70 Times Better Than the Next Microsoft
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Hiding just next to "the next big thing" are the market's truly monster rewards.
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The long-delayed operating system wonât rock your world, but itâs a big improvement over the current Windows.
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It may be missing a few features, but the OS will be worth the upgrade, Microsoft says.
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Citrix, Calista and Windows lead the hypefensive Microsoft knows rule number one in the software game better than any other company: Never let a missing product get in the way of marketing.â¦
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Microsoft&#39;s newest offspring is called Surface, a tabletop operating system designed to turn an ordinary table into a dynamic surface that facilitates interaction with digital content through natural gestures and touch.
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Strong sales of new and old products alike led Microsoft to its fastest first-quarter growth in seven years, with the company reporting growth in all five business segments and both revenue and earnings per share (EPS) that beat analyst expectations.
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Microsoft has some serious questions to answer....
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Windows 3.0 finally gives Microsoft an operating system that's accessible; Apple smells a rat.
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I'm back, with a very interesting topic too!  Joel Spolsky, ex-Microsoft Manager and software engineering guru has a new essay, How Microsoft Lost the API War that is creating quite a big storm in the blogging communitiy.  Joel posits that the priests in the holy Temple of Microsoft have lost their way, because it has split into two factions, and the wrong faction is winning. One faction worships on the alter of backward compatibility, while the other is led by fervent priests who are proselytizing to raise up the new gods of .NET and Longhorn. Joel suggests that the new gods will cause the destruction of the holy Temple because Microsoft's great victories were built on the altar of keeping customers happy with backward compatibility. Furthermore the old gods of the Windows API continue to grow more grotesque and cruel with the passing of time, driving former worshipers into the arms of the friendlier gods of World Wide Web.  This story sounds extremely plausible. I must admit that i fit the profile of the developer who used to develop on the Window's API, is familiar with COM and Win32 who now develops mostly using PHP and Python. However I continue to develop and maintain Windows apps that keep our customers happy, and we still plan to develop new Windows apps. Some points:  Temple of the Blind? Firstly, Microsoft is still a compelling place to work for to people who feel that they can make a difference. The Temple continues to attract talented people with a Unix background. For example we have the recent hiring of Ward Cunningham, author of the Wiki.  Microsoft is still able to keep talented people like Raymond Chen, and others like him who continue to look after the Windows API, and Longhorn apparently will still give high priority to backward compatibility. Open sourcerers like Miguel Icaza are sufficiently attracted to the .NET vision to stake their careers on Mono. Longhorn and .NET are compelling technologies, so even if Win32 is not so cute anymore, M'soft is providing something that remains very attractive.  What i do see M'soft doing wrong is that they aren't disseminating the .NET runtime fast enough. It remains an optional install in XP Service Pack 2 for example. Also their IE dev team appears to be hog-tied due to political reasons; nevertheless IE remains good enough, particularly when I can embed IE as an activeX control, something I cannot do with Mozilla (AFAIK) - Update: I'm wrong.  Temple of the Spider?  Secondly, people don't merely use a web browser. They run the web browser in the OS.  So let me ask you, if you are using DreamWeaver or HomeSite or Photoshop or vi or emacs or Gimp, how many of you are willing to give it up for a java applet (or whatever your favorite technology is) running in your web-browser? Precisely.  Temple of the Abandoned?  Third, Joel makes the claim that developers are not developing to the Windows API. Well he could be right. But I bet a lot of them are still calling Win32.  If you are using a framework or IDE like Delphi or wxWindows (or .NET or VB) then you certainly are insulated from the Windows API, but that doesn't mean that you're not calling the Windows API all the time. I don't see Borland dropping their Windows version of Delphi at any point in time.   In fact, the fact that many developers are using some form of framework is a compelling argument for Microsoft to enhance the .NET framework to attract developers who are using other frameworks.  Today, not that many students learn x86 assembler, but that doesn't mean that Intel lost the CPU wars. Just because fewer people are learning Win32 doesn't mean Microsoft has lost the API wars, if the frameworks run predominantly on Win32.  Temple of the Lost  Joel even warns you in the beginning that "because I'm talking about big trends, I need to exaggerate and generalize". But you still get sucked in because Joel Spolsky is a first-class writer, in the same order as Philip Greenspun or Eric Raymond. That makes him so persuasive and plausible. But this is not Indiana Jones and doomed temples, but Steve Jobs and reality distortion fields.  Other opinions:  Harry Fuecks (PHP is ASP's upgrade path),  Dennis Hamilton (M'soft is just covering all bases), Robert McLaws (Joel is wrong in 7 points), Oliver Travers (the web is not good enough), One Run-time to Rule them all....
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COMMENTARY -- Jim Allchin has a thing about video. The Windows chief is a brilliant engineer, keeper of Redmond&#39;s crown jewels, and easily the most powerful person at Microsoft after Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer.
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Our reviewer says Microsoft's Internet Information Services is getting better with age, and Version 7 features modular design, easier management and enhanced security.
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Microsoft's leader brings home the gold medal for the 11th year running. Google's founders aren't doing too badly, either.
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Tycho: This thing is pretty huge. I don't mean in terms of kilobytes - I mean it's packed tight with powerful features. Upscaling of content has been in demand, and it's been delivered. Like the 360 Elite, you need to be hooked up via a managed connection (i.e., HDMI) to upscale a DVD. Past that, it will knock up your old PS/PS2 games to 1080p, but the results we've gotten here haven't been supernatural - still appreciated, though.The real flavor is elsewhere: specifically, the ability to stream video, pictures, and music from "a DLNA compliant device," which you'll find just about every computer already is. That's only half of it. The Remote Play option of the PSP (the one that lets you enjoy certain types of content stored on your PS3 via your PSP) is deeply enriched by this capacity. You can do this much already. But with the next update for the Playstation Portable - 3.50, to be released before the end of the month - you'll be able to access your PS3 remotely via any wireless connection. I must say, starting a download at home while I'm still at the office sounds pretty Goddamn good. Also, while we are loving the PSP, am I the only person enthralled by the idea of R-Type Tactics? (CW)TB
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It's ironic that Microsoft could help further cement its dominance in the browser market by joining its largest rival in an effort to support web standards. &nbsp;At the same time, that act would go a long way towards improving the web in general for developers and users alike.
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PC Magazine - The result is Enterprise 2.0, where productivity is increased, solutions are more flexible and the user is empowered.
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DirectX 10 and other enhancements should seriously boost Vista graphics.
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Now that Steve Ballmer and company have given you all the facts you need to compare Windows and Linux, allow me to add just one little tidbit.