tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post117176985416010581..comments2024-03-18T12:52:48.117-07:00Comments on Mini-Microsoft: Stop Him Before He Speaks Again!Who da'Punkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18205453956191063442noreply@blogger.comBlogger121125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-8766256052379531592007-03-22T13:24:00.000-07:002007-03-22T13:24:00.000-07:00Working in a great group means exactly the opposit...Working in a great group means exactly the opposite of what Valentine preached (company first, me last - someone cue up "Brian's Song" so I can hear Billy Dee Williams say"God, team, self or whatever it was again as I imagine Valentine making another spoof video along those lines. He was really good at making those videos. Not so good at releasing operating systems on time, but a natural ham, and God, did I love his last second jabs at Those Who Told Him it Was Okay if He Wanted to Go Look for Another Job, Umm, Outside Microsoft We Mean in the email he sent out before he left). Great groups have people in them that share two things: they like what they do, and most everyone does something that actually maps to a career as opposed to a job. <BR/><BR/>So what is the difference between a career and a job? It's like when you go to college. You can either be a doctor, lawyer, engineer, scientist, computer programmer (developer/tester), accountant, or a teacher and go right into a career out of college. The rest of us? Go ahead - party your brains out. Sleep in. Sacrifice valuable study time by showering. Join the greek system. Major in whatever you want because if you have any social skills you're either going to be in sales (insurance, mortgages, real estate, cars, whatever) or you will get a "job" when you get out, meaning you work for someone else and learn as you go. Developer? Tester? Careers. Pointy Headed Boss Guy in Dilbert Cartoons? Career. Admin? Dead end, but career. The other 47,891 employees at Microsoft? They have what is endearingly referred to as a "job". Big long title you hear when you ask someone what they do? Dead giveaway for a job. Business Manager? Job. Any program management title? Sorry, job. (I would know - 13 years in program management at Microsoft). Support Professional? They tell you it's a career, but it's really a job. Everyone who does it wants to move to a product group. Now there's always exceptions and I fully expect the flamethrowers to be turned on full, especially from program managers, the poor bottomfeeders in the respect ecosystem of product development but think about it. Most of us just have jobs.<BR/><BR/>How do you know if you're in a career or a job? I recall a link someone sent me but can't remember it that nailed it pretty good for a career: 1) you can name people who are nationally known as being good at what you do 2) There is more than one level of training you can take 3) you can do exactly the same thing at another company with no ramp up 4) you'd probably get paid more for doing that exact same thing at another company 5) they don't ask those stupid manhole cover interview questions because they don't know what it is that you did in your last "job".<BR/><BR/>If you have a career, you should know what you have to do at MS to get ahead. If you can't get ahead, leave. It should be easy and you'll get paid more. <BR/><BR/>If you are in a job at Microsoft, you have to more closely follow the rules I wrote up in the FAQ a while ago (Mini - you'll have to find the link). <BR/><BR/>Your Friends' Smarter Older BrotherAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1172832565909708632007-03-02T02:49:00.000-08:002007-03-02T02:49:00.000-08:00About Ballmer - just a thought. About four years ...About Ballmer - just a thought. About four years ago, the CEO of a failing company calling itself The SCO Group, declared that Linux contained all sorts of sacred Unix IP, which incidentally they owned - or claimed to own. They were just a little short on the proof side of things.<BR/><BR/>Now you see Ballmer making claims about Linux containing Microsoft IP, and he seems to have forgotten that those claims need to be backed up by something called proof.<BR/><BR/>Is it any wonder that people - not just 'Softies - are less than enthralled at Ballmer's performance? To the degree that it merits the word "performance"?<BR/><BR/>The SCO Group started its stupid and expensive lawsuits against IBM and Novell because it knew it was failing. Ballmer has started making the same sorts of unproven claims - is it any wonder that non-'Softies are wondering if Microsoft has a future?<BR/><BR/>Well, do we?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1172769490601153882007-03-01T09:18:00.000-08:002007-03-01T09:18:00.000-08:00"We want old, proven and reliable."Indeed. Old, pr..."We want old, proven and reliable."<BR/><BR/>Indeed. Old, proven and reliable is good.<BR/><BR/>Old, proven, reliable and lower overhead is better.<BR/><BR/>Old, proven, reliable, lower overhead, and <B>paid-up</B> is a tough act to follow.<BR/><BR/>Until a proven, reliable, cost-effective solution to a critical customer problem (not the same as a Microsoft objective) is offered, there is no compelling reason to change anytime soon, especially when quality 3rd-party solutions are available for that same old, proven, reliable, lower overhead, and paid-up W2K platform. <BR/><BR/>The number of these will likely increase as the prospects for new Vista-based sales dwindle.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1172734081999444882007-02-28T23:28:00.000-08:002007-02-28T23:28:00.000-08:00Chiming in with the last few posts - I work in a g...Chiming in with the last few posts - I work in a global company that sits in the top handful of the Fortune list. We've got hundreds of thousands of computers across the planet. What's on my desktop? Win2K, Office 2000 and I use SQL Server 2000 for my work. <BR/><BR/>I thought we'd move to XP a few years back, but there's been no sign of it in my division. Many servers are either going to (or already are) LAMP technology.<BR/><BR/>We're risk-averse in IT. We don't want anything new and sexy. We want old, proven and reliable. The fact that the IT heads don't even consider WinXP SP2 worth moving to bodes poorly for Vista here.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1172524639447807482007-02-26T13:17:00.000-08:002007-02-26T13:17:00.000-08:00And if you willfully ignore the fact that "Memos [...<I>And if you willfully ignore the fact that "Memos [..] cautioning drones [...] to leave new operating systems alone" really means "this isn't the first time Microsoft created this problem."</I><BR/><BR/>Bingo. We're a large division of a Fortune Single Digit Company :-). 50,000+ desktops, 2,000+ Windows servers, worldwide. Until mid-2006, the standard OS was Windows 2000. Not because we're not smart enough for XP, but because 2000 mostly worked, and the flaws and flaky parts were well understood. It wasn't until XP SP2 we had the same level of comfort.<BR/><BR/>For us, the warnings on Vista started with the first public betas - to the extent that developers were forbidden to install and test against it.<BR/><BR/>Microsoft needs to face the reality of a beeno world - as in "There will be no .Net 2.0 on any company owned computer, especially servers.", and "There will be no Office 2007 on any company owned computer". Both are actual pronouncements from our chief technology office. Products you consider old news are our sweet spot. They're mostly debugged, mostly understood, and supported for years after the latest and greatest is released. There are nice shiny bits in the new releases (Vista, Office2007), but nothing compelling unless you're already locked into the MS vision.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1172514891373096392007-02-26T10:34:00.000-08:002007-02-26T10:34:00.000-08:00Sure, if you don't distinguish between levels of a...<I>Sure, if you don't distinguish between levels of alarm or degree of rhetoric.</I><BR/><BR/>BS. First: I don't work at Microsoft. I use tools in my job that can barely withstand upgrading to IE7 let alone upgrading to Vista. Whose fault is it? Undoubtedly (in my case) the writers of the aforementioned tools. They hook into all sorts of crazy shit and changing <I>anything</I> breaks something in the not-terribly-well-thought-out tool architecture. My VPN client is also a piece of junk.<BR/><BR/>It is not surprising when major revisions of Windows have IT support warning everyone to stand back. I've also worked in IT, and "drones" is far too polite to describe the mentality that prevails there. "Actively avoiding work and refusing to help anyone" is the attitude 70% of the time. Why do you think IT's popularity is right down there with HR? They are the ones with contempt for the user and it shows.<BR/><BR/>The company in question likely has done nothing to look at how their VPN setup works with Vista until now, and it's easier to just say "it don't work" and wait until one of the IT drones decides the time is right to actually see how to make it work.<BR/><BR/>And it's laughable to twist the wording of that memo around to mean "they don't even want you to run it at home!!!!!!1" when it's clearly a reference to VPN compatibility. I mean you're fooling no one.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1172456448932763432007-02-25T18:20:00.000-08:002007-02-25T18:20:00.000-08:00"Memos from CIOs cautioning drones at the company ...<I>"Memos from CIOs cautioning drones at the company to leave new operating systems alone aren't new for Vista. They have been going out for decades every time a new piece of technology is released."</I><BR/><BR/>Sure, if you don't distinguish between levels of alarm or degree of rhetoric.<BR/><BR/>And if you willfully ignore the fact that "Memos [..] cautioning drones [...] to leave new operating systems alone" really means "this isn't the first time Microsoft created this problem."<BR/><BR/>Plus bonus points for "drones." Contempt for customers and their problems always helps.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1172440400683427852007-02-25T13:53:00.000-08:002007-02-25T13:53:00.000-08:00"Memos from CIOs cautioning drones at the company ...<I>"Memos from CIOs cautioning drones at the company to leave new operating systems alone aren't new for Vista. They have been going out for decades every time a new piece of technology is released."</I><BR/><BR/>Yes but this is a Fortune 50 company and...it's saying "don't install it at home" and that it's "no where near prime time".<BR/><BR/>Powerful stuff and not your plain vanilla warning, IMHO.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1172429733821493672007-02-25T10:55:00.000-08:002007-02-25T10:55:00.000-08:00Microsoft says the products will do these things b...<I>Microsoft says the products will do these things but they don’t.</I><BR/><BR/>Unlike all other software which works flawlessly in all cases.<BR/><BR/>This doesn't even rise to the level of a troll. It's just some dumb kid bitching. More power to the filter, Scotty!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1172427146604440892007-02-25T10:12:00.000-08:002007-02-25T10:12:00.000-08:00Seriously, what is the best thing that could happe...Seriously, what is the best thing that could happen to Microsoft right now?<BR/><BR/>1. Balmer is canned if he will not leave voluntarily.<BR/><BR/>2. Gates and the Board of Directors find a new CEO, which means that Gates will have to retract the statements he put forth when he announced his retirement about Ballmer being the best person for the job.<BR/><BR/>3. The new CEO shakes things up by cutting the number of partners eligible for SPSA payouts by 50%. Also, the SPSA payouts should be tied strictly to financial results and stock performance, and not fuzzy measures such as Customer Satisfaction.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1172426398236956052007-02-25T09:59:00.000-08:002007-02-25T09:59:00.000-08:00It has really gotten so bad with Microsoft product...It has really gotten so bad with Microsoft products that I believe a legal case can be made that we are not talking about bugs or feature deficits that are incidental to normal computer software development but we are talking about fraud. <BR/><BR/>There are so many critical bugs that keep the products from working as advertised and expected that a case for fraud can be made. When the SQL Server Management Studio won’t perform a database backup due to a programming error or when Visual Studio 2005 looses track of project statuses within a solution and won’t build the solution, these are cases of fraud. Microsoft says the products will do these things but they don’t.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1172384682534771672007-02-24T22:24:00.000-08:002007-02-24T22:24:00.000-08:00MYR time and the review process has become indicat...MYR time and the review process has become indicative of the cancer spreading throughout Microsoft. For example, //careercompass - I tried for three hours to fill out the CC, but started to realize that the review and career planning process has remained a political circus. My MYR is coming up next week and already I've caught wind of "you've done great, but... you don't follow through 100% on the details...". Well, yeah I do great where I can, but I'm randomized trying to satisfy three layers of mgt that all contradict each other and whose lines of communication can be described as "reactive" at best. Well, five years at MS has been an experience but I'm leaving next month to a start-up and can't wait to grow a business unhindered, try out new ideas without having to complete three rounds of reviews and spend time increasing revenue without the fear of someone else taking all the credit. Oh! and my new salary will be $132,000 + bonus + 401k match + m/d/v health - makes it an even easier decision [I am L63 at MS]. MS: I wanted to believe, but I lost faith in the leadership and the uncontrollable mgt thru FUD.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1172383294919047122007-02-24T22:01:00.000-08:002007-02-24T22:01:00.000-08:00Memos from CIOs cautioning drones at the company t...Memos from CIOs cautioning drones at the company to leave new operating systems alone aren't new for Vista. They have been going out for decades every time a new piece of technology is released. Not saying anything about the actual quality of Vista, but a memo saying "Don't touch it, it's evil (until we get a chance to make sure we can enforce our corporate will)" at ANY reasonably sized company isn't news. <BR/><BR/>Hell, if you know where to look or who to talk to, you can find the same kinds of memos at Microsoft, especially statements from IT about beta support.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1172373130601945102007-02-24T19:12:00.000-08:002007-02-24T19:12:00.000-08:00My point is this: The remaining 750 million of us....<I>My point is this: The remaining 750 million of us...well...go surfing!</I><BR/><BR/>It may shock you to learn that a sizeable percentage of the population doesn't use the computer a great deal after they leave the office (if they even work in an office). There are these things called bars, and restaurants, and movie theaters, and libraries, and parks...<BR/><BR/>Yes, it's quite weird. Because everyone you know is online.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1172370240829137382007-02-24T18:24:00.000-08:002007-02-24T18:24:00.000-08:00In that regard Steve Ballmer is a thousand times b...<I>In that regard Steve Ballmer is a thousand times better CEO than so many other CEO's out there.<BR/></I><BR/><BR/>Name a currently active CEO that Ballmer is better than, and how. Don't hurt yourself. Its a short list.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1172368978784956982007-02-24T18:02:00.000-08:002007-02-24T18:02:00.000-08:00here is a memo from our CIO [...]Wow.That pretty m...<I>here is a memo from our CIO</I> [...]<BR/><BR/>Wow.<BR/><BR/>That pretty much says it all, doesn't it? Unless that memo represents some demographic extreme at the far end of some Fortune 50 bell curve (in which case I am incorrect and the launch truly has been, as Mr. Gates recently insisted, "incredible"), this is a pretty typical corporate measure: Strongly warn each of your employees not to use Vista <I>even on home machines</I> or they will incur severe and immediate corporate penalties above and beyond the technical and logistical penalties they are warned to avoid on their own demerits.<BR/><BR/>Way to go, Bill and Steve! Truly stunning.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1172335048949920812007-02-24T08:37:00.000-08:002007-02-24T08:37:00.000-08:00I visited this site to see reaction to Mr. Ballmer...I visited this site to see reaction to Mr. Ballmer's statement re: Vista. It was a responsible statement since the original expectation that corporations would upgrade is tempered with the reality of the steep price and compatibility companies would have to consider. I am at a Fortune 50 company and here is a memo from our CIO re: Vista, a few weeks ago: Company name deleted.<BR/><BR/>"Recently Microsoft released Vista, a new version of its new PC operating system. Media reports and technology reviews indicate that Vista has many enhanced features and offers an improved user experience. <BR/><BR/>For these reasons and more, I completely understand that the early adopters among you are tempted to buy the new software and install it promptly. But before you do, please understand our position on Vista: <BR/>• If you install Vista on your home computer and use that computer for remote access to our network, due to incompatibilities, you will jeopardize your access. <BR/>• The corporate standard for PCs and servers will continue to be Windows XP, Service Pack 2 version until further notice. Microsoft has committed to supporting this platform until 2009, and it fits with many of our applications and systems. <BR/>• We are testing Vista thoroughly, but it is in no way ready for prime time. Please ensure that your employees understand that Vista may not be installed on any company computer. Information Security can’t ensure protection at the desktop level yet because our applications ˜ as well as many other of our applications ˜ don’t work properly with this new operating system. <BR/>We have a position paper that gives more detail. You can review it here: ________<BR/><BR/>Thank you for your cooperation. <BR/><BR/><BR/>Lorem Ipsum<BR/>Chief Information Officer<BR/>AAAAAAA Corporation"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1172333652922181532007-02-24T08:14:00.000-08:002007-02-24T08:14:00.000-08:00"You know what the problem with being online is? Y...<I>"You know what the problem with being online is? You keep running into people like this who think the world revolves around being online. Not everyone lives in your tiny niche of the ecosystem. You are like someone standing in a rainforest and wondering what in the world people use snowblowers for. I personally laugh a little every time I see "Web 2.0" touted as anything more than an excuse for web developers to bill more hours. The amount of Web 2.0 crap that is *less* usable than what it replaced is staggering. Starting with Live.com..."</I><BR/><BR/>I thought you were a shill at first but, then you bashed Live.com.<BR/><BR/>Of the 850 million installed windows computers out there in the world, how many do you think are primarily used to use all the robust features of Office - write a book, create formula-driven spreadsheets, manage a huge, mega-evented project, create a mega relational database? I'd guess no more than 10% and probably a lot less.<BR/><BR/>My point is this: The remaining 750 million of us...well...go surfing! I'm doin' it now. I only use MS Word to write longer blogs and Google's spell check is even making that a non-player.<BR/><BR/>So, what we want is a quick and dirty boot up to a browser. This is becoming more and more clear.<BR/><BR/>It is paramount that Microsoft develop a hybrid Office, skipping the online piece altogether until it can be combined with the desktop piece. Online folks should then pay a modest micropayment to use -- download -- the robust features for a day or two. Businesses should be given the chance to use legacy a cheaper subscription model or both.<BR/><BR/>It's a very natural transition and makes use of the two strengths - Office desktop and Ozzie Cloud.Go Pointershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11707622762943814051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1172305591307843652007-02-24T00:26:00.000-08:002007-02-24T00:26:00.000-08:00Now, the real guy to blame here for the whole Long...<I>Now, the real guy to blame here for the whole Longhorn fiasco is Bill Gates. HE was the most senior technical guy responsible for it. Ballmer, being mostly a business type person, probably just listened to Gates most of the time. Gates is the one to blame for what Vista became today.</I><BR/><BR/>An informed comment. Whether it was a trip down the primrose path of tabletPC, voice recognition or (name other bill-as-chief-architect technology), billg was about as far away from being a software architect as you can be and still claim the title. Just as Wozniak came out and claimed that he, and not Jobs, did most of the technical deep-thinking, so too should Paul Allen stake his claim. As a businessman, bill gates was a terror, no denying that. I have no evidence that he ever created anything, unless you call the miasmic Internet product strategy and Vista a creation. I know when others questioned Bill's insight he turned them over to Eric Rudder to deep-think on the topic. LOL.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1172299204646811992007-02-23T22:40:00.000-08:002007-02-23T22:40:00.000-08:00RE: Web 2.0 thread. FYI, isn't that the whole idea...RE: Web 2.0 thread. FYI, isn't that the whole idea behind Google Office? (And I'm sure there's a group of people that never thought the mouse would be useful either.) Picture, if you will, a cloud of services that inter operate and keep track of your digital artifacts for you. Bandwidth is becoming pervasive...and connected is the only way to go. (Quick plug for personal favorite Web 2.0: http://picnik.com )Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1172283631540430032007-02-23T18:20:00.000-08:002007-02-23T18:20:00.000-08:00I hear comments that a lot of options are expiring...I hear comments that a lot of options are expiring this year. Are they just barely under water? They are not worthless: time value on strike-30 expiring in August is still over a dollar.<BR/><BR/>But they are getting cheaper every week.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1172270943151513862007-02-23T14:49:00.000-08:002007-02-23T14:49:00.000-08:00Guys, I want to point something out about IBM at ...Guys, I want to point something out about IBM at the height of their industry dominance: Yes, they had a lot of bureaucratic process, but it had a PURPOSE, and that purpose was QUALITY. An unscheduled restart of a 370 warranted a service call from the factory. <BR/><BR/>They let other companies blaze the trails, but when you bought something from IBM you could count on consistent behavior from your IT systems for decades. Sometimes, that really is what you need.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1172259564091769432007-02-23T11:39:00.000-08:002007-02-23T11:39:00.000-08:00Typical Web 2.0 nonsense. The web/browser is very ...Typical Web 2.0 nonsense. The web/browser is very nice for many things but there are also many things that will never shift over. Word processors, spreadsheets, and graphics packages written in JavaScript will never be more than a novelty. And what about playing music, or video games? What about organizing and editing all of your photos, or video? The list goes on and on and on.<BR/><BR/>Dude, this is hilarious. Be careful of your use of "never"... of course there are base functions that the OS is good for and will be, but the point is that the world has passed MSFT mentality over that it all circles around the OS... it doesn't... all of the functions you mention above have corresponding web properties that are doing just fine thank you and growing... and yep, thanks to those OEM contracts 69,000 of the MSFT FTE's could get RIF'd tomorrow and the last 1000 folks left could manage those contracts nicely as a 20-30Billion company for the coming years.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1172253763762847152007-02-23T10:02:00.000-08:002007-02-23T10:02:00.000-08:00"Then Steve opens his mouth. Within a day or so of...<I>"Then Steve opens his mouth. Within a day or so of the love in with Novell he announces it is really so they can sue the pants off everybody else! Not only is that embarrassing to Novell but it does wonders for others thinking about being partners."</I><BR/><BR/>Denial Check: Partners become partners for ONE SINGLE REASON - Money. Why else would good people enter into bad agreements with bad people? Think about it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1172252545908242392007-02-23T09:42:00.000-08:002007-02-23T09:42:00.000-08:00folks have a button that turns the machine on, and...<I>folks have a button that turns the machine on, and gets you to the real platform - the Browser, so that people can start using the applications that they use everyday - SF.com, Google, Ebay, flickr, Myspace, Blogs, Yahoo, Hotmail and custom hosted solutions</I><BR/><BR/>You know what the problem with being online is? You keep running into people like this who think the world revolves around being online. Not everyone lives in your tiny niche of the ecosystem. You are like someone standing in a rainforest and wondering what in the world people use snowblowers for. I personally laugh a little every time I see "Web 2.0" touted as anything more than an excuse for web developers to bill more hours. The amount of Web 2.0 crap that is *less* usable than what it replaced is staggering. Starting with Live.com...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com