WinInfo Short Takes: Week of March 13

Win Info Blog

Last week, I noted that I had 100 Gmail account invites and a few

Windows Live Messenger account invites to give out. Although I gave

them away pretty quickly, I continued to get requests for Messenger

account invites well into this week, so I mentioned it to a friend on

the MSN team and got an amazing gift: 300 invites. As of this morning,

I still have about 90 of those left (the rest went to people who

previously requested invites), so if you're still interested, drop me a

blank email at thurrott@windowsitpro.com with the subject line "Windows

Live Messenger invite" (no quotes). I can't reply to any of these

messages, but I'll fulfill the invites in the order in which they're

received. When they're gone, they're gone. I also have 45 more Gmail

account invites to disperse, so if you want one of those, use "Gmail invite" in the subject line.

==== Short Takes ====

Bombshell, Indeed: Vista Will Not Boot on Intel Macs

Dan Warne wrote me this morning to tell me that he attended a late Microsoft briefing at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) this week in San Francisco, where the software giant quietly dropped a bombshell: Windows Vista will not support the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) BIOS found on Intel-based Macintoshes and thus won't be able to boot on those machines. This is a problem for me personally, as I recently spent $2000 on a new Intel-based iMac, which is looking increasingly like an expensive paperweight on my desk. According to Dan, this Microsoft revelation came after the conference had officially closed and most people had gone home. You can read his write-up on the Australian Personal Computer (APC) Magazine Web site:

http://apcmag.com.

Microsoft Reveals Controversial Final Office 2007 UI

Jensen Harris, a lead program manager for Microsoft Office, wrote me Thursday to alert me to the fact that Microsoft has revealed the final UI for Office 2007 (previously code-named Office 12). Suffice it to say, this UI is going to be controversial. We all knew about the ribbons and tabs replacing the menus and toolbars of previous Office versions. What we didn't know was that Office 12 would be so ... big. And so ... colorful. It's got a vaguely Netscape 8 look to it, which isn't a compliment in any quarter, though I have to say I kind of like it, especially for a very high-resolution screen. But I can see why people would be a bit unenthusiastic about the new UI. To see what I mean, check out Microsoft's Office 2007 UI Overview:

http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/uioverview.mspx

Microsoft: OpenOffice.org a Good Competitor ... For Office 95

Speaking of Microsoft Office, Alan Yates, the general manager of business strategy for the Information Worker Group at Microsoft, this week unleashed a zinger at Office's competition that I have to admit made me smile. Referring to the open-source OpenOffice.org office productivity suite, which forms the basis for Sun Microsystem's Star Office suite, Yates said the competition was, ahem, just a bit behind. "OpenOffice is fine if you have very limited needs because it was really designed around what Microsoft Office products were designed [to do] 10 years ago," he said. A decade ago, Office 95 was still all the rage; Microsoft has shipped four major Office updates since then. I kind of like OpenOffice.org, but Yates is right about one thing: Its dated UI does look 10 years old. Seems like that'd be something those folks might want to work on.

In Final Push, Microsoft Adds Antispyware Tech to Windows Live OneCare

In a briefing with Microsoft yesterday, I was told that the company was winding down its development of Windows Live OneCare (previously called OneCare Live), its subscription-based PC health and protection service. What is the final piece of the puzzle? The product now integrates with Windows Defender, Microsoft's antispyware solution. Testers will begin receiving the new bits automatically over the new few weeks, and Microsoft expects to be selling the initial retail version of Windows Live OneCare by midyear.

EU Defends Its Technical Expert from Microsoft Attack

Responding to accusations from Microsoft, the European Union (EU) this week defended its technical expert, whom Microsoft had criticized for being a bit too partial to its competitors. "We want to set the record straight," an EU spokesperson said. "We feel obliged to do so given that there have been allegations made concerning the activities of the trustee and suggestions in particular that the trustee has been acting in an inappropriate manner as regards contacts with ... companies which would be interested in making products interoperable with MS products." The EU says its expert naturally had to be in contact with Microsoft's competitors, because he had to ensure that the technical documentation Microsoft was providing as part of its antitrust requirements would, in fact, work for them. "The trustee's contacts with such potential beneficiaries are therefore part of his obligations under the trustee decision and not in any way a form of inappropriate collusion as has been suggested," the spokesperson said. Makes sense to me.

Microsoft Finally Kills Passport; Long Live Passport

Microsoft this week revealed that it would finally kill off its once-reviled Passport system, which it uses for universal Web logon. But it's not really killing Passport; it's just renaming it. In line with Microsoft's other Windows Live services, Passport will be renamed Windows Live ID and will be used to authenticate users on Windows Live, Office Live, Xbox Live, MSN, and other Microsoft services. Microsoft launched Passport way back in 1999 and originally designed it to sit at the middle of a massive suite of services, including the ill-fated "Hailstorm," an attempt by the software giant to bring universal Web logon and other Web services to businesses. But fear not, Microsoft fans, the company hasn't given up: It's developing a technology called InfoCard that, yes, will attempt to provide business users with universal Web logon. It'll get you eventually.

Google Inadvertently Leaks Its Secrets

I'm just curious. If Google can't keep its own data secret, why would anyone trust them to keep users' data secret? This week, Google inadvertently posted an internal document on its public Web site, ironically (ahem) revealing that it seeks to "store 100 percent of [its] user data" on the Web, including "emails, Web history, pictures, bookmarks." To do this, of course, Google will need "infinite storage." Google is working on a Web-based storage system called GDrive (what else would it be called?) that will let users store files online. Anyway, once the company figured out its mistake, it pulled the document and announced it had nothing to announce. I have an announcement: I don't know if we can trust these guys.

Google Settles Fraud Lawsuit

Speaking of Google and--ahem--trust, this week Google settled a click-fraud lawsuit for $90 million. Google was being sued as part of a class-action lawsuit in which it was accused of overcharging customers for pay-per-click advertising, which constitutes the company's primary (only?) form of revenue. Google agreed to pay $90 million to settle the case and will, no doubt, admit no wrongdoing. Hey, it worked in China.

Google Buys Web Word Processor

To conclude this week's odd Google mania, everyone's favorite search engine du jour yesterday purchased a Web-based word processing business called Writely and its product of the same name, setting the stage for what will no doubt be an uneventful war between Web-based applications and more traditional Windows-based productivity applications, such as Microsoft Word. Writely lets users compose and edit text documents, share them with others, and, presumably, print them to local printers. The company was founded in 2004, and probably has about 16 active users, so it will be interesting to see where this goes. According to Microsoft, Word is the "clear leader" in the market, with more than 400 million users. To make a long story short, Microsoft isn't particularly worried about Writely just yet.

Amazon Talks to Studios About Downloadable Movie, TV Service

Online retailer Amazon might have just stumbled onto the latest thing it can lose money selling: digitally distributed movies and TV shows. Amazon is talking with various movie studios and TV production companies to explore interest in an Amazon service that would let customers download digital versions of movies and TV shows and watch them on PCs or burn them to DVD. If it happens, Amazon will find itself going head-to-head with Apple Computer, though Apple's iTunes service offers only low-quality (technologically, not content-wise) TV shows that can't be burned to DVD. Existing PC-based movie download services such as Movielink and CinemaNow haven't really taken off in the market, but those services offer only a small selection of big-budget movies and have been hampered with peculiar Digital Rights Management (DRM) schemes. Can Amazon succeed in this market? Hey, it's making a killing in lawn tools and gourmet foods.

End of Article

Good read as always, Paul, and may I add holy cow the UI changed!

Jason Cox March 10, 2006 (Article Rating:

)

"OpenOffice is fine if you have very limited needs because it was really designed around what Microsoft Office products were designed around 10 years ago," he said.

Most be do have "very limited needs". There are numerous installations of Office 97 out there. Most of the functionality that has come with newer Office releases revolves around business users who want more collaborative functions and interoperability between their office apps. But, just like with Office 95, most people use Office apps for their original intention: Create the file or document apps were designed to make from the beginning. That has hasn't changed.

AnalogKid March 10, 2006 (Article Rating:

)

"Windows Vista will not support the EFI (*) BIOS found on Intel-based Macintoshes as expected, and thus will not be able to boot on those machines. This is a problem for me, personally, as I recently spent $2000 on a new Intel-based iMac, which is looking increasingly like an expensive white paperweight on my desk."

Paul, dude. You spent two grand on an Intel based iMac and are ****** because Vista won't run on it?

That has to be one of the dumbest things I have ever heard from anyone. Mac is making damn sure OSX won't run on PC's what makes you think Microsoft will allow Vista to run on Macs?

sticknick March 10, 2006 (Article Rating:

)

Not that she's ugly or anything, but the lady clipart for Reader Comments seems a little odd to me. Perhaps a Paul Thurott bobble-head would be more appropriate?

For what seemed to be a slow week in tech news, Paul Thurrott appears to have dug up quite a few interesting tidbits.

mwrisner March 10, 2006 (Article Rating:

)

Fine, lets move the debate here --
TOPIC- VISTA VS. OSX LEOPARD
Both are in Beta's so no problem, and I didnt get much enthusiasm in the debate I started with the same topic in short takes of march 7, so I hope to get some replies here. Also I want to see which is best , cuz i am planning to buy a new comp. or tablet pc. As from short takes of march 7, OSX leopard was leading. I will maintain the scores.
SCORE - 1-0 (MAC-WIN)

AkshayGenius March 10, 2006 (Article Rating:

)

Where to start...you miss so many critical points. First, it's probably a great thing that MS ignores OpenOffice. Microsoft can contentedly go about developing the kludge it calls productivity software and people using OpenOffice can contentedly go producing things with it. Everyone's happy.

A large part of the problem with developing more and more productivity suite versions is that at some point there is nothing more to do (except possibly screw things up which once worked).

There's an old IT joke that goes: A pilot is running out of gas and in desperation flies low past a building and puts a sign to the window of the plane which reads "Where am I?" He flies back past the building and there's a sign in the window of the building which reads "You are in a plane, flying at low altitude past our building." Then the pilot knew he was flying past Microsoft headquarters and could find the aiport from there.

Office 95 had menus you could get to know and use effectively. Later versions of Office had menus which tried to guess what you'd need and were wrong about half of the time, but they did have the effect of making you hunt for what you knew was available and had been switched around. This newest iteration of Office promises per Microsoft's Office PR website to "display the commands that are most relevant for each of the task", and this from people who have never written a relevant help box or piece of documentation in their entire history!

Personally the first thing I do with any piece of software is to short circuit any attempt by the software to "help" me by providing "what I'm probably looking for". Once the human is in charge and the computer does what it's told, productivity can commence. OpenOffice is marginally guilty of this "relevancy" mindset as well, but it's a lot easier to diable this tendency in OpenOffice, thereby rendering a product that's --- much like Office 95! That's the point, that's the benefit, not the drawback.

danceswithmicrochips March 10, 2006 (Article Rating:

)

"Mac is making damn sure OSX won't run on PC's what makes you think Microsoft will allow Vista to run on Macs?"

Well, the fact Microsoft said Vista would include support for EFI, the replacement for the now 25-year-old BIOS implementation that you PC users are stuck using. Vista losing EFI is yet another feature dropped from this late operating system that barely manages to catch up to where OS X Tiger was in April of last year.

It illustrates two things. 1.) Microsoft holds back the computing industry with its inferior technology. When everyone should be moving off of 25-year-old BIOS technology by now, Microsoft is making sure you're using it for another 10 years. 2.) Macs are always more advanced than PCs. By the time you guys finally get EFI, Apple users will have had it for a decade. It's yet another example in history of Macs being top of the line and PCs being a decade behind. There are countless examples of Apple pioneering something and PCs dragging their feet into finally adopting it five years later.

bonch March 10, 2006 (Article Rating:

)

"This is a problem for me, personally, as I recently spent $2000 on a new Intel-based iMac, which is looking increasingly like an expensive white paperweight on my desk"

I buy paperweights. Love to have yours! I usually give $3 to $15 for them.
Let me know

trhundley March 10, 2006 (Article Rating:

)

AkshayGenius-
Look at Microsoft's track record of innovation and delivering products. Look at Apple's track record of innovation and delivering quality products. Then decide which OS you want to use.

nim55 March 10, 2006 (Article Rating:

)

What, Paul, you don't even make one mention of Origami, the latest big-news product from Microsoft? Instead, you start out this week's blog on Macs and whether Vista will be bootable on them. Why would you start with a story about a product from a company with only a puny 3% market share, while omitting to mention the latest big product from everyone's favorite software juggernaut? Doesn't make much sense to me. Maybe you should consider re-naming your side "MacITPro".

nim55 March 10, 2006 (Article Rating:

)

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