Little Sprinkles Of Fairy Dust From The Gnome at PH
Mood:
d'oh
Now Playing: Con Carne Los Goucho Fiesta De Taco La Mancha
Topic: Microsoft and VCSY
Soooo... no Viridian virtualization after all huh? Well, isn't THAT a surprise.
http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=JMB5H2PHOJ1XIQSNDLPCKHSCJUNN2JVN?articleID=199000558
Microsoft Delays Beta Test For Key Virtualization Product
But the company still plans on shipping the final version of within 180 days of the release of its next major server operating system.
By Paul McDougall
InformationWeek
Apr 12, 2007 12:00 PM
Microsoft said Thursday that it is
delaying public testing of a key software product designed to allow businesses to get more bang for the buck from expensive server hardware.
The company said beta testing for its Windows Server virtualization software -- code named Viridian -- will begin in the second half of 2007 and not the first half, as originally planned.
"We still have some work to do to have the beta meet the... bar we have set," said Mike Neil, Microsoft's general manager for virtualization strategy, in a Thursday blog post.
Neil, however, said Microsoft as planned still expects to ship the final version of Viridian within 180 days of the release of its next major server operating system -- which currently goes by the name Longhorn. Microsoft expects to release Longhorn to manufacturing by the end of 2007, a company spokesman said, meaning Viridian is slated to launch by June, 2008 at the latest. On his blog, Neil also said the final version of R2 service pack 1 for Microsoft's Virtual Server 2005 product will ship in the second quarter of this year. It was originally scheduled to ship by the end of March. "We required some additional time to test the new operating systems that will be supported with the service pack," including SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 10, Solaris 10 and a recent Longhorn build, wrote Neil.
Virtualization refers to the process of subdividing resources on a computer into discrete units that can act as separate machines, running their own instances of operating systems and applications. The technique is widely used in business computing environments that want to achieve maximum return on their computer hardware investments.
Viridian is a key part of Microsoft's campaign to develop virtualization products that can compete with those offered by specialists like EMC's VMware unit. Neil wrote that Microsoft is designing Viridian so that it can scale across servers running up to 64 processors and said the capability "is something no other vendor's product supports."
AND WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE?
http://www.programmersheaven.com/c/MsgBoard/read.asp?Board=810&MsgID=357611&Setting=A9999F0001
Hey Portuno! Have ya seen this Apple Anouncement??????
By: Poscashflow on April 12, 2007 at 4:09:38 PM
Read 1 times (Updated daily).
Apple delays Leopard; iPhone on schedule
Maker of iPod, Mac computers needed resources for release of the iPhone.
April 12 2007: 6:01 PM EDT
http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/12/technology/apple/index.htm?postversion=2007041218
Apple delays Leopard; iPhone on schedule
Maker of iPod, Mac computers needed resources for release of the iPhone.
April 12 2007: 6:01 PM EDT
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Apple Inc. said Thursday it pushed back the release of its new operating system, Leopard, until October from its target date of June.
Uhhhh... excuse me? Isn't that the original 'rumor' that everybody said would never happen? So rumors are real and Apple's affirmations are worthless. Hmmm. Will they never learn?
The company said the delay occurred because critical software and resources were needed to complete Apple's iPhone, which has passed several tests and is still on schedule to be released in late June.
Oh I gotta hear THIS rationalization!
|  | | CNN's Max Foster talks to the heads of Apple and EMI about their musical collaboration. (April 3) | Play video
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Shares of Apple (Charts) tumbled 2.6 percent in after-hours trading on Nasdaq.
A near final version of Leopard will be shown at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in June, where developers will be given a copy to perform final testing, the company said.
"We think it will be well worth the wait," Apple said in a statement. "Life often presents tradeoffs, and in this case we're sure we've made the right ones."
Tim Bajarin, an analyst with Creative Strategies in San Jose, California, said the delay in Leopard could slow the pop in sales that normally comes from die-hard Apple computer fans, who will now likely wait to buy new computers.
"I actually think the effect is going to be somewhat negligible," Bajarin said.
Leopard is expected to boast new features including a file backup feature called "Time Machine" and improvements to its e-mail and instant messaging software. Another feature allows users to move from their standard desktop view to an archival view showing every change made to a particular file.
-- Reuters contributed to this report
Hmmmm. Seems I remember something about that 'rumor'.
Looks like the Hindenburg has landed.
Remember this? Photos from the trip over the Isle of Truth.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=344
March 23rd, 2007
Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 9:08 am
DigiTimes is reporting that Apple's Mac OS X 10.5 'Leopard' release has been delayed from April to October. The reason, DigiTimes claims: Windows Vista.
Apple is holding off on the Leopard release in order to make "BootCamp" — its software allowing Windows to run on Mac OS X – Vista-compatible, according to the report. (Currently, BootCamp supports Windows XP only.)
I have asked Apple for comment on DigiTimes' report. So far, no word back. A company spokesman provided the following statement:
"We don't comment on rumors and we've made no announcements about Leopard availability more specific than Spring 2007. "
(So all that means is Apple hasn't yet officially updated folks on Leopard availability.)
Back to the original premise. If DigiTimes is right, it will be interesting to see how Apple plays this. Will Apple blame Vista for Leopard being several months late? (Ditto with Mac fans.)
If so, Apple wouldn't be the first vendor (including some of Microsoft's own software units) to claim that Vista's slips resulted in its inability to release Vista-compatible software in a more timely manner.
But how much does Vista compatibility matter to Apple and current/future Apple buyers? With a number of existing Microsoft customers holding off from upgrading to Vista for a variety of reasons, does Vista compatibility really merit delaying a new product release by several months?
What's your take? If Leopard is, in fact, delayed, is making sure BootCamp is Vista-compatible a good enough reason?
Hey Mary Jo. I guess Digitimes was right on that one huh?
Well, we know why they used Jupiter Research to 'squelch' the rumor saying 'Apple Management said so'.
Looks like some Apple shareholders need an explanation right?
http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/03/26/apple.denies.leopard.delay/
Apple denies Mac OS X Leopard delays
03/26/2007, 9:20am, EDT
Monday, March 26th
Apple has denied circulating rumors of delays in Mac OS X Leopard, its next-generation operating system. A report by Michael Gartenberg of JupiterResearch says that Apple has confirmed Leopard will ship in the "spring", contrary a rumor floated by the somewhat unreliable Asian Digitimes publication. Last week, it claimed that Apple was going to delay the release of Leopard--until possibly October--to allow Leopard to support Windows Vista via Boot Camp. "The rumor mill is wrong again," Gartenberg wrote in his blog. The company, however, in February flatly denied delays in shipment of its revolutionary Apple TV set-top until just a few days before launch, despite published reports to the contrary. The much-anticipated device, formally introduced in January at Macworld Expo, was delayed by just over three weeks and began arriving in customers hands last week.
Hmmm That says it all, doesn't it.
Posted by Portuno Diamo
at 10:40 PM EDT
Updated: Thursday, 12 April 2007 11:29 PM EDT
celebratory
caffeinated
flirty
happy
suave
#1 Change is Imperative
That quote epitomises Microsoft's problem: An unfocused, strategic timidity that follows rather than drives trends.
Web-based productivity is not in the 'early days'. It is already a reality, as Netsuite, Google Apps, RightNow or Salesforce would attest. Once again, Microsoft will enter the market five years behind rivals, and somehow believe throwing money at the problem will result in market leadership.
Microsoft's dangerous dependence on Windows (62% of operating profits) and Office (50%) is the result of a history of missed opportunities to
diversify:
1) Microsoft missed the boat on creative software and allowed Adobe and Corel to dominate the market with overpriced, bulky products like Photoshop, Illustrator, Pagemaker and later Flash and Dreamweaver. Adobe's 2006 revenues were $2.6bn. A decade or more later, Microsoft now belatedly launches Expressions.
2) Microsoft missed the boat on ERP software, allowing SAP, Intuit, Oracle, etc to dominate this billion dollar market. SAP's operating profits are 16% of Microsoft's. After failed merger initiatives with SAP and Intuit, Microsoft belatedly now offers Dynamics.
3) Microsoft missed the boat on gaming. It seemed to do well as the (belated) Xbox siezed market share, but the blue ribbon for innovation goes to Nintendo and the Wii. The Xbox loses money ($1.26bn loss in 2006 or 8% of operating profits), because instead on focusing on games as software and online services, Microsoft bumbled into low-margin consumer electronics. If a division that loses $1.6bn is considered a success, the bar is very low indeed.
4) In the 1980s and 1990s, Microsoft missed the boat on the burgeoning market for IT consulting services, preferring to rest on Windows laurels and instead actually certify individuals and partners to support Microsoft networks and thereby cash in on the massive demand for technical services. Today, IBM's profits are 73% and Accenture's 11% of Microsoft's.
5) Obviously, as Mr Ozzie laments, Microsoft missed the boat on web advertising. Google's service is atrocious: rates paid to publishers are criminally low compared to offline rates, all ads look the same, there's no option to customise ads or choose where they will be placed, and the 'smart'software often places irrelevant ads on websites. They are ripe for leapfrogging by innovative competitors. Alas, the smaller companies innovating in this space- like Chikita- lack the resources of Microsoft.
In addition to missing out on these billion dollar nascent markets, Microsoft launched a series of strategically misaligned ventures. Speaking of low margin electronics, the Zune is an ill-advised, doomed project driven by Apple envy. Consumer electronics industry margins are paltry compared to software. Mere pennies are made from songs or movies sold. What is Microsoft doing in this business? In strategic desperation, the product is now being virtually given away. The superfluous Microsoft Network lost $77m in 2006.
Also, spoiled by decades of being able to dictate to customers (and thus being outflanked by Linux and Apache), Microsoft launched the ludicrous Home Media Center. Presumably, people don't suffer enough frustration maintaining servers in the office: they need to do so at home as well. The future multimedia home WILL be networked- but to the internet, not to a home server.
The real reason Microsoft is hesitant to embrace software over the web is strategic inertia and dependence on the Windows/Office cash cow. One wonders what Microsoft spent $20bn on R&D on over the last 3 years, when profits are still being earned by 20 year-old products, and all Microsoft's new products are copycat me-too entries. However, the SaaS revolution offers Microsoft's last great chance to rectify previous oversights and dominate a new industry. To do this, I would humbly recommend the following to Mr Ozzie:
1) Accept that Windows is doomed. Computing will shift to the web. Storage, service and maintenance will always be cheaper and more convenient on a network than on a single owned device. Broadband will obliterate PC-based software.
2) Redefine Microsoft as a software services company. Sell off anything unrelated to this definition. Start with the Zune. It was a tragic mistake. Sell off the Microsoft Network. Microsoft is not a media company, and never will be. Yahoo lags Google precisely because despite earning most of its profits from advertising, it distracts itself with content management. Eyeballs are not dollars. Offer a complete suite of web-based software via single logins to individual and business accounts. This means Office, web-based ERP, web-based Outlook, Expressions, etc by online subscription. Now. Login boxes should be via the Microsoft homepage to pull together the new vision of a software services company.
3) Regain the ERP market by building the first 100% web-based ERP solution for large enterprises using AJAX. In the absence of a merger with SAP, this is the only way to own the ERP market of the future. Salesforce and Netsuite did it. While SAP and Oracle dawdle, this is your chance to sieze the ERP SaaS up market. When slow-moving Fortune 500 enterprises finally decide to switch to SaaS,have the product ready for them.
4) Regain the creative software market by raising the profile of the Expressions suite and offering it over the web, at a large discount to Adobe's overpriced offerings. This is the only chance of gaining share from Adobe.
5) Defeat Google in web advertising by first putting the Windows Live search box on the Microsoft homepage (the world's 2nd most visited website, see point 2). You might find then that you won't actually have to bribe companies to use your search engine. Offer web publishers higher CPMs than Google, and publish these rates. Enable ads to be easily customised.
6) Change the gaming strategy. Sell the loss-making Xbox, merge with Electronic Arts ($2.9bn 2006 revenue), and reposition as the world's premier game developer and online gaming service via X-box live. The gaming division might actually turn a profit that way. Make Sony, Nintendo and the Xbox buyer your customers, not competitors (and who knows, Media Center might then follow their devices into the living room). Consumer electronics is no place for a software company. Xbox is not the route into the living room.
The future of Windows (if it is lucky) is on mobile phones and in living room devices connected directly to the internet. It's not a bright future, as its primary purpose will be to launch the browser so users can access web applications, on-demand movies, music and user-generated content over the internet in their living rooms. The future, however, is extremely bright for Internet Explorer, if it is radically enhanced for web-based multimedia and made ubiquitous on mobile and living room devices. Please talk- very humbly- to Nokia and Sony.
The shift to web-based computing is a seismic revolution that Microsoft could dominate - if it could only, for once, shrug off big company risk-aversion and sieze the day first, as it did many glorious years ago.
Sent: 12:03 PM Thu Apr.05.2007 - BN