, "Windows Azure is the name of the upcoming cloud-based operating system ("cloud" is a metaphor for the Internet) being developed by Microsoft, announced by Ray Ozzie at the Microsoft PDC on October 27, 2008.

Microsoft's Web site for Azure says, "The Azure Services Platform provides a wide range of internet services that can be consumed from both on-premises environments or the internet."

Google, and the range of Google applications, have long pointed out that the future of software is the cloud. Empowered by always on portable connected devices, like the iPhone and the Android mobile device platform. Phones and portable computers are merging into a mobile computing platform that is neither a mere phone nor a laptop computer and is more than both. Wired together, using high speed telcom technologies like 3G, and using real-time Web technologies like Jabber and Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP). The Web is becoming more synchronous and cloud computing is a huge part of that.

Installing software is increasingly becoming a thing of the past. There will be no need. Our applications will be in the cloud! All users will need to do is to be there. The good news is they will be. They already are.

It will be interesting to see where Microsoft goes with Azure. Educators need to watch this type of technology. It will likely be mainstream by the time today's freshmen graduate. If we are not there, where will our students be? We gotta get our heads beyond e-mail and Web pages and into and wrapped around; the cloud.

Technorati Tags: Windows, Microsoft, azure, android, iPhone, Cloud Computing, j-school, ssloansjca

Why the new face to Office 2007?

In a 3 part post in Network World's Security Strategies Alert Column, M. E. Kabay explores why Microsoft changed the User Interface (UI) with Office 2007 and did not provide a classic view for users happy with the old UI.

As most readers know, the Office 2007 suite has a radically different user interface, called the Microsoft Office Fluent user interface (UI), in which familiar functions are grouped in new ways.

• Some functions have disappeared entirely.
• The limited user-definable toolbar is restricted to a single roll of symbols.
• Icons in the user definable toolbar cannot be customized.
• There is no way to revert to the more familiar Office 2003 (or older) interface.

The new UI has been a source of user frustration and has slowed adoption of the new version of Office at our institution.

Technorati Tags: Office, Microsoft, Microsoft Office, ssloansjca

Windows XP won't die

Mitchell Ashley of Network World wrote:

Microsoft's officially cut ties with selling new copies of XP but PC manufactures can still downgrade new Vista PCs to Windows XP until June of 2009. Microsoft just extended that date from January 2009 until June 2009.

My opinion, Vista SP1 seems to be working fine!

Technorati Tags: Windows, Microsoft, XP, ssloansjca

The Empire Strikes Back

Best Microsoft Ad Ever!

I am a Mac user, but I find Apple's Ad campaign to have been annoying and insulting. Lots of great and creative folks use PCs. I am glad to see Microsoft strike back.

[Click here to see Ad]

Vista Tweeked For Performance

Operating Systems, Get Out Of My Way

I put Vista on a diet. This is my Vista system. I want an operating system that gets out of my way. That is why I loved Windows 2000. Operating systems should help me find and launch my applications and files fast. Then, the operating system should let my applications talk to my hardware efficiently. Then, it should disappear; go away and let me get my work done! Anything more than that is a bunch of crap.

When you spend the time to take away the animations and the glitzy Las Vegas interface, what I call the fat, Vista does a pretty good job. I wish I could get rid of more of the fat in Mac OS X 10.5, Leopard.

Technorati Tags: Windows, Microsoft, Apple, Vista, ssloansjca

Alliance for Enterprise Macs

Five vendors forge alliance promoting Macs on Windows in Enterprise

According to Network World:

The efforts of the Enterprise Desktop Alliance (EDA) – which was formed Monday by Atempo, Centrify, Group Logic, LANrev and Parallels – are not about displacing Windows but raising awareness that the Macintosh is a viable alternative because it can be managed using integration tools and existing Windows infrastructure.

Technorati Tags: Mac OS X, Macintosh, Apple, ssloansjca

The Window for XP is closing

The deadline for consumers to buy Windows XP is soon

This is an important consideration for faculty and students wanting to run XP on their own systems and maybe even more so for folks using Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion on Intel processor equipped Apple Macintosh computers. This is because Windows Vista uses a file system called NTFS for partitioning hard disks that Apple Macintosh's Mac OS X operating cannot read and write to. Windows XP can run on a file system called FAT32 that Mac OS X can read and write to. Since neither Windows XP or Vista can read the Macintosh HFS+ file system, exchanging information between the Windows side and the Mac OS side of a Mac computer gets complicated if you are running Vista on an Intel processor equipped Mac. Though the university can get Windows XP installed on university owned computers after the end of this month, it may not be legal for the university to supply Windows XP media and install codes for installation on non-university owned computers for student, faculty and staff members

According to Network World:

I can't believe I'm writing this, but...now is the time to buy Windows! Windows XP, that is, and no, I'm not abandoning OS X for a Microsoft operating system. However, there's a rapidly-approaching deadline that will affect anyone who has a need to run Windows on their Mac, so I thought I'd do my part to spread the word. If you weren't aware, Microsoft will no longer sell Windows XP after June 30, 2008. With less than a week to go, if you've been thinking about buying Windows XP to use with Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion, now is the time to act.

Vendors such as Creation Engine have been supplying Windows XP at educational pricing.

Technorati Tags: Windows, Microsoft, Apple, ssloansjca

Problem with Apple software updates on Windows?

Is Apple pushing unwanted software on users?
In a recent ZD Net post, Ed Bott accuses Apple of slipping unwanted software onto users computers without them asking for it. According to Bott, the windows version of Apple's software that automatically provides updates for the Windows version of iTunes is automatically installing the Apple Safari web browser on PC's. Bott said, "All browsers have security-related issues. Safari is no exception. Adding any major application to a computer, especially a new browser, is not a decision to be made lightly." Bott suggests that Apple learn from Microsoft's Windows Update system:

"Apple offers an opt-out system, offers no disclosure, and mixes potentially unwanted software with its security patch updates. By contrast, Microsoft has a scrupulously maintained opt-in system, with full disclosure every step of the way."

Interesting to note, this page has an ad for Apple on it, at least it did when I looked at it.

Technorati Tags: Windows, Microsoft, Apple, ssloansjca

New Microsoft Word Vulnerability

According to Jason Meserve of Network World:

Microsoft is warning users not to open unexpected Word files after a new zero-day exploit is making the rounds that could be used to run malicious code. The flaw being exploited is in Microsoft's Jet Database Engine. No word on when an update will be available.

Microsoft Live Spaces Beta

Microsoft Live Spaces Beta
I use Google Docs, but sometimes it isn't enough. I need to be able to share presentations, documents and spread sheets with students and colleagues regularly. If like me, you want the power, elegance and off-line usability of genuine Microsoft Office product documents plus the online storage and collaboration capability of Google Docs, but do not have a Microsoft SharePoint Server, the new Microsoft Live Spaces (currently in Beta) may be an answer for you and those you wish to share with. The Live Spaces development team has a blog and Scoble recently did a podcast about it. I signed up for the Beta, I can't wait to try it!

Technorati Tags: Kirk Gregeresen, Product Management, Eric Gilmore, MS Office, Microsoft, Microsoft Office, Office Live, Scoble, ssloansjca

Make Vista Like Windows 2000

Make Vista Like Win2K
I just installed Vista on my Intel equipped MacPro. One thing I hate is operating systems that get in the way. I want to be anle to get to my applications fast! For doing that nothing for me beats the work flow made fast by the way the start button and menu was implemented in Windows 2000. I even like to emulate that behavior in Mac OS X. Windows XP deviated in large measure the fast to use Win 2K "classic" interface. Vista took the interface farther away in my opinion. But, you can get it back!

1. Right-click on the Start button, select Properties, then choose Classic Start Menu. After doing this you get a Start menu that's composed primarily of cascading menus that lead to programs. But, it still is not labled Start. The next step will fix that.
2. Right-click the desktop, select Personalize, and double-click Theme to choose the Windows Classic theme. This does away with much of Vista's (ugly) slickness and provides a Start button labeled "Start," like God and Bill intended.

If you take both of these steps Vista will have a decidedly old-school, Windows 2000-like "classic" flavor. Vista doesn't seem to have a way to make its Start menu behavior and other aspects of the OS behave more the way they do in Windows XP. But, since I do not like Windows XP's interface that much this is fine with me.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Vista, Apple, Macintosh, ssloansjca