Microsoft Does It Again!

Microsoft is at it again. Their latest round of security patches for Windows XP, Vista and 7 appears to be causing some PCs to seize up and display a black screen. This renders the computer useless.

It is good to know that even with a new operating system, some things don't change :-)

Snow Leopard Released

Apple released Snow Leopard today. The long anticipated successor to Leopard was actually released a month early. Imagine a company that can release a major OS upgrade early that actually works.

This is vastly different from the Vista release that was over a year late and was arguably a "bag of hurt!" :-)

No Direct Upgrade Path for XP Users

The geniuses at Microsoft have decided that there will be no direct upgrade path from XP to Windows 7. Unlike Vista, which has had less than a warm reception, if you are using XP, you must do a clean install of Windows 7. By most accounts, a clean install of Windows 7 is tenacious at best.

Is there any wonder that the majority of Fortune 500 CIO's have no plans to adopt Windows 7?

Suprised? - Not Really

This should not really surprise anyone. In a recent survey by Quest Software’s ScriptLogic unit, only 5.4 percent of respondents said they plan to deploy Windows 7 this calendar year. 59.3 percent said they had no plans to deploy it at all. Vista really tainted the already questionable reputation of Microsoft OS releases.

Official Upgrade (Downgrade) Path

It is official. Microsoft announced that consumers will be able to easily upgrade their Windows 7 and Vista computers to XP Professional. They are even allowing OEM's the ability to install XP Professional out of the box rather than bothering people with either Vista or Windows 7.

Now if we could get the super secure version of XP. :-)

Army Moving To Vista

It seem that the U.S. Army has mandated that all computers be migrated to Vista by the end of the year. Two things come to mind. Do they not realize that Windows 7 will be out this Fall and why can't they get the super secure version of XP that Microsoft made for the Air Force?

Vista Memorial

It seems that this is how Vista will be remembered. Microsoft announced today that when Windows 7 is released this Fall, Vista will no longer be available. They will however allow users that purchase Windows 7 machines to upgrade to XP.

Ultra Secure Windows XP

Microsoft actually makes a super secure version of XP. more than 600 settings are locked down tight, and critical security patches can be installed in an average of 72 hours instead of 57 days. The problem is that you have to be in the Air Force to get it.

This version of XP is a result of the NSA testing XP and making Swiss cheese of it. The Air Force then worked directly with Steve Ballmer to get a new super secure version of XP written.

Here is the question. Why can't conusmers get this super secure version of XP rather than suffer through Vista and now Windows 7?

Downgrade From Windows 7 To XP

What everyone had hoped for is finally true. Microsoft officially says that downgrading to XP is a right built into the licenses of its higher-cost Business and Ultimate editions of Windows 7. It seems that OEM's will even be allowed to offer a downgrade for "Win 7 Professional once available."

It looks like Microsoft is preparing for another "Vista" launch.

That Has To Hurt!

Man, Microsoft can't catch a break. Of course, if they built an operating system that worked this would not be an issue. The state of Texas banned the use of Microsoft Vista for all state governmental agencies.

Microsoft's reputation certainly isn't what it used to be.

Can You Downgrade Windows 7 to XP?

You have to love this! After last weeks announcement from Forrester Research that Vista comprises less than 10% of the enterprise market, they are now asking if it will be easy to downgrade Windows 7 to XP. I suppose that depends on how one views this move, a downgrade or an upgrade.

Is Steve Ballmer Insane?

Steve Ballmer today warned that enterprises that stick with Windows XP too long will hear about it from impatient users who have been using newer computers running Vista and Windows 7 at home. Has he lost his mind? These users are already upgrading Vista to XP.

Then he turned around and said: “I admit it! We’re already basically writing Vista off and looking for ways to spread the development costs out over the next 12,000 years!”?

According to Forrester Research, Vista has less than 10% market penetration in enterprises. The only people that really use Vista are consumers not yet enlightened enough to buy a Mac.

Wasn't Vista Bad Enough?

Microsoft founder Bill Gates released a glass full of mosquitoes at the TED conference to make a point about the deadly disease malaria.

“Malaria is spread by mosquitoes,” Gates said while opening a jar onstage at the Conference.

Man, you would have thought that releasing Vista on us would have been enough for Mr. Gates.

Its Alive!

Windows XP is the operating system that will not die and for good reason - Vista. Microsoft originally stated that they would stop shipping XP on January 30, 2008, one year after Vista was introduced. Well, Vista was less than well received. So, Microsoft extended the deadline for shipping XP until January 31, 2009. With this impending deadline consumers were in an uproar. It turns out that a full 30% of Vista consumers actually downgrade their computers to XP. The deadline has been extended again, this time until May 30, 2009.

The result is that it is now possible to buy new XP machines until Windows 7 is released. Let's just hope that Windows 7 is a better OS launch than Vista was!

Watch Out Monkey Boy!

HP is so mad about the problems that Vista has caused them with their customers that they filed a lawsuit against Microsoft. HP's CEO, Mark Hurd, emailed Steve Ballmer to complain about HP's "call lines being overrun," with customers struggling to upgrade to Vista. "I'm sure you're aware of this."

How bad are things internally at Microsoft? Nearly everyone who left a fingerprint on Vista is now gone from the company. Likewise, HP is considering building its own operating system.

For Microsoft's sake, Windows 7 needs to be rock solid. I am not holding my breath.

Vista Death Watch?

Is Vista really on a death watch? 35 percent of all PC's delivered with Vista have been downgraded to XP.

How is this possible? A survey by performance testing software developer Devil Mountain Software estimated that more than one in three new machines had either been downgraded by vendors such as Dell, or by customers once they bought the PC…

Microsoft has admitted that Vista was a pretty big mistake. Now, after trying some heavy duty marketing, which pretty much failed, Microsoft has finally conceded it’s high time to move on by explaining how they will engineer Windows 7. They have 1000 programmers working full time on Windows 7. This should be interesting.

Its Official - People Love Apple!

This is something that I have been saying for some time. People love Apple. I can't think of a single person that has not had a problem with a PC, especially now that Vista is with us.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) on Tuesday gave Apple the highest score ever for a computer company. Apple received a score of 85 while it's closest competitor, Dell, received a 75. That said, this is an increase in customer satisfaction for Dell.

The reason that people buy Apple products is customer service. I don't know about you, but if I never had to talk to another offshore Call Center my life would be great!

Vista Security is Broken!

At the annual Black Hat conference in Las Vegas, two security researchers demonstrated a new technique that essentially bypasses all of the memory protection safeguards in the Windows Vista operating system. This method uses I.E. and active scripting to load whatever content they want onto someones computer. Redmond, we have a problem!

Microsoft's New Ad - What Are They Smoking ?

Tired of the bad press that Vista has received, Microsoft has launched a $300 million ad campaign to set the record straight. Unfortunately, the $300 million was not enough to buy an adequate advertising company. The "Earth is Flat" ad basically insinuated that people that do not like Vista are Luddites.

As anyone that follows tech knows, Vista got off to a rocky start. As Brad Brooks, Microsoft's VP of Windows Vista put it "We broke a lot of things. We know that, and we know it caused you a lot of pain." To make matters worse for Microsoft, Apple has pointed out Vista's flaws at every turn.

I actually like Vista. I prefer it to XP and use it more often than OS X. That said, insinuating that people that do not use Vista also believe that the earth is flat is rather insulting. Is it any wonder people are flocking to Apple?

Snow Leopard to Fix Leopard's Many Bugs

There are those in the software industry that feel that Leopard is the buggiest OS to be released in some time. Snow Leopard is officially being billed as a Security and Stability upgrade. In the Microsoft world, such a release is called a service pack.

If Microsoft takes this same tactic with Windows 7, it will be rock solid stable. I am not going to hold my breath on that happening.