Microsoft did something they haven’t done for a while, in fact for ever, Windows Vista wasn’t even laying a bit of dust and, bam!, here’s this beta of a new operating system and then, boom, you’ve got Windows 7 released. So, whats the crack, is it good, worth it, gonna be a turn around for the Vista pain we’ve all shared? These are the main questions I intend to answer in this brief overview of Microsoft’s latest offering to the Windows world.

Should I upgrade to Windows 7
This is where we get to the Microsoft dilemma. For some reason Microsoft have this OS they just simply can’t get rid off, of course I’m talking about XP. Microsoft tried with Vista and failed quite badly, especially with compatibility involving drivers, which even Ballmer (Microsoft CEO) admitted. This is why this question is hard to answer so I have to section it out.
XP users:No. Yes, believe it or not I still don’t think Windows 7 is worth it for XP users. Why? Well put it this way, Windows 7 (Business and Ultimate) have an added compatibility feature called ‘XP Mode’, so the big question is, do you want to pay hundreds of £/$ on an operating system thats more than likely going to have to emulate the software you’ve been using. Don’t get me wrong, Windows 7 offers some good offerings, but nothing that can’t be added to XP with 3rd party software.
Vista users:Hell yeh! If you’re on Windows Vista, or been on Vista. Windows Vista did something amazing, instead of promoting Microsoft and boosting the love at Microsoft, it boosted the love for alternate options like Mac OSX and Linux, Microsoft are prob the only ones who’ll manage to do that! If you’ve gone through the moodswings of Windows Vista you deserve to put 7 on your machine thats been battling through it all with ya, personally it should be free for Vista users as compensation if you ask me.

Windows 7 has many new features which are finally gonna change the way you use Windows. Windows 7 now features some major ‘Aero‘ enhancements, in fact alot. And, I’ve got to admit they really improve the way you use Windows. Aero Snap to easily have two windows in view at the same, which is handy, the method can also be used to maximise the windows, I know, rather neat. Other features include Aero Shake, which easily allows on window to be the centre of attention and get rid of the rest temporarily, then, shake, and their back, also very useful. You’ll find yourself trying to do these features more or less all the time.
The Explorer in Windows 7 also has some great enhancements, basically fixing the Vista one, things are laid out easily and it makes using it alot more easier. It also features more sharing options. So, I know what you’re thinking, its Vista with a few appearance changes, oh no. Windows 7 is alot more than (a bit more of) a pretty face it also has a few hidden enhancements, Action Center replaces Windows Security Center improving in-built security which is always a good thing, Windows Media Center has a new look (like a green Zune) which is a big more slick than before, and, oh yes, that dock … err… I mean, ‘Windows Taskbar’. Windows Taskbar allows you to see only your program icon nice and big, but also interact with the programs by either right clicking or view (if multiple windows open) by hovering over, a new Aero feature that. It also allows you to “pin” programs to the taskbar for future quicklaunch, all these features do sound familiar don’t they? You maybe thinking Windows Sidebar is no more, but no, now simply referred to as ‘Gadgets’, all the so-called sidebar stuff now can be put anywhere on your desktop, but also if you add it to where the sidebar would be they click in to place, which is nice. Windows 7 also has added touchscreen support, useful for users on Tablets. Improvements have been added to the Start menu as well, one nice add-on is the fact that ‘Shut Down’ is now one button and not hidden behind an arrow. Also it includes a feature which allows you to open, for example, older visited pages for Internet Explorer, or documents for ‘Word’, nice that. I normally wouldn’t mention a new version of Media Player, but Windows Media Player 12 has some nice new additions, unfortunately WMP11 looked better, but it now supports ‘.mp4′ which is nice. It also comes with IE8 …. (bring on the sarcastic woo). Windows classic applications such as WordPad and Paint get a very nice update, including the look first seen in Office ‘07 and Paint is now not a bad program at all for image editing and creating with the new brush options.
But I think the biggest Pro we can give Windows 7 is, the release version is, well, actually rather stable.

Pros
1. Nice update if your a Vista user
2. Very stable, keep that one up for future releases please Microsoft
3. Windows Media Center alot clearer and helpful
4. WMP12 has new codec, most importantly H.264
5. Improved Account Control
6. Very useful Aero features / Aero Shake Aero Snap etc
7. New taskbar helps with multiple programs running and program management.
8. Updated Paint and Wordpad look and feel, and features. Finally
9. Gadgets no more stuck to one side of the desktop.
10. New Explorer look and feel.
11. Added compatibility
12. DirectX 12 (For all you gamers out there)
13. Easier to disable UAC << Like that one

Cons
1. Not enough to make XP users upgrade
2. Most old software still rely on ‘XP Mode’.
3. Whilst the taskbar is nice, still has the same UI from back in Windows 95.
4. Very expensive for the small amount of differences with Vista
5. Why still 6 versions.
6. Added Security? Then why does it still need virus protection
7. Same system requirements than Vista
8. Definitely not enough to make new Mac users switch back.
9. A bit too-like Vista

Overview
Windows 7 is a nice upgrade and adds many features that are not found in previous versions of Windows. Whilst these features are useful, I do fail to see many features that would put me first in the queue for Windows 7. Windows 7 is a must-have however for Vista users as it, not only makes using the computer better but XP Mode will make those old dusty apps will finally run on that recently bought computer.
- Some nice additions, but nothing that appeals to XP or recent switches thanks to Vista.

Disclaimer;
This review is aimed towards the average user.

Microsoft is hoping to strike the Google goliath with some sort of David stone by making News Corp content invisible to Google searches. Fantastic.

Microsoft (maybe) plans to monetize search engine results by giving Rupert Murdoch money if he agrees to block News Corp content from Google search results. Microsoft’s plan seems pretty clever. Until you spend thirty seconds thinking about it a little more.  Then, the logic is as fuzzy and backward as you would expect from Ballmer and Co.

If people like something, when they find something that makes them feel good, they flock to it.  They use it or buy it, they love it, they enjoy it, they tell their friends.  When the product or music or fashion or culture gets too popular, they go find or invent something else. Its pretty simple.

Real Hip-Hop culture today doesn’t look exactly like it did in the mid 80s and early 90s when it was the fucking coolest thing ever.  But, today it also has nothing to do with Lil’ Wayne or the Stanky Legg dance. This cycle doesn’t have a name that I know of, but I’m cooking one up as I write this (and drink beer, two at least).  While it may not have a name yet, it’s a concept that is a no brainer for those of us who spend any time with other people – which is why I’m starting to get the impression that most giant company CEOs must only hang out with each other and other aliens.  Why else would they have to hire focus groups and marketing research firms? When you are dealing with something as widespread as the internet, all you have to do communicate with some human beings from time to time.  What do they like to do? How do they think?  These questions and more can be answered by hanging out with us.  My point is especially true for old, fat white CEOs trying to discover what diverse groups of younger people want, buy, and flock to.  As we get older, even the most righteously unique individuals settle into grooves and sort of roll, sink, and fall into groups rather than creating them – and the buzz and flockage that follows a nice spin-off sub-culture.

Microsoft, it seems, was busy dreaming up an inspired cock sucking contest with Mr. not-news himself while Google was inventing the Cloud. Awesome Microsoft, way to go.

If I was Microsoft’s father and Microsoft was a little league player, I wouldn’t know what to do right now. You can’t cheer your kid and praise his effort when he hits the ball deep into left field with a chance for an in-the park home run with the game tied in the bottom of the final inning when he  turns around and starts running off the field down the street somewhere.  I think I would start yelling, “What the fuck is that little moron doing?!” with all of the other bitter, angry, sports-failure dad’s.

What the fuck is that moron doing? And by moron, I mean Steve Ballmer.  I’m so glad we have a free-trade capitalist economy like we do.  It is set up perfectly to encourage the kind of creative, outside of the box thinking, Microsoft and News Corp plan on unleashing. Oh, wait.  This is the same swindling, money-grubbing bumbbling that recently collapsed the auto industry. Ideas like this from enormous American companies are as short-sighted and backwards as they are lazy and predictable.  For a moment there, after our financial and automotive industries came apart like a young Hollywood romance after three weeks, it looked like we were going to start innovating again. The joke’s on me.  Well played Microsoft. Well played.

Steve Ballmer, is my nomination for “Dumbest Rich Guy of the Decade.”  He is useless and the only good news for him is that if a live-action Simpsons show were ever in the works, he’d be first in line to play Homer Simpson.

Burns (played by James Gandolfini, after loosing 175 pounds and an Olsen twin as a result of a newly found love for mixing cocaine, meth, and epicat): “You nincompoop, whatever your name is -

Smithers (played by Timothy Geithner) interrupts to whisper: “- That’s Homer Simpson, Sir”

Burns continues: “Yes, Simpson, you idiot, you bungled another multi-billion dollar deal with Yahoo! You’re fired!”

Homer (played by that nincompoop Ballmer): “Doh!”

See, here’s the thing about the internet: It’s cool and fun and exciting and smart now, but it won’t always be. It became all of those things because people were sick of television, radio, newspapers, and books. The internet provided all of the beautiful innovation and inspiration other media weren’t*. Nothing stays the same for long, and the internet is no exception. The things that made T.V. (and its boring, lame buddies) old and stupid are taking hold in and on the internet. In some cases, the final result is sure to be much more harmful and stifling to creativity and fun and happiness.  Advertising and a now free for all race to rape internet users for every squeezable penny will help destroy the popularity of the internet.  Something cooler and awesomer and totally removed from “greedy corporations harshing our high” will come along and we’ll all flock to that.  Each next thing after the internet will thrive, like the internet did, until the desperation to make a profit from it drives the money-spending masses to go somewhere else.  The internet is already on the way out, and I know who killed it.

* Instead of innovating and using the internet’s successes as fuels for their fires, most members of traditional media industries, with few exceptions, have taken turns jumping on each other’s sinking ships.  The norm is stealing, and usually ruining, mediocre and entirely un-original ideas. Do the geniuses at Microsoft really think people will use Bing more if they can’t search for News Corp content using Google?

Note: I used google to research this entire post and I don’t know why.  Its painfully obvious that Microsoft doesn’t either.

Its Apple products that their kids want says one shareholder and Microsoft is seen as the "evil empire"? Now, I wonder what past actions have caused Microsoft to get such a bad image?

Here for your enjoyment are the best bits of the Microsoft annual shareholders meeting 19/11/2009.  If you wish, you can download the complete document for yourselves here.

Before we delve a little into that, lets consider what opinions on the net are saying about some Microsoft technologies, we are seeing Zune making attempts to dethrone the household name of Ipod, we see Bing foraging in the scraps left from Googles dinner table (IMO) and we see Windows 7 being presented by some as being great because…..”its better than Vista”

I’ve often said that Microsoft has its fingers in too many pies and instead of being able to concentrate on making a few world class products it has become “jack of all trades, master of none” (IMO) The sheer size of the corporate slug Microsoft means in my opinion that its revenue stream just cannot support all the employee’s, schemes and innovations that it currently has.  To me Microsoft is well aware of its bad image and that’s why I think we see Microsoft selling parts of its patent portfolio in the hope of attacking its competitors by proxy.

So now we move onto the shareholders meeting.

It certainly makes interesting reading and for me asks the question “how focused and organized are Microsoft?” Read the answers that Steve Ballmer gives to some of the questioned put to him.  Do they sound like the answers of a well crafted plan or an attempt to merely defend the company?  I’ll let you answer that yourselves.

So whilst Microsoft tries to become trendy (IMO) it again seems to miss the mark when even its shareholders can’t convince their own children that Microsoft products are the ones they want and it seems that Apple gets the prize with them for producing the tech which is used.

I don’t really think this shareholders comment will come as a surprise to anyone.

All four of my kids in undergraduate got Macs. When they went on to graduate school, they all got Macs. They claim that 65 percent of college students have Macs. They claim that Microsoft, the evil empire, is stodgy on the current ad that Apple has, you all look like a buffoon.

If Microsoft are not aware of the stiff competition it appears in my opinion that atleast its shareholders are:

Just a really short question. I’m a rather new shareholder and I would like to know why Microsoft can’t beat, together with Nokia, Apple iPhone, and Google’s Android. What are you going to do about it?

and if I was present at that meeting representing Microsoft, I’d shout proudly “Zune and Bing!” and possibly “Oh yeah and Winmob. I know we messed up last time, but dig deep and give us another go!” – Yep that ought to pacify the shareholders!?!?

Its coincidence in the last article I covered Bill Gates and his comment about people “stealing” Microsoft products and working out how to get a return later, lets look at that comment again (said in the early 90’s)

Although about 3 million computers get sold every year in China, but people don’t pay for the software,” he said. “Someday they will, though. As long as they are going to steal it, we want them to steal ours. They’ll get sort of addicted, and then we’ll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade.

and now Steve Ballmer 2009 at the shareholders meeting:

…I think we feel very good about our position. Whether we prevail or not, we’re going through the legal process in China…..

So, there’s a lot of work to be done on intellectual property protection in China. We both want to be at the forefront of doing that well ourselves. And we expect to see our own intellectual property much better protected in China. That is very important to us.

It sure seems time to pay the reaper.

So with Microsoft shareholders even making comments like evil empire and buffoon.  Has Microsoft still got “the right stuff” to last as the biggest player in the IT world?  Whilst in my opinion Microsoft is trying to cash in with old concepts that have already established a customer base (Zune/Bing) whilst also trying to convince people that they’ve got it wrong about Vista, Windows 7 is great and XP is only supported with security updates, one has to wonder if in fact the comment Mr Ballmer made about Google being a “house of cards” is more relevant to Microsoft?

Mr Ballmer says at this meeting,

And we are excited to be bringing our cloud computing platform to market with Windows Azure and SQL Azure, which we announced this week, will be available commercially by the first of next year.

which is strange because Andre Da Costa seems to imply that we are far away from a cloud computing future.  Having said that, if Andre has seen the comments where Mr Ballmer calls Google a house of cards, maybe Andre holds no worth in what Mr Ballmer has to say.

But wait….it does get better!?!?!

Of course theres “great” news which wasn’t mentioned at this meeting and I would suggest that maybe you don’t get too comfortable with Windows 7….Why? because according to the Microsoft road map (and this article) Windows 8 is on its way for 2012!  So enjoy Windows 7 and get ready to buy into Windows 8 in just over 2 years…remember, “its always better the next time”.

Goblin – bytes4free@googlemail.com

“I’m just wondering why your marketing group can’t do something to try to rein in this next generation, because you’ve got a real bad image out there.”

So said a Microsoft (s msft) shareholder to CEO Steve Ballmer at the company’s shareholder meeting yesterday. TechFlash reporter Todd Bishop notes that the same shareholder added that Apple’s (s aapl) TV commercials make Microsoft look “like a buffoon.”

I’m relieved to hear this. I often look at Microsoft and wonder if its shareholders are as out-of-touch as the company itself seems to be. In just the last few weeks here’s what’s getting the most enthusiastic coverage in the tech press at a time when it ought to be 100 percent about the newly launched Windows 7.

• A Microsoft manager claiming Windows 7 — Microsoft’s flagship product — is inspired by Mac OS X
• Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie’s bewildering assertion that “apps don’t matter” — despite everyone else on Earth knowing otherwise
• Further redundancies that include long-time evangelist Don Dodge, and his subsequent post that, now that he’s free from Microsoft, he can admit, yeah, he has iPhone envy
• And let’s not forget the bizarre PR misfire that saw the staff of Microsoft’s flagship retail store ignoring their customers for a full five minutes in favor of stomping their way, awkwardly and embarrassingly, through a dance routine

The take-home message? It ain’t just the Apple commercials making Microsoft look like buffoons.

How did CEO Steve Ballmer respond? Fear not, anxious shareholders, Ballmer has this to say to assuage your fears and calm your nerves:

You take any country, including this one, and you say, how are we doing? The truth of the matter is, we do quite well. Even among college students, we do quite well. Do we have an opportunity for improvement? We do. Some of that is marketing some of that is phase of life. It is important to remember that 96 times out of 100 worldwide, people choose a PC with Windows, that’s a good thing. Even in the toughest market, which would be the high end of the consumer market here in the U.S., 83 times out of 100 people choose a Windows PC over a Mac.

Hang on, back-up. “Some of that is phase of life.” Phase of life? Well, Ballmer sure knows his execu-speak. What galls me about this is how it illustrates perfectly that while Microsoft may be doomed to continue making embarrassing mistakes, it probably won’t suffer any actual harm as a result; it survives simply because of its mammoth install base. Nothing more than that. And that simple fact directly influences the attitude and reasoning of its CEO. Ballmer is tacitly admitting that, all things considered, yeah, Microsoft looks like a bunch of idiots but that doesn’t matter because they’ve got more customers than anyone else.

Turn this around, and imagine that Apple does monumentally silly things that make it the target of much derision and ridicule among the tech community and consumers. Imagine you’re a shareholder, and you see a drop in quarterly earnings. You see the company laying off staff (including highly visible and respected staff they should keep). You see its executives sending conflicting messages to the public. And when you take them to task for it, Steve Jobs replies “Yeah, we’ve been a bit crap. But most people own an iPod, right, so, no worries.” Would you be satisfied with that?

Ballmer added:

Frankly, the economy is good for us, because people do understand that Macintoshes are quite a bit more expensive for essentially the same computer … we have opportunities to improve among exactly the constituency that you identify.

Yep. Be happy there’s a recession, people, or else customers would be buying Macs!

This isn’t actually a Microsoft bashing exercise (clearly, it does that to itself and needs no help from me). Instead, I look at this and wonder (fear) that Apple might be headed in much the same direction. Recent unpredictable behavior around the application approval process has seen Apple severely criticised by some of its most staunch supporters. Developers aren’t just frustrated, they’re now quitting the platform altogether. And not because the platform is flawed, but because Apple is horribly (and very visibly) mismanaging it.

Apple needs to take a good long look at the Microsoft of today and ask if it isn’t starting to make the same mistake; stubbornly pushing ahead with flawed policies/strategies that are justified on the strength of product market share alone, despite the obvious (and loud!) protestations of the public, the press, and sooner or later, even its own shareholders.

Sure, Apple isn’t as bad as Microsoft yet. But this is how it starts, people. Google Voicegate. Joe Hewitt. Rogue Amoeba. It’s not exactly dancing in an Apple Store, but it’s still embarrassing and potentially damaging, and it’s definitely a trend that won’t go away unless Apple does something to fix it.

MICROSOFT’S FRIDAY 13th?  GOOGLE’S OS OUT IN A WEEK (ALLEGEDLY)

Friday 13th might only be an unlucky day through superstition, however it may be more real for Microsoft.  It is being rumoured that the eagerly awaited Google OS is going to be released in the coming week.

A more comprehensive article (and the source of the reports) can be found at:

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/13/google-chrome-os-to-launch-within-a-week/

I bet this is one Friday the 13th Steve Ballmer will remember (if the rumour comes to fruition) and whilst on the subject of Steve Ballmer, lets remember an alleged remark he made in the past (in reference to Eric Schmidt leaving Microsoft for Google:

F##king Eric Schmidt is a f##king p#ssy. I’m going to f##king bury that guy, I have done it before, and I will do it again. I’m going to f##king kill Google.

You can see an article on that particular tirade here: http://battellemedia.com/archives/001835.php

ONLINE BANKRUPTCY ORDERS

Whilst the rest of the world is reporting leaving the recession, it appears the UK still has its issues.   That adds to the depressing figures of 2.46 million unemployed.  2000 CCJ’s in the first few months of the year and it seems that whilst the rest of the world are celebrating, the UK is lagging behind.

It is being reported that the government is proposing to give people wishing to file for bankruptcy the ability to do it online.  This proposal would remove the cost, which is intimidating, time consuming and costly.  Its hoped that decisions will be made within days rather than months with the new system.

Should it be made more simple to file for bankruptcy?  In my opinion, no and there are  many reasons why bankruptcy is not simply “wiping the slate clean”.

IS ANYONE WANTING WINDOWS 7?

It is being reported that Windows 7 has not been received as well as the Microsoft PR machine (or any of its faithful) would like you to believe.  Peter Whatnell of Sunco is reported to have said:

Windows 7 runs like a champ on my personal netbook, but we don’t really need it,

and does that remind anyone of the series of articles I wrote asking about a killer feature or selling point that make the move from XP worth the money.  Does anyone remember I asked what on earth Windows 7 could do that I on a Linux platform couldn’t?  Of course the question was never answered properly here in my opinion and we even had a Microsoft employee comment.  You can re-read that here: http://openbytes.wordpress.com/2009/06/13/a-question-to-microsoft-whats-unique-about-windows-7/

You can read the CW article here: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9140660/Enterprises_like_don_t_love_Windows_7

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Google is working on its own programming language called GO which has been (so far) two years in the making and aims to cater for simple app development without detrimental effects on performance.  Currently being internally tested, proof (for me anyway) that whilst IMO Microsoft scrambles to hold on to its many schemes, Google is making further inroads in multiple areas of IT.

CW talks about the missing features in Windows 7 starter might be a point of annoyance with purchasers (according to a survey).  You can read that here.

Back in the depths of the 20th century, Apple was born. Since then, even Wikipedia will accurately-enough tell of its turbulent history, from Newton to iPhone and Mac 128k to iMac, and of course, Jobs to not to Jobs.

Apple has always had to be secretive, mainly because they’re an intelligent bunch of folks who dream up ideas before everyone else, so they keep quiet until they shock the world (cue reference to MacBook Air). Sometimes, it’s easy to speculate that the minimalist policy that keeps everything beautiful suggests that unnecessary updates to the public are totally banned.

Of course, this all creates more possibility for Apple, because the rumours of die-hard fans will lead to more widespread anticipation and desire for anything… anything… that the Apple Town Hall will showcase next. As such, Apple is unique. There were no rumours about Windows 7, because the fat idiots at Microsoft (Ballmer) can’t keep their mouths shut. Apple leads the way, it seems, not only in technical innovation, but also technical public encapsulation.

And so we have it that the mystery of Apple will not go away because it’s making their profits go vastly up.

Armed with Microsoft's USB stick and COFEE even these two will be able to collect evidence from a live system....The courts will love that one.

It is being reported that COFEE, Microsoft’s forensic tool used in the fight against crime [1] has been leaked and uploaded to a BT tracker.  The tracker in question (what.cd) has subsequently removed the offending torrent, probably with visions of dawn raids and court cases, however I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the tools PR and what it (allegedly) offers.  Before we go any further though, its worth noting that the actions taken by what.cd have not managed to preserve the “secrecy” of this Microsoft product.  COFEE is available from thousands of sources online already.

Firstly because its Microsoft you can expect the usual blurb.  Microsoft doesn’t disappoint here with:

If it’s vital to government, it’s mission critical to Microsoft.

Which would beg the question; what happened then when various armed forces computer systems allegedly fell victim to a Windows based exploit?  Doesn’t sound very mission critical to me.

Back to COFEE though (Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor) is in essence software and USB solution which enable a live system to be “snapshotted” in situ.  Exactly how this code operates is anyones guess since its only provided to law enforcement and not to the general populus.  Would this software/hardware work on a rig with Linux?  I would highly doubt it and I assume it is developed to “handshake” with a Windows based system in some way.

An officer with even minimal computer experience can be tutored—in less than 10 minutes—to use a pre-configured COFEE device.

…And COFEE is being provided—at no charge—to law enforcement around the world.

So Microsoft gives COFEE away free to law enforcement does it?  Lets remind ourselves of what Bill Gates had to say about “free” some time ago:

They’ll get sort of addicted, and then we’ll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade

Here you go....a USB stick for every copper! Become an IT expert in 10 minutes! Question is, why should law enforcement use what you can already get (legally) for free and why should the "mighty" Microsoft be giving it away to law enforcement?

Maybe a warning there for Law Enforcement?  “Beware of a Redmond employee bearing gifts”

From reports of users that have looked at this Microsoft GUI its allegedly only a set of data collection tools that can be found on the net anyway and there is nothing “secret” or “cutting edge” to be found in Microsoft’s freebie.

There are other issues I have with this Microsoft freebie and its in respect of evidential value.  In my opinion an in situ dump of a live system will only have real evidential worth in a court if its backed up with the original system.  I would doubt very much if a court would accept a “snapshot” on a USB stick on its own without calling into question the integrity of the data collected on it. [2]

Are we really believing some IT inept officer brandishing COFEE should be allowed to tamper with a live system of possible evidential worth even if she/he has had “a 10 minute training course”..?   I would expect any Law Enforcement Agency to call in its own experts if it encountered a situation where a live exam/retrieval was essential.

Ive often said I have great reservations when the private/public sector mix (in respect of law enforcement) You have to look no further than FACT, where I believe its funded by the very companies it seeks to protect.  No problem in itself, but when (IMO) FACT has the ear of law enforcement, you could be forgiven if you were a little dubious as to the motives of the “advice” they give to the aforementioned agency.

Although it’s a little extreme, when law enforcement and corporate mix, people will always wonder “what goes on behind the scenes” and theories of calls such as “Hi, is that the LAPD?  Its Ballmer here, we have a little trouble at Redmond, can you help us out? Remember we did give you that USB stick all those years ago…..” will always crop up.  It seems strange to me that Microsoft is so keen to help fight crime when in Bill Gates own words (as partly quoted earlier on):

As long as they are going to steal it, we want them to steal ours.

You can read that full article here: http://www.cybersource.com.au/press/gates_set_to_addict_next_billion.html

There is a viewpoint from Torrentfreak.com which can be read here.

Notes

[1] Allegedly since Ive never seen Microsoft credited for any successes and its not clear which or if any Law enforcement actually use it

[2] and its all accademic really since someone booting a LiveCD and USB stick combo would be immune to COFEE (IMO)

Goblin – bytes4free@googlemail.com

Beer glasses.  We’ve all had them and it now appears that the lovely first date with Windows 7 where you’ve met in a restaurant and put away a good few drinks has come home with you.

Skip to the morning, picture the scene; its a sleepy sunday and the light is streaming through your half drawn curtains.  You roll over in your warm bed with images of a lovely night with a beautiful partner only to now find yourself staring into the face of a pig.

Joking aside, it appears that whilst Windows is praised as the second coming and its faithful are busy trying to find fault with alternatives merely to boost sales, there are users who are voicing their problems in a public forum.  I am of course talking about the Microsoft Helps (itself) Twitter account.  Lets take a look at some of those issues:

I did as suggested in forum, BIOS and driver update… And then again the upgrade process rolls back to Vista at final step

To which I would reply, Im surprised they noticed.  Vista 7 may simply be lipstick on a pig, but its the same pig (Vista) at the end of the day.

I can not see the thumbnails of any filehttp://www.twitpic.com/obpmt

I’m facing this issue while doing in-place upgrade from Vista Home Premium to Win7 Ultimatehttp://bit.ly/1Tkwh6 Please help

What’s up with the weird directories with .vdm files accumulating? Is that being looked at? Fixed? New one today (5 total)

Windows 7 upgrade FAIL “user profile service service failed the logon.” can’t use explorer, control panel in safemode

Of course the story you will get from sites such as http://windows7news.com/2009/11/02/windows-7-on-the-rise/ paint a whole different picture.  Andrew (the author of that “article”) cites Windows 7 as having 3% of market share in the first two weeks of its release.  Andrew then goes onto mention that this does not include simply the RTM thats available now it also includes the pre release versions.  What Andrew doesn’t mention was that the pre-release versions were given away for free, so really the 3% figure (even if it is true) is purely rubbish IMO.

Just like any other Microsoft enthusiast, Andrew appear’s to judge the worth of an OS on how many people use it.  I wonder if Andrew would think a Vauxhall Corsa better than a Bentley because there is more of them on the road?  Probably.  What Andrew goes on to say is:

Linux has just under 1% marketshare. That’s every Linux distribution anywhere, combined.

Really Andrew?  I thought the MS faithful always say 3%?  It matters not since Steve Ballmer doesn’t seem to agree with you either and in recent MS slides Linux was shown to have a lot more than 1%.  Have your scientific figures Andrew considered how many servers on the net run Linux?  Probably not and you are probably too busy with the novelty that Windows 7 allows you to do simple tasks far better than you ever could in the last 3 years with Vista.

Unlike Andrew, when I compare Linux with Windows 7 I will be doing it having used both.  I am currently running Windows 7 through its paces and comparing it to the OS Ive relied on for years (and has never let me down, unlike Microsoft technologies) that being Linux.

NOVELL HAS A PULSE?

Many people think that Novell is controlled directly from Redmond (or certainly sits and gives a paw on command of its Microsoft master).  It matters not, the damage “the deal” did to the public perception of Novell IMO shows how insidious a Microsoft relationship can be.

Novell has announced its “Pulse” product which is similar in vain to Google Wave although this is, IMO  aimed at enterprise.  It enables team collaboration on projects whilst also offering integration with the Google Wave protocol.

Coming in mid-2010, Novell Pulse will first be delivered as a service and then later available for on-premise deployment. It will also work seamlessly with Google Wave so you and anyone you want to work with can have your choice and get down to business.

Since Ive mentioned my current beta relationship with Wave, its only fair I mention this product.  I only have one question:

Did Novell have to ask Microsoft before releasing the news of this product?  Maybe Novell does have its own “pulse” afterall.

If you would like to see more of Pulse, check out:

http://www.novell.com/products/pulse/

Goblin – bytes4free@googlemail.com

Il n’y a pas longtemps il a déclaré que l’Internet avait été fait pour le PC…

J’ai regardé un clavier de PC pour voir où se situait le caractère ‘@’…

Pour y accéder, il faut faire alt-gr [Grrr ]la touche.

Un clavier de Mac :

Accès direct ! CQFD

Once upon a time there was a company called Microsoft…..

Yes readers, its story time again, although this time I don’t think there is a way Microsoft can tell its story any better (and to see the alleged quote by Bill Veghte on Vista’s problems and Microsoft stories see http://openbytes.wordpress.com/2009/11/01/bought-windows-7-windows-8-on-way-dubious-twitter-users/)

Before we go into the article it is worth mentioning that Boycott Novell reported the 800 job cuts way before the news hit the mainstream media.  Detractors to the BN website may like to consider that fact. http://boycottnovell.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

As the US is officially out of the recession (with the UK lagging slightly) more job losses are announced from Redmond, 800 (allegedly) of them, with the cuts apparently coming in the sales and marketing sections.  Could this be a reason why we saw this? – is Microsoft getting so hard up that it generates Twitter accounts to do its bidding? (and very badly I hasten to add)

The Guardian.co.uk has a take on the news of the cuts where it says in their article:

Microsoft is cutting another 800 jobs worldwide as it attempts to cope with falling demand for its products, the company announced today.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/nov/04/microsoft-job-cuts

Falling demand for its products?  Did we ever think we’d see the day?

Of course Microsoft put their own take on this and other news by Kevin Turner allegedly saying:

We are pleased by the early positive response we are receiving for these products

To which I would say, steady there Kev.  Remember Mr Ballmer saying that Vista went wrong because of listening to early feedback?  You don’t want another Vista on your hands that takes 3 years to sort of apologise for do you?

The cuts are mostly in sales and marketing, and less in research and development, but they have cut some products.

Which cant be good news for many of the convenient MS faithful that pop up to defend and spread FUD regarding alternatives to MS?

These are interesting times and the company who tries to be everything for everybody (IMO) is finding that fighting that war on more than one battlefront is near on impossible.   When you look at the interest generated by a Google OS, Google Wave and the plethora of social networking/innovative ideas on the net that do not come from Redmond, one has to wonder how Microsoft will look in another year.  The growth of Linux/alternative usage in the last year cannot be disputed (whatever figure you want to put on it)

Lets hope Ballmer and crew can “get their story out” in the way they want to.  I get the feeling this is one fairy tell of Redmond’s which won’t have a happy ending.

NOTE: Picture from BoycottNovell and kind permission of Roy Schestowitz.

Goblin – bytes4free@googlemail.com

Microsoft Courier

Say what you want about Microsoft, but the folks at Redmond are having quite a good 2009. First came the revamped Zune HD, then came Windows 7, and now…Microsoft Courier.

What is it you ask? Well with the craze in e-book readers lately and the advancement in “touch” technology, the Courier is a “tablet” engineered by Microsoft themselves. However, Microsoft refers to their new project as a “booklet” instead of a tablet because…well it is designed like book. The current design of the Courier has the “booklet” rocking two 7 inch screens that support multi-touch gestures and can be used with a tablet pen. The middle/spine of the “booklet” has a iPhone-esque “home” button and a “Library” button. In my opinion, the leaked pictures of the Courier show a beautifully designed product that makes you wonder “what-if” Microsoft designed their own products.

The functionality of the Courier aims to combine media, e-books, and productivity (such as taking notes, creating a presentation, designing, PDF, etc.) in one “journal” format. The multi-touch gestures let you search, move, copy, clip, zoom, and probably more. The clip, tuck, & paste feature is one of the most innovative UI features as it allows you to “clip” something (a picture for example) and “tuck” it to the spine of the “booklet” where you can copy or move the item to either side of the screen. Another great feature so far is the”smart” tablet pen that is designed to have two buttons, an eraser, and a twisting mechanism. Pressing the front button on the pen lets you quickly choose different pens and colors. The twisting mechanism probably brings up a more robust set of drawing tools. The eraser is straightforward, while the top button is a dedicated “undo” button. From watching the demo, the pen is so natural that users will not have to guess about the pen. It may not be new to tablet users but with the added multi-touch gestures, the pen is bound to be a workhorse. The UI uses a lot of Cover Flow to access content, moving page to page is as easy as “flipping,” and the “Library” is the main file system to access all your files. Lastly there is hints that this product will rely on cloud computing. So lets say you create a presentation in San Francisco and your clients in Chicago need it, just publish your presentation and they can access it. It probably is not a surprise to say that powering the OS is Windows 7. My first impression from the demo alone show that the Courier is trying to take the guesswork out of how to use it. It just seems to work and feel natural so that users can get to work quickly and efficiently.

Since Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer claimed he did not know of Courier, consumers probably will not be seeing this product on the market right away. Gizmodo and CNET say that Courier is projected for a mid-2010 release but still has to undergo further in-depth testing. As of now, Courier probably does not apply to everyone but expect journalists, project managers, designers, e-book readers, and students to make up the bulk of users.

…hell if Ford can turn in profit, why can’t Microsoft design their own gorgeous products?

Gestures: The basic finger gestures are exactly what you would expect. A one-finger tap-and-hold clips content, one-finger flicks scroll vertically and turn pages. Two-finger gestures open and close apps: Up or down opens an app, while a swipe offscreen closes it. Flicking toward the other screen with two fingers slides it across. Pinches come into play, for zooming out from the Journal to the Library. These gestures can and probably will change to some degree, possibly incorporating more fingers. - From Gizmodo.com

Smart Agenda: The sum total of content in the Courier is called the Infinite Journal, but of course there are different ways to view that. "If Pagestream was a novel, Smart Agenda would be your Cliff Notes." That's how the Smart Agenda is described—it summarizes the flowing Pagestream view into an easier-to-manage block of appointments, emails, to-dos, weather and messages from friends. It appears to be the closest thing to a "home screen" found in Courier. - From Gizmodo.com

Journal Overview: Here's a more sprawled out view of the journal, highlighting the ability to create a custom cover and more details about search: Besides time, location, file name and tags, it suggests search also works via handwriting recognition (which would be key to making Courier actually work). - From Gizmodo.com

The Cloud: The "cloud" is mentioned throughout documents about Courier. Here, we see some of what the cloud means for Courier: Collaborators can leave comments on shared portions of your journal that will show up instantly, with a notification appearing in the Smart Agenda. More importantly, you can "access your journal from any web browser" to make changes, suggesting true fluffy cloud connectivity. - From Gizmodo.com

The Browser: Courier's browser looks straightforward, though it uses an index-card metaphor to flip through your history, like a vertical version of Cover Flow. What makes it special is the power to easily clip content, like photos, to keep it in your journal. - From Gizmodo.com

Clip, Tuck, Paste: Perhaps the most interesting interface element of Courier—aside from the pen—is clip, tuck and paste. A lot is made of the ability to clip virtually any content, which is "tucked" into the spine to move it from one page or section of Courier to another. - From Gizmodo.com

Infinite Journal: The Infinite Journal, as we mentioned, is the heart of Courier. It's an endless notebook for writing, drawing, storing content like a scrapbook and sharing notes with other people. It's paginated, and every item is tagged with a timestamp and geotag. You can also tag pages, for easy searching. - From Gizmodo.com

The Pen: The Courier pen is not a dumb stylus: There are two buttons, an eraser, and a twisting mechanism to switch to a different drawing mode. The top button is an undo button, so you won't have to flip it to erase something every time you screw up. - From Gizmodo.com

The Library: The Library is the Courier's main file browser. It is where everything is organized and cataloged, from journals, photos and applications to "books and subscriptions," suggesting that Microsoft is looking at Courier as a reading device as well. - From Gizmodo.com

Gizmodo’s Courier Coverage

CNET’s Courier Coverage

Credits to Gizmodo.com for the pictures, story, and descriptions in the pictures!

Did you buy Vista?

Did you then buy 7 to replace Vista because it wasn’t fit for purpose?

well-done! Now start saving for Windows 8! Microsoft is allegedly looking for a Senior Program Manager for Windows 8 (amongst other roles).

Remember what Microsoft was telling you about Vista when it wanted you to buy it?  Well, forget all that because now it wants you to buy 7, its forget Vista and buy 7, “come on in the waters lovely”…I am sure when 8 is released there will be a plethora of issues and reasons why 8 is a must purchase.

How much longer will users put up with this?  Vista was around for approximately 3 or so years and despite complaints about it, Microsoft appeared not to recognise any issues.   Bloomberg is reporting:

Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer says the company got the wrong impression from early positive feedback on Vista and won’t make the same mistake with the software’s successor, Windows 7.

Really, Mr Ballmer got the wrong impression did he?  So not one Microsoft employee said “Hang on a minute….this Vista’s a bit of a pig”? Not one employee (or even Mr Ballmer) realized that there were issues with Vista and rested their entire opinion off early positive feedback?  and this is a company which people trust for their software solutions is it?

Of course thats totally at odds with what another Microsoft employee states (Bill Veghte)

The problem for Microsoft wasn’t that products like Vista were bad, It’s that the company wasn’t telling its story well enough

and we covered that on this article: http://openbytes.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/windows-7-beats-harry-potter/

So whats the truth?  Microsoft not telling its story or Microsoft only listening to early positive feedback?  It would suggest from Mr Ballmer’s alleged statement that once Vista hit the shelves he never used it and was blissfully unaware of the problems users were having happy in the knowledge that the early feedback was good.

I think its time that users looked very carefully at what their computing requirements are and if they need to continue this cycle of silly stories and failing OS’s.  Windows 7 may be what Vista should have been but then thats hardly comfort to the users that paid for Vista and until now have never seen Mr Ballmer make statements like the above.    Ive always said to type “Microsoft blames” into Google as you will see it never appears to be Microsoft’s fault.

WINDOWS 7 IS GREAT – NO PROBLEMS HERE!

Those users who were on the Net when Vista was released will remember the praise and great comments that were showered on it.  Even late last year the MS faithful were still saying that Vista was great and in fact one of its IMO biggest champions (Andre Da Costa) was making comments like “Vista is loved”.  That is until recently (maybe because Microsoft wants you to buy 7), where Andre made the following statement:

…its a shame Michael Jackson didn’t live to see Windows 7

I wonder how long it will take 7 to be dismissed by the faithful?.  Moving on from Mr Da Costa and his sympathy for the Jackson family:

We’ve covered the different campaigns used by proprietary companies to promote their wares.  It must be a frightening time for them right now  since there is so much choice (and much of it FOSS) for the end user.

Let me introduce you to http://twitter.com/alie4251 or allegedly Michael McLeod (yep I’m buying that) who wants to tell you about Windows 7:

just listening to music and haveing a wonderfull life with windows 7 i have been running windows 7 for almost a year and NOT ONE CRASH

Bless, thats really good news, but what is the point if they have no followers?  Well, the suspicious minded person could think that a tweet like this would be picked up by a RT bot and posted around Twitter, great little advertising shot and if you don’t followup on the user posting it then to all intents and purposes it is an ordinary Twitter user who is happy with Windows 7.

Of course I couldn’t resist replying to that comment and so posting them the following:

LOL….Im sure…New Twitter user are you? Are you associated with Microsoft either contractually or directly?

To which I have received no reply.  Maybe this Twitter user only posts Mon-Fri 9-5? since at time of posting this they have made no other comments.

Of course that comment in itself says nothing, but what intrigued me further was the “testimonial” claim the user highlights when they say:

What People Are Saying About Windows 7: http://bit.ly/wMkLl via @addthis

and its not what “people” are saying about Windows 7, rather one user with only 15 followers.  Hardly a definitive testimonial is it?

This is but one example of what I believe to be dubious activity on Twitter.  Regular readers may remember when I exposed the Optionetics poster who was promoting Microsoft stock and alerted the real company Optionetics to the fact their name was being used.

It really is worth keeping an eye on any Twitter user who praises proprietary software, in many cases they are not all they seem.    In the meantime if you want to learn more about whats crashing Windows 7, Microsoft have a Twitter account called Microsofthelps where you can see the Windows 7 problems as they come in thick and fast:

Error 0×80070017 while unpakaging windows7-32bit downloaded from student offer webpage…please help me. I´m just frustrated, been trying this 3 days.

In this case it seems this user is not having such a good time as our friend mentioned in this article.  I am sending a message to Alie4251 informing them of this article.  Maybe they will respond….maybe we’ll have to wait until they return to work?

I have many more case-files which highlight what I consider dubious activities in favor of proprietary wares on the net.   I decided to run with this one first as its the simplest, however as you will see in future (more complex) examples, a proprietary shill can be a slippery customer.

Of course alie4251 has a right of reply.  If I receive one it will be printed here and I hope you look at the example here and draw your own conclusions.

Goblin – bytes4free@googlemail.com

The real funny part was with Ballmer and the kid xD.

Loving all the new touch screen products and the tablet PC.

Great article!  Good points raised here.  This is a good site for interesting articles.  Click here to read more.

He is always fun to watch.  Click here to see him work his charm.

Microsoft SharePoint Conference 2009.

Microsoft Makes Bevy of SharePoint 2010 Announcements at Conference — Visual Studio Magazine.

Day 1 of the SharePoint Conference 2009 Event — Visual Studio Magazine.

Day 2 of the SharePoint Conference 2009 has just about come and gone, and I’ve shifted my focus from yesterday’s pure developer angle to topics of data and business intelligence. And there has been a lot to see. I’m sitting in the last session of the day, attending the “Business Intelligence Power Hour” and began the day with an in-depth look at SharePoint’s Business Connectivity Services (BCS, formerly known as the Business Data Catalog, or BDC).

Andrew Brust’s Day 2 SharePoint Conference Report: Data and Business Intelligence — Visual Studio Magazine.

SharePoint Conference 2009 Opening Video

As SharePoint 2010 takes the platform, it’s predicting to be void of the implementation hurdles of 2007 and pending beta rollout results, could become the new Microsoft OS platform.

Guy Creese, an analyst with the Burton Group as interviewed in Network World on thebeta rollout of SharePoint 2010….”also said he has felt that SharePoint is becoming like an OS in the sense that it is the foundation for running applications. And that if Microsoft lost ground on the OS front, it could potentially gain that ground back by inserting SharePoint above the OS as a sort of replacement platform for application deployment.”

theRegister is reporting the following for today,

During a recent interview on the future of Project Natal, the motion-control system for Xbox. Ballmer was asked if Microsoft plans to put Blu-ray into the games console.

Although he told website Gizmodo that he doesn’t know if Blu-ray needs to be integrated into the console, Ballmer added that “you’ll be able to get Blu-ray drives as accessories”.

During the format wars between HDDVD and Blu-Ray Ballmer made comments that explicitly stated Microsoft would never back the Blu-Ray format.  This announcement is great news to the plethora of 360 owners out there who would like to watch some amazing Blu-Ray DVDs (Netflix anyone?) such as Planet Earth.

Update:
Apparently there has been further clarification from Microsoft about Ballmers quote and Microsoft has no immediate or near future plans to release a Blu-ray accessory.  Phoey.

Is Steve Ballmer having a celebration drink at the release of Windows 7? Who cares? its the end user thats important and as we saw in the case of Vista its not Microsoft's fault!

It seems coincidental that Windows 7 sales on Amazon are alleged to have beaten that of the book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows AND Steve Ballmer CEO has, in my opinion, more than a passing resemblance to Voldemort from the Harry Potter films.

Putting that aside is it really celebration time at Microsoft or more importantly for its customers?  Keep in mind that Microsoft (Bill Veghte) is reported as saying:

The problem for Microsoft wasn’t that products like Vista were bad, It’s that the company wasn’t telling its story well enough

Of course, silly me! There was me thinking the internet was awash with problems and complaints from its users (myself included) and all the time the only thing wrong was Microsoft wasn’t telling its story well enough…..I don’t know about anyone else but I’m convinced.

Back in the real world…..

Makes you wonder if Microsoft will ever apologise for the Vista fiasco (and maybe also justify the need to upgrade XP to 7)  Sure in comparison to Vista, 7 is a great upgrade, but what then of the people that either wanted to (or indeed want to) go back to XP.  Wheres the upgrade benefits for them?

Whilst IMO the gaming platform on the PC is starting to die (in favor of a console solution) gamers still seem (IMO) to want XP for Windows gaming in order that they get every ounce of CPU power out of their machines.  Don’t think so?  Check the gaming performance stats for XP and 7.

Windows 7 beats Harry Potter?  I would hope so, when you look at how many potential customers there are for an OS compared to a book which will interest only some people, its too right that Windows 7 would beat it.  To suggest that this is some sort of sign of Windows 7 greatness is not only silly but in my opinion dishonest.

Mr Ballmer the face of Microsoft and also allegedly pushing out more copies of Windows 7 than a Harry Potter book....

Still doesn’t answer the question though that why should a Vista user pay again simply to get the software they expected in the first place.  Why does Microsoft seem to continue to refuse to accept any blame for Vista and more importantly why should anyone pay Microsoft again for another upgrade.

The answer of course is bound to come in a wordy, meaningless reply that seeks to confuse more than inform.  Of course thats the remit of the MS faithful and the tactic they have relied on for years IMO.

Microsoft in party mode at the moment?  Doesn’t really matter, I tend to think the functionality of software is more important than any glitz that a company wants to dress its recent release up in.  Maybe thats where Vista went wrong?

Start saving now, the road to Windows 8 and more purchases starts today.

Goblin – bytes4free@googlemail.com

Is there a similarity between Lord Voldemort and Ballmer, I'll let you decide as Microsoft basks in its alleged news of pushing more copies of 7 than Deathly Hallows...