Category: Software

Microsoft by Joe WilcoxJun 29, 20091:59 pm

Microsoft’s Shadow Ecosystem

There are many measures of success, and some are less desirable than others. Windows is the standard by which cybercriminals measure their wares—eh, malware. Their devotion to Windows is testament to Microsoft’s success. The company should just accept the feint praise for what it is.

Microsoft claims that Windows is more widely attacked by malware than, say, Mac OS X because of volume; many, many more people use Windows PCs than Macs. The claim is great PR, because it kind of makes sense and is unprovable without Macs gaining lots more marketshare. But on closer examination, the claim is pure BS. Microsoft security experts know so, or they’re delusional.

Apple by Joe WilcoxJun 25, 200912:07 pm

Windows 7 Social Media Edition

The most surprising thing about today’s Windows 7 pricing announcement isn’t the pricing, but how Microsoft directly delivered news about it. While Microsoft issued a press release, the most substantive information comes from the Windows Blog, which the release links to. For anyone still clinging to the fantasy that there is some magical separation between Microsoft public relations teams and its bloggers, wake up! There really is none.

Perhaps there shouldn’t be, and that should concern Microsoft’s outside public relations agencies and what their future role will be. People naturally are more interested in other people and what they have to say. Surely a blogger, an identifiable human being, with posted picture and personality, is more believable and memorable than a germane press release.

Apple by Joe WilcoxJun 24, 20093:09 pm

Apple Doesn’t Want Flash on iPhone

Flash should have a place on all mobile handsets, and Adobe is planning to make version 10 available for smartphones. But not iPhone. Now why is that? I’m going to tell you.

First this, ah, news flash. Today, Adobe showed off Flash running on Android-based smartphone HTC Hero. This is a dreamy handset. You want it. You know you do. Hell, I want it, and I recently bought a Nokia N97. While iPhone is all the rave, Android is where the big action is coming. Google gets the mobile-to-cloud applications stack better than any company, even Apple. Flash is part of the story.

Society by Joe WilcoxJun 23, 20099:16 pm

Microsoft Has Lost Its Way Part 2

Microsoft has abandoned the fundamental principles that made it the most successful software company of the last decade and ensured its software would be the most widely used everywhere. But in just three years, since 2006, startups and Apple have set a new course for technology and how societies use it.

For Microsoft, this change is scarier than movie “Quarantine.” Without a course correction, Microsoft in the 2010s will be very much like IBM was in the 1990s. That’s no place Microsoft should want to be.

Society by Joe WilcoxJun 23, 20099:16 pm

Microsoft Has Lost Its Way, Part 1

Microsoft has reached a surprising, and quite unexpected, fork in the road to its future. Choices the company makes today and over the next 12 months will determine whether computing relevance shifts away from its products.

The company has abandoned the fundamental principles that made it the most successful software company of the last decade and ensured its software would be the most widely used everywhere. Understanding those principles, and how they shaped Microsoft’s past, are important for understanding what the future might be.

Apple by Joe WilcoxJun 18, 20097:31 pm

Why Is There No iLife-Equivalent for Windows?

Seriously, it’s kind of a “d`uh” question. Apple released iLife for Macintosh in January 2003. Every year or so, the suite gets better, with no Windows developer offering anything comparable. Isn’t it about time?

I fault Microsoft for not developing something equivalent, although, I concede, the company has the makings of a placeholder offering while working on something better (more on that in a few paragraphs). Microsoft should have stepped in when its partners didn’t.

Web by Joe WilcoxJun 17, 20096:56 pm

Google Exchanges Outlook for Apps, Microsoft GAPEs

The Microsoft-Google tit-for-tat spat over Apps Sync accents the new battleground over which the companies are fighting. Google has moved onto sacred Microsoft territory: Office. Google’s synchronization approach is simply brilliant, and Microsoft executives should cower in fear.

Quick recap: A week ago, Google unveiled Apps Sync, which lets Outlook users connect to GAPE, Google Apps Premiere Edition. Rather than an Exchange Server, Outlook connects to Google’s cloud services. Today, Microsoft took the offensive on this incursion into its territory with a blog post detailing two problems caused by the Apps Sync plugin. I’ll get to the specifics of the problems in a few paragraphs.

Apple by Joe WilcoxJun 17, 200912:04 pm

Quick Quotes: iPhone 3.0 Edition

What have I got to say about iPhone 3.0, available today, and iPhone 3GS, coming on Friday? Here is my quick take.

Editor’s Note, March 29, 2010: For about six weeks during summer 2009, and following my April 30 layoff from eWEEK, I put out my shingle as an independent analyst. I had worked as an analyst for JupiterResearch from 2003 to 2006. But the role just didn’t feel right, particularly given the economy. This post represents a feature of “quotes” for journalists to use in their stories.

Microsoft by Joe WilcoxJun 16, 20092:15 pm

There is No Looming Windows XP Disaster

This afternoon, Larry Seltzer forwarded a link to InfoWorld story “Microsoft’s Looming Windows 7 Licensing ‘Disaster’ for XP Users.” Yeah? This story is a hissy fit over nothing. Galen Gruman writes that “the large percentage of businesses that have held onto XP rather than go to Vista—about half, according to Gartner—are no doubt planning to migrate to Windows 7. But Microsoft may be making it harder and costlier for them to do so.”

Apple by Joe WilcoxJun 16, 200911:58 am

Answering the Snow Leopard-Windows 7 Question

Yesterday, someone asked me if “Apple has got a realistic chance with Snow Leopard?” competing against Windows 7. He was particularly interested in Macintosh uptake in the enterprise. I gave him my answer, which I will blog here with additional analysis.

My answer to his question is “No.” Snow Leopard won’t convert many more businesses to the Mac, particularly with Windows 7 launching three to six weeks later and likely appearing on new PCs before Apple’s new operating system ships. Later this year, Microsoft and its partners will cover the planet in Windows 7 marketing, which will help further marginalize Mac sales. I’ll further explain my reasoning.

Web by Joe WilcoxJun 11, 20092:54 pm

Microsoft Finally Plays Tough With the EU

For years I’ve suggested that Microsoft should slap European trustbusters aside the head by pulling Windows out of their market. Microsoft’s plan to pull Internet Explorer 8 from Windows 7 on the Continent is nearly as good.

Apple by Joe WilcoxJun 8, 200911:18 am

Quick Quotes: WWDC 2009 Edition

Editor’s Note, March 29, 2010: For about six weeks during summer 2009, and following my April 30 layoff from eWEEK, I put out my shingle as an independent analyst. I had worked as an analyst for JupiterResearch from 2003 to 2006. But the role just didn’t feel right, particularly given the economy. This post represents a feature of “quotes” for journalists to use in their stories.

This second installment of Quick Quotes focuses on Apple’s announcements from the Worldwide Developer Conference.