Biography
Books
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Blog
No Bloat Here: Microsoft Is Leaner than Wal-Mart
July 18 2007
Microsoft has been criticized as being bloated, with too many layers of bureacracy. Wal-Mart, on the other hand, has often been held up as a lean business machine. But an interesting new analysis holds that Microsoft is far more efficient than Wal-Mart. Deo Melgaco, in an MSDN blog, calculates what’s called… read moreThe long wait for Vista Ultimate "Extras"
July 11 2007
If you were one of the people who forked over extra money for Vista Ultimate because of Microsoft’s promise of soon-to-come “Ultimate Extras,” you haven’t been particularly pleased with Microsoft. The company has only delivered a handful of underwhelming “Extras” to date, and it’s not clear at all what it… read moreDon't Give Up Vista Search for Google
June 20 2007
Microsoft has agreed to make changes to Vista so that it’s easy to use other search tools instead of Vista’s built-in search. The change will take effect with SP-1 for Vista, the beta of which is due later this year. But just because you’ll be able to change your search… read moreIs the Fix In for Microsoft at the Bush White House?
June 13 2007
Microsoft may be getting preferential treatment from the Bush administration’s Department of Justice because one of the department’s key lawyers was a top antitrust lawyer for the firm that represented Microsoft in the lengthy antitrust suit a few years ago. So reports the New York Times. The newspaper reports that the… read moreMicrosoft Backs Municipal Wi-Fi
June 06 2007
In the fight over whether towns and cities should be allowed to have their own Wi-Fi networks, Microsoft has clearly come down on the pro side. The company has conducted several market studies about municipal Wi-Fi, and has found, in the words of Stefan Weitz, director of planning for MSN… read moreMicrosoft Surface: Not Coming to a Home Near You
May 30 2007
Much of the criticism of the new Microsoft Surface computing table is misguided, for one simple reason: It’s intended to be used in commercial settings, not at home. Why, after all, would you want one of these things in your living room? Microsoft Surface looks like a run-of-the-mill coffee table, but… read moreMay 23 2007
Mashup fans: You don’t need to know how to write a line of code if you want to create your own, customized mashup. You can use the beta of Microsoft’s new Popfly site, to build them by simply dragging building blocks onto a page and connecting them. Within minutes of logging… read moreMicrosoft's Mistake with Windows Home Server
May 16 2007
I’ve been using the beta of Microsoft’s Windows Home Server, and I’m a fan. But Microsoft is making one big mistake with it: It won’t sell the software to people like you and me. It’ll only go to systems makers. Microsoft is missing a big opportunity here. I’ve installed Windows Home… read moreWindows Live Hotmail: Still Not as Good as Gmail
May 09 2007
Microsoft formally released its new Web-based email service,Windows Live Hotmail, and while it improves over previous Microsoft Web-based mail, it’s still not as good as Gmail. Windows Live Hotmail is certainly prettier than Gmail. It looks more like a PC-based mail client than a Web-based service. Gmail, by contrast, is about… read moreIs Vista More Secure than Mac OS X?
May 02 2007
Smug Mac lovers who point to Windows vulnerabilities now have something to worry about: A top security researcher claims that Windows Vista is more secure than Mac OS X. Dino Dai Zovi recently won a $10,000 prize for hacking into a MacBook Pro, exploiting a security flaw in Apple’s Safari browser.… read moreMore Reasons Why Linux Will Never Take Over the Desktop
April 25 2007
My last blog entry, Why Linux Will Never Take Over the Desktop, got a lot of pushback from Linux folks. Now I’m back with more reasons why Linux will never overtake Windows. One big reason Linux will never outdo Windows is that when it comes to Linux, there’s simply too many… read moreWhy Linux Will Never Take Over the Desktop
April 19 2007
For my next book, “The Big Book of Windows Hacks,” I’ve just written a hack about how to run Ubuntu inside Windows Vista. Great fun, great hack, and it’s great to be able to run Linux on a Vista machine. But it’s showed me, once again, why Linux will never… read moreDoes Your Vista Boot Slower than XP?
April 11 2007
Microsoft support forums are abuzz with people complaining that Vista boots and launches applications far slower than XP — even though Microsoft said a primary Vista goal was faster boots. Have you noticed Vista booting slower than XP? I’ve found that Vista boots almost twice as fast as XP. To test… read moreVista Branding Suit: Why Microsoft Is Wrong
April 05 2007
Microsoft is being sued for deceptive practices for branding PCs a being “Windows Vista Capable,” even though those machines could only run Windows Vista Home Basic, which doesn’t include the most important parts of the new operating system, including Aero. This isn’t an example of lawyers run amok — Microsoft… read moreBill Gates Confronts the Future in 1989
March 28 2007
What did the PC future look like back in 1989? Take a trip in the Wayback Machine in this speech from Bill Gates. Gates and his execs should listen to it as well, because there’s an unintended warning in it for the future of MIcrosoft. Remember the 640K memory barrier? EGA… read more
