tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post6045898251890181365..comments2024-03-18T12:52:48.117-07:00Comments on Mini-Microsoft: Oy, an Extreme Bummer!Who da'Punkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18205453956191063442noreply@blogger.comBlogger140125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-49381787204998187332008-12-02T16:35:00.000-08:002008-12-02T16:35:00.000-08:00As a dev manager for CRM Online, I can confirm tha...As a dev manager for CRM Online, I can confirm that achieving level 63 is quite easy. There is nothing very senior about the "senior" level (seniority really shows at higher levels, such as Principal). Perhaps Expedia does a better job of deciding who is senior (their system is quite similar to ours)?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-21225708597357514862008-10-15T05:44:00.000-07:002008-10-15T05:44:00.000-07:00@Anonymous:"Using Vista means you almost don't nee...@Anonymous:<BR/><BR/>"Using Vista means you <B>almost</B> don't need anti-virus software any more."<BR/><BR/>Two points:<BR/>1) "Almost" only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Whereas horse manure and exploding grenades more aptly capture the typical Vista experience.<BR/><BR/>2) Having said that, antivirus software IS pretty pointless in Vista. There are so many vulnerabilities where <I>no</I> AV can shut the door completely. I'm waiting for a Blaster-style attack that hinges on DRM - the most obvious point where security and local control actively degrade the component's mission. Hook an exploit against DRM up with an adaptive P2P network-propagation scheme (what Storm was supposed to be) and you have every Vista netadmin's Chernobyl. I'd be very surprised if we see 2009 before we see at least one successful variant of this. (If I were keeping score, "successful" would be >40% of installed base). Happy Holidays!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-71434620556595931672008-07-17T02:26:00.000-07:002008-07-17T02:26:00.000-07:00Using Vista means you almost don't need anti-virus...Using Vista means you almost don't need anti-virus software any more.It's enough for me not switching to XP.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-83882983116019584592008-07-16T21:20:00.000-07:002008-07-16T21:20:00.000-07:00>> Buy a new computer with 2gb ram and Vist...>> Buy a new computer with 2gb ram and Vista with sp1 and your experience will be better than XP<BR/><BR/>>Erm... In what way? This is a >serious question <BR/><BR/>Here are the reasons why I personally like Vista over XP.<BR/><BR/>1) Looks. Xp looks ridiculous to me compared to vista.<BR/><BR/>2) The start menu has been greatly improved. "start search" and "all programs" are a big improvement.<BR/><BR/>3) Search on every explorer. Go to Control Panel, search for "Print" and you get "Add a printer" as your first result. I use search on the control panel extensively.<BR/> <BR/>4) Tags for photographs. I have taken over 1000 photos on the last few months and tags are doing great at keeping them organized.<BR/><BR/>5) Improved media center software. So so on this one since it is far from where it needs to be, but the vista experience is better than XP.<BR/><BR/>6) Reliability monitor, this was badly needed and while it has a long way to go just the fact that it is there makes my life easier when looking at somebody elses computers for problems.<BR/><BR/>7) Performance rating, I used this when shopping for a laptop to make sure the video card was at least a 4 rating.<BR/><BR/>Nothing earth shattering I know but to me vista is XP plus the above, don't really understand the people who compare it to ME or those who would rather buy a new top of the line computer with XP. <BR/><BR/>Of course I saw the same comments from 2000 to XP and I am sure that Vista to Windows 7 trollers will use the same script. What amazes me is that this is actually taking hold with otherwise bright people.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-90206705758564894112008-07-14T22:34:00.000-07:002008-07-14T22:34:00.000-07:00RE: Apple -One of the downsides of the dictatorial...RE: Apple -<BR/><BR/>One of the downsides of the dictatorial leadership style at Apple is that I can use my 2nd generation iPhone as a remote for my Apple TV.<BR/><BR/>Users of V8 of windows media center and V12 of windows mobile don't suffer such distractions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-67351341574448398352008-07-14T20:19:00.000-07:002008-07-14T20:19:00.000-07:00Apple lovers forget that their eco-system is tiny ...<I> Apple lovers forget that their eco-system is tiny and development resembles something out of a communist dictatorship.</I><BR/><BR/>You know, that's a really, really good point. Touché. "Guilty as charged."<BR/><BR/>I made two pro-Apple comments above, in this thread (Tuesday, July 08, 2008 2:21:00 PM and Wednesday, July 09, 2008 10:28:00 AM). While I stand by what I wrote in those comments, I nevertheless believe that this critique is correct: as an "Apple lover," I am indeed forgetting the size and limitations of Apple's eco-system and development.<BR/><BR/>The thing is, I guess I see it two ways: as an equitable exchange of criteria, and as an objection that is not consistently applicable or relevant.<BR/><BR/>YES, Apple has a vastly smaller footprint on everything (from a systemic point of view) and Apple boosters such as myself tend to overlook this and overlook its implications. Apple took advantage of its tiny market ten years ago when they threw away their legacy compatibility. (They did it gently, over time, with clever proxy/emulation mechanisms, but they did it.) The result is a small, dictatorial environment where a small number of things happen in a regimented way, done by a small, known group of participants.<BR/><BR/>But look at the bright side of that. It means that certain abstract standards of consistency, performance and interdependence (which would ordinarily be prohibitive, given a much larger installed base and/or an additional decade or more of backwards-compatibility obligations) can be met. It means that, considered independently from market or developer criteria, does the OS meet or rise above standards of consistency, simplicity, reliability, flexibility (again, acknowledging the plusses AND minuses of not having the vast Windows developer world right there) that can't be found elsewhere?<BR/><BR/>I think we Apple boosters do forget the importance of the market proportions etc. when comparing the technology. But, even when reminded of it, I believe the basic argument stands: the stuff is limited, and for a small market, etc. etc., but, given all of that, at this point in time it's EXTREMELY well done and effective.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-87350957256008630522008-07-14T09:52:00.000-07:002008-07-14T09:52:00.000-07:00Time for another post dude. How about reviews...i...Time for another post dude. <BR/><BR/>How about reviews...is everyone done writing documents that they think matter in the numbers game? Are the numbers looking OK?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-5098025514382461192008-07-14T02:17:00.000-07:002008-07-14T02:17:00.000-07:00Lucky you. I almost have to bott it like 3 or 4 ti...<I>Lucky you. I almost have to bott it like 3 or 4 times a day beucase it will stop respondign to key board or still stop creating new processes.</I><BR/><BR/>No you don't. It's clearly broken, unless it's completely imaginary. <BR/><BR/>Please people, don't troll. It can only lead to flame wars.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-77687582629804865862008-07-14T01:44:00.000-07:002008-07-14T01:44:00.000-07:00>> Buy a new computer with 2gb ram and >> Vista wi...>> Buy a new computer with 2gb ram and <BR/>>> Vista with sp1 and your experience <BR/>>> will be better than XP<BR/><BR/>Erm... In what way? This is a serious question. Leaving alone the stuff under the hood, would you explain to me, how Vista improves the _experience_?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-60073443204413533732008-07-13T20:23:00.000-07:002008-07-13T20:23:00.000-07:00How sad would it be if the share share price of MS...<I>How sad would it be if the share share price of MS fell *below* Yahoo during this neverending journey to acquire them?</I><BR/><BR/>If? Don't you mean when?<BR/><BR/>:-(Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-79368008952351063062008-07-13T10:06:00.000-07:002008-07-13T10:06:00.000-07:00I have to say that I am far from a happy drone in ...I have to say that I am far from a happy drone in Microsoft this days, but seeing the comments left here I have to wonder about what is behind them. <BR/><BR/>I believe that somebody used the term swiftboating in the news recently related to Microsoft, they may not be far off.<BR/><BR/>To the people who post stock prices and demand Ballmer's head, take a look at the financials of the company. In 2004 we had net profits of 8B on 37B total revenue, in 2007 we had an astounding 14B on 51B revenue. This is NOT a bad performance for any company, let alone one the size of Microsoft, this year we are on track to easily beat that. Looking at the financial performance of Microsoft during the last eight years while the stock has been flat is staggering. The only way to explain the stock performance is to realize that Wall street is nothing more than a glorified pyramid scheme. <BR/><BR/>I am also tired of people ragging on Vista. It is in almost every way better than XP, yes I know file transfer this, resources that and drivers whatnot. Buy a new computer with 2gb ram and Vista with sp1 and your experience will be better than XP, period.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-4161445558165142542008-07-12T12:20:00.000-07:002008-07-12T12:20:00.000-07:00That doesn't change the fact that I have to reboot...<I>That doesn't change the fact that I have to reboot my MacBook Pro every couple of days just to get the file sharing working again, and it can't for the life of it connect to MSFTWLAN reliably. </I><BR/><BR/>Lucky you. I almost have to bott it like 3 or 4 times a day beucase it will stop respondign to key board or still stop creating new processes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-23578931419749572962008-07-12T09:59:00.000-07:002008-07-12T09:59:00.000-07:00Just as FYI, you can replace the windows shell, ne...Just as FYI, you can replace the windows shell, network stack, file system, rendering engine and (unlike *nix) even bits and pieces of each layer without having to recompile the whole thing. You just have to replace the right DLL or write a new driver. Despite the BS once said in court, pretty much any part of the OS can be removed and replaced. The OS is so modular that groups within Microsoft take dependencies on components of other groups so they don't have to write and test that part of their functionality again. The net of dependencies over thousands of very fine grained, replaceable modules is what makes it hard to *external* companies to replace them. <BR/><BR/>It used to be the case that there was no documentation, something that didn't prevent a bunch of companies from doing it (Sony and Roxio on the computer I'm typing this). <BR/><BR/>Now with the documentation required by the EU you can go look it up and start coding. My guess is that no one will because writing a piece of code that is very fast, very reliable and compatible with close to 10,000 ISVs that make their living using MSFTs eco-systems is very hard.<BR/><BR/>*nix lovers forget that applications there have zero consistency wrt to user experience and UI and quality is very uneven. Apple lovers forget that their eco-system is tiny and development resembles something out of a communist dictatorship.<BR/><BR/>For all the bitter MSFT employees I suggest http://glassdoor.com. Read the reviews, and even write your own reviews. But before you do make sure you compare what you have with what others have. I, for one, want a 7 figure salary, 100% free time to do whatever I want, in a place with better weather. Unfortunately I couldn't find the right place yet.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-29834062606487294102008-07-10T22:33:00.000-07:002008-07-10T22:33:00.000-07:00Yowsa!How should Microsoft fight Vista criticism? ...Yowsa!<BR/><BR/>How should Microsoft fight Vista criticism? “We’re sorry” is a good start<BR/><BR/>http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=490Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-16129176888173664852008-07-10T22:24:00.000-07:002008-07-10T22:24:00.000-07:00A bit off topic - but heard something super lame t...A bit off topic - but heard something super lame today. Apparently MS has asked AT&T not to extend any discounts on the new iPhone 3G phone plans to MS employees. <BR/><BR/>AT&T was apparently ready to offer the employees discounts but MS refused and ordered them not to in order to reduce the # of iPhones MS employees would purchase.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for screwing the employees!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-9386057944747138702008-07-09T23:53:00.000-07:002008-07-09T23:53:00.000-07:00"Any idea what that $100 million investment is wor..."Any idea what that $100 million investment is worth today? In theory, don't high iPod and iPhone sales pay us some dividend?"<BR/><BR/>MS sold it in 2001. Duuuuumb. Should have bought more Apple instead of buying back moribund MS shares!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-58464291183211355102008-07-09T10:28:00.000-07:002008-07-09T10:28:00.000-07:00When a Mac app crashes... When a Windows app crash...<I>When a Mac app crashes... When a Windows app crashes...</I><BR/><BR/>I posted the comment comparing crashing software to itinerant tenants. I want to stress one more time that (despite the overly colorful metaphor) I'm <I>not talking</I> about a subjective reaction: I'm talking about a legitimate, rational response. <BR/><BR/>You can't just tally up "how many crashes" for each platform and then get your answer. There's more to it than that, which is what I tried to discuss above. Windows applications (and Microsoft applications for the Mac) don't just crash; they crash in a way that consistently exhibits poor planning, bad design, and lingering, unsolved problems that are themselves the result of buck-passing and contempt for the customer, who "won't notice" (for example) that the same file management problem is handled four different ways in four different situations.<BR/><BR/>With Mac software, yes, there are crashes and problems and reboots. But <I>somebody is minding the store</I>. There's a monolithic tendency to the integration of the various components. Nobody at Apple goes and writes their own solution to something that's already been solved, in a vastly different context, elsewhere in the company. As you travel around the OS and its core apps you are constantly made aware of the well-functioning communication system within Apple, between the developers and designers and engineers, so that crashes don't piss you off the same way because they don't seem as avoidable or <BR/><BR/><I> Apple has all the same issues (and worse) hidden under a pretty UI</I>.<BR/><BR/>No. Apple has a vastly different thing happening. To have "the same issues" Apple would need 64bit confusion, security problems that don't allow WiFi song purchases, other security problems that allow malware to propagate (and don't tell me market penetration; the issue is ActiveX and the ability to have an email trigger an .exe file), GUI animation that slows the entire system because it's too high up in the stack; etc. etc.<BR/><BR/>The whole "Mac users prefer their machines because they're in a different mood" argument must die. These are not children. These are users of vastly different levels of expertise and experience drawing conclusions based on using different systems.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-6139723236659431762008-07-09T07:55:00.000-07:002008-07-09T07:55:00.000-07:00The only reason why AAPL is doing so well is becau...<I>The only reason why AAPL is doing so well is because they've lucked out with iPod and because MSFT threw them a hundred million dollars and ported Office to their platform when they were about to go out of business.</I><BR/><BR/>Any idea what that $100 million investment is worth today? In theory, don't high iPod and iPhone sales pay us <I>some</I> dividend?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-80035061986052925422008-07-09T07:54:00.000-07:002008-07-09T07:54:00.000-07:00MSFT closed down today at 25.72.YHOO closed up at ...<I>MSFT closed down today at 25.72.<BR/>YHOO closed up at 24.10.</I><BR/><BR/>How sad would it be if the share share price of MS fell *below* Yahoo during this neverending journey to acquire them?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-78682191513517344342008-07-09T05:49:00.000-07:002008-07-09T05:49:00.000-07:00The only reason why AAPL is doing so well is becau...<I>The only reason why AAPL is doing so well is because they've lucked out with iPod and because MSFT threw them a hundred million dollars and ported Office to their platform when they were about to go out of business.</I><BR/><BR/>Yes, Steve Jobs just fluked the iPod with no development, no thought and just pure, 100% luck.<BR/><BR/>Clearly the poster I quoted has never even thought about investigating what developing a product actually means. <BR/><BR/>Design is not something you tack on at the end of the process. It's something you use right through the entire product development lifecycle and it informs every decision you can make.<BR/><BR/>I can barely believe people still come out and call it luck. It's like throwing bricks at each other and lucking out when a two storey, five bedroom house emerges. Yes, it might be luck but you'll need an awful lot of bricks.<BR/><BR/><I>When a Mac app crashes... When a Windows app crashes...</I><BR/><BR/>Anyone repeating this flawed meme has clearly *never* visited any Apple support forum. Apple users are not blindly accepting of faults. They complain louder and longer and remember forever.<BR/><BR/>Come on guys! Stop pretending Apple gets a free pass and that's why they're eating your lunch. That's loser talk and you know it deep down. <BR/><BR/>Apple are doing well because they're producing good things and are being competitive.<BR/><BR/>Pretending otherwise means you're not trying to compete, and destined for a well-deserved failure. Assume your competitors are staffed to the brim with geniuses who are working 24 hours a day to bring you down. That's an excellent starting point for how to proceed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-63513658529332124162008-07-08T21:55:00.000-07:002008-07-08T21:55:00.000-07:00Dude, what I'm trying to point out is that Apple h...Dude, what I'm trying to point out is that Apple has all the same issues (and worse) hidden under a pretty UI. And the UI is nice, no question about it, I wish we had the taste to do it so well - easily 2/3rds of customer complaints would just go away. That doesn't change the fact that I have to reboot my MacBook Pro every couple of days just to get the file sharing working again, and it can't for the life of it connect to MSFTWLAN reliably.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-15618967553126255812008-07-08T14:21:00.000-07:002008-07-08T14:21:00.000-07:00What's interesting is the reaction of users to qua...<I>What's interesting is the reaction of users to quality issues. When a Mac app is crashing constantly or misses major features the Mac user will never publicly complain. If the same happens with a Windows app, the very same user could embark on a crusade against the "evil corporation" and BillG personally.</I><BR/><BR/>It's a cultural and aesthetic difference, but it's <I>mainly</I> a functionality and usefulness difference.<BR/><BR/>When a Mac App crashes, it's like your best tenant has a bad month and apologetically pays the rent late. Nobody likes it, but everyone realizes that <I>something went wrong</I> and there was nothing that could stop it, this time, despite everyone's best efforts.<BR/><BR/>When a Windows App crashes, it's like the tenant whom you have to chase down every month; the one who generates complaints from neighbors; the one who's damaged the entryway, etc. doesn't have the rent. It's infuriating because the crash is visibly, inevitably the result of bad communication inside MSFT, some kind of quality-control clusterfuck, and, most important and most prevalent, a general confusion and vagueness about what it's all for, anyway; how it's all supposed to fit together.<BR/><BR/>When Pages for the Mac crashes, I shrug. Something funny about the document; some errant process. Big deal. Inconvenient. When Word for the Mac crashes because, say, it's reading from a network drive and lost access for a moment, my reaction is completely different; I scream, "<I>YOU BOZOS! IT'S BEEN TEN YEARS! YOU AREN'T EVEN <B>TRYING</B> TO GET IT TO WORK RIGHT!</I>"<BR/><BR/>But I want to stress that none of this is about "aesthetics" or "UI design" (in the superficial, beauty-related sense) or pretty hardware. It's because of precisely the systemic issues raised on this blog every day.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-21510151374902138832008-07-08T12:39:00.000-07:002008-07-08T12:39:00.000-07:00MSFT closed down today at 25.72.YHOO closed up at ...MSFT closed down today at 25.72.<BR/>YHOO closed up at 24.10.<BR/><BR/>If it wouldn't make us stand out so much, not to mention the whole summer temperature issue, I'd propose that we Mini'softies wear all black to work the first day after MSFT closes below YHOO.<BR/><BR/>Or maybe just black armbands.<BR/><BR/>I haz a sad.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-44306530494778559922008-07-08T11:45:00.000-07:002008-07-08T11:45:00.000-07:00anonymous said...>>The only reason why AAPL is doi...anonymous said...<BR/>>>The only reason why AAPL is doing so well<BR/>>>is because they've lucked out with iPod<BR/><BR/>Ummm... what?? Have you even looked at what it took to develop and market this device succesfully? It took four years and multiple iterations to the design before it actually gained significant market share. That's not "luck" that's a dedicated customer-focused effort. Take a stroll over to building 31 and talk to Chuck Thacker so you can learn a little history before making ridiculous comments like this one. :/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-71336930661956638472008-07-08T09:20:00.000-07:002008-07-08T09:20:00.000-07:00Heh. Guess I'm the opposite extreme. I'm fine wi...Heh. Guess I'm the opposite extreme. I'm fine with a command line - just get out of my way and let me do my work. (Of course, I'm not editing video, either.)<BR/><BR/>And don't crash. Ever. I've run a single program that has had the CPU pegged for several weeks straight. If that app crashed, it's my problem, because I wrote it. But if the OS crashed...<BR/><BR/>(And, credit where due - the OS was Windows, and it didn't crash.)<BR/><BR/>MSSAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com