Currently browsing Posts Tagged “business”

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Windows XP Given Reprieve Through 2020

Posted by Scott Jarkoff in Shorts

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Microsoft has caved in to the loud demands of their customers and announced Windows XP will be sticking around on the operating system scene for another ten years. Yes – ten more years with XP. Its default Playskool-like blue interface will continue to irritate more people than those who admit to enjoying the godawful GUI through 2020.

Prior to shipping Windows 7, we communicated that end-user downgrade rights provided in the software license terms of Windows 7 Professional or Windows 7 Ultimate editions preinstalled on a new PC would allow a customer to downgrade to either Windows XP Professional or similar Windows Vista versions for 18 months, or until the availability of SP1, whichever came sooner. Generally, PC manufacturers are in the process of ramping down Windows XP downgrade facilitation options that some offer today. As background, an OEM’s ability to generally offer downgrade facilitation options (e.g., preinstalling Windows XP Professional on a new PC that includes end-user rights for Windows 7 Professional) ends on October 22, 2010.

This is good news, especially if you have no compelling reason to upgrade from XP to Windows 7. A lot of folks, myself included, continue to run XP and actually prefer the operating system over Microsoft’s newer endeavors. Although many rave about Windows 7, there really is no reason to upgrade if all you do is use XP as vehicle for launching a web browser to reach the internets.

My main workstation is a MacBook Pro, however I continue to run an older HP desktop as a backup. It runs XP quite smoothly and is rarely used. Why would someone in a similar situation consider purchasing Windows 7 when Microsoft is committed to continually supporting XP through 2020?

The Odds Are Increasing That Microsoft’s Business Will Collapse

Posted by Scott Jarkoff in Shorts

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Henry Blodget of Business Insider on the problems Microsoft is currently facing, potentially leading to their collapse:

The world has changed radically in the past few years. The Internet has continued to free app-makers from dependency on Windows or any other desktop platform (and, thus, from dependency on Microsoft). Apple’s iPhone has revolutionized the mobile business, unleashing a whole new wave of personal computing devices. Apple’s iPad seems on its way to supplanting the low-end PC business

Importantly, none of these trends depend in any way on Microsoft’s original monopoly and cash cow, Windows. None of these trends generate so much as a dollar of revenue or profit for Microsoft. (Microsoft is nowhere in mobile.  Or tablets. And it is reasonable to think that, in these two huge growth businesses, nowhere is where Microsoft will always be).

Google and Apple are revolutionizing the computing industry, taking away our reliance on Microsoft as the gatekeeper to the PC. The internet has allowed both of these companies to prosper, causing a transformation right before our very eyes. Microsoft, largely monolithic and nowhere near as nimble as their competition, has been unable to adapt to changing times and may suffer the ultimate consequences – irrelevance.

It was a good run Microsoft. Time for watch turnover – the changing of the guard if you will – to a company better equipped to handle the future of personal computing.

No Big Surprise: iPad is a Huge Hit in Japan

Posted by Scott Jarkoff in Shorts

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According to Serkan Toto of CrunchGear, Apple took a huge bite out of the notebook market in Japan in May, mostly thanks to the iPad:

The iPhone turned out to be a mega-hit in Japan’s competitive cell phone market, and the iPad is poised to replicate this success. Tokyo-based market research firm BCN [JP] today said Apple’s share of the domestic notebook market more than tripled in May (on a month-to-month basis) to reach 11.5% – thanks to the iPad.

The firm, which collected POS data from 2,364 Japanese electronics retailers, says Apple’s share in that segment stood at just 3.5% in April. But the iPad (launched in Japan on May 28), helped Apple to eclipse Sony, which – at 9.3% – fell down to No. 5 in the notebook sales ranking (at least for the time being).

The Japanese have not found the means to innovate in the notebook market, largely copying the success of other computer manufacturers. This might seem odd to many folks outside of Japan. However, from the perspective of someone having lived in Japan for almost twenty years now, I find it not at all surprising to see Japan unable to revolutionize the computing industry like they did consumer electronics in the 80′s and 90′s.

Bottom line about computing in Japan: the Japanese like small, portable gadgets since they are always on the go, whether on foot, bike, bus or train – public transportation is the single-most popular means of daily transportation to/from work. The industry has mostly focused on adding hordes of useless functionality to their keitai (mobile phones) rather than creating revolutionary devices like the iPod, iPhone and iPad.

Until the Japanese electronics industry can figure out how to do what Apple is doing, possibly using Android as the foundation for such devices, I believe the companies will continue to flounder.

Google Ditching Windows for Mac OS X and Linux

Posted by Scott Jarkoff in Shorts

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David Gelles and Richard Waters in the Financial Times on an article titled, “Google ditches Windows on security concerns” wrote the following:

The directive to move to other operating systems began in earnest in January, after Google’s Chinese operations were hacked, and could effectively end the use of Windows at Google, which employs more than 10,000 workers internationally.

“We’re not doing any more Windows. It is a security effort,” said one Google employee.

“Many people have been moved away from [Windows] PCs, mostly towards Mac OS, following the China hacking attacks,” said another.

New hires are now given the option of using Apple’s Mac computers or PCs running the Linux operating system. “Linux is open source and we feel good about it,” said one employee. “Microsoft we don’t feel so good about.”

Other than DoD and the financial industry, moves of this nature seem to be gaining momentum. Although Windows 7 is a far better product than Windows Vista, the newer operating system does not appear to offer any truly compelling reason to stick with the Windows platform.

That, in and of itself, is the biggest problem Microsoft faces today – increasingly shrinking relevance due to a terrible security track record and a lack of innovation. Can anyone say the same about Linux and Mac OS X?

Skype Delays iPhone 3G VoIP Charges

Posted by Scott Jarkoff in Shorts

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According to Mel Martin of TUAW:

According to the fine print on the Skype iPhone app, free Skype to Skype calls will last all the way until the end of 2010. Yesterday, the date was given as the end of August, but it looks like we’ve all gotten an extension on Skype-to-Skype calling over 3G.

It would appear the outcrying from users has worked to some extent, insofar as the institution of charging has been delayed by about six months. No explanation was offered, but it is not unreasonable to assume this was in response to the many complaints.

I still have to question the need for instituting charges for Skype-to-Skype calls via the 3G network. While Skype does need to make money, every other Skype-to-Skype call is free. Why penalize iPhone users unless the idea is to capitalize on the perception that iPhone users have no problem spending cash?

Apple Sells 2 Million iPad’s in a Mere 60 Days

Posted by Scott Jarkoff in Shorts

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Apple just issued a press release stating they have sold over 2 million iPad’s in a mere sixty days:

Apple today announced that iPad sales have topped two million in less than 60 days since its launch on April 3. Apple began shipping iPad in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK this past weekend. iPad will be available in nine more countries in July and additional countries later this year.

“Customers around the world are experiencing the magic of iPad, and seem to be loving it as much as we do,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We appreciate their patience, and are working hard to build enough iPads for everyone.”

It would be hard to argue against the iPad being a hit. The devices are selling like hotcakes, often times sold out in most retail outlets.

While encumbered with certain limitations of iPhone OS 3.0, iPad sales continue to climb. Expect the upcoming iPhone OS 4.0 update to help propel iPad sales in to the stratosphere. That is assuming they are not there already.

AOL CEO, Tim Armstrong – Ripping Doors Out And Breaking Down The Walls

Posted by Rich Chuckrey in Articles

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aol-techmiso.jpgThe term was ‘nesting’. In response to a planned move of office furniture to facilitate better staff communication, one staffer complained, ‘I’ll have nowhere to nest.’

Rachel Metz, AP Technology Writer, reports that at AOL’s New York headquarters, executive nesting is over. Tim Armstrong, AOL’s newly installed CEO, dropped the hammer on a legacy floor-plan that may well have been rooted in AOL’s days of old as a dial-up ISP.

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Microsoft Drops 3-App Limit, Publishes Strict Windows 7 Netbook Limits

Posted by Scott Jarkoff in Articles

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Windows 7 LogoIf perpetual Windows apologist Paul Thurrott’s sources are reliable, and there is no reason to doubt the ultimate Microsoft supporter, it appears the company has finally done something right by opting to drop the much-despised 3-app limit from Windows 7 Starter Edition. But just when you thought Microsoft was being generous they turn around and cause even more ill will. This time the company has published very restrictive limitations on what types of machines will be allowed to run this stripped-down version of Windows. Why is it so hard for the company to do good without pissing off [potential] customers?

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Windows 7 Starter Edition Blows Chunks, Limits Users to Three Simultaneous Applications

Posted by Scott Jarkoff in Articles

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Windows 7 Starter Edition - Too many programs openIn early February we wrote about Microsoft’s plan to offer Windows 7 in 6 flavors. The least expensive version offered, Windows 7 Starter Edition, is directed towards the netbook market because netbooks are [supposedly] not used for much other than web browsing. That in and of itself is no big deal – what is absolutely as crazy as a bed bug is Microsoft’s peculiar decision-making process: the company has implemented a limit of running three simultaneous applications in Windows 7 Starter Edition!

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Apple Responds to Microsoft Accusation that Macs are Too Cool

Posted by Scott Jarkoff in Articles

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Apple Responds to Microsoft Accusation that Macs are Too CoolMicrosoft recently launched one of their most bizarre advertising campaigns to date, placing Apple squarely in their crosshairs but miserably failing to make a coherent and compelling argument against the hip computer company. Microsoft’s peculiar attempt to paint the Apple Mac lineup as both too expensive and too cool defies logic because it lacks persuasive execution. As if things were not odd enough, Apple has sought fit to respond to the beleaguered campaign with some interesting words.

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