An often irreverent look at some of the week's other news, including Ed Bott's cry for help, the Vista EULA, McAfee vs. Microsoft, IE 7 vs. a known vulnerability, XP SP3, PlayStation 3 launch titles, Google, HP vs. Dell, Apple, and so much more...
WinInfo Blog
There was a lot of silliness online about Windows Vista licensing this past week, with one of my more vitriolic colleagues, Ed Bott, taking me to task for publishing an article that relayed Microsoft's official position on the Vista EULA (End User License Agreement). After explaining that this was the wrong thing to do, and claiming he had all the facts, Bott then later published an email Q & A he had with Microsoft himself a few days later, because he was "still trying to understand the confusing new licensing terms." Memo to Mr. Bott: It's OK to ask when you don't have all the answers. Just don't complain when someone else does a week earlier. But maybe he should have just read the content of my original licensing article more closely and not read some non-existent personal attack into it: None of the questions he asked Microsoft are particularly difficult to answer given what I wrote last week about the new licensing terms.
One thing that maybe I could have communicated better, however, is that I'm no fan of the Windows EULA. You don't own the software you buy, and I can't believe the Windows EULA hasn't been challenged in court already. My guess is it will be. It can't happen quickly enough.
While I'm on the subject, one of the more ironical aspects of my day job is that I can write an article like my EULA piece or, say, a positive review of Internet Explorer 7, and I get the occasional email where someone accuses me of being the Mouth of Sauron. "What's it like to be in Microsoft's back pocket?" one guy asked me of my IE 7 review. The fact that I've been a Firefox user for years and have exhorted readers to choose Firefox over IE repeatedly was apparently lost on this drive-by reader. Maybe he should start blogging.
But seriously folks. It's the weekend. Lighten up and enjoy it.
Short Takes
McAfee Continues Insane Microsoft Bashing I haven't seen insane Microsoft bashing like this since the last time I stood in line at an Apple Store on the day a new version of Mac OS X was released. This week, security firm McAfee said in a statement on its Web site that it was "greatly disappointed by the lack of action" Microsoft had taken to respond to its complaints about Windows Vista. "The community of independent security companies that consumers rely on for computer protection has seen little indication that Microsoft intends to live up to the promises it made last week," a McAfree spokesperson said, just days after Microsoft issued APIs to security companies to help them better integrate their products into Windows Vista.
Microsoft Lashes Out at McAfee Complaints Well, two can play at that game. This morning, Microsoft issued a statement in which it said McAfee's complaint was "inaccurate and inflammatory." And they have the facts to back it up. Check out this time table: "We've already taken a number of steps to provide McAfee and our other security partners with the information they need," Ben Fathi, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Security Technology Unit said. "On the short-term issue of allowing third-party security alerts to replace our Windows Security Center alerts, we made the documentation and sample code available to our security partners at 6:05am Monday, October 16th. At McAfee's request, we emailed a copy of all materials to a senior McAfee executive at 9:48am Monday, October 16th. At McAfee's request, we also emailed a second copy of the materials to a senior McAfee engineer at 2:07pm Tuesday, October 17th. We followed-up by providing the new builds of Windows Vista with this functionality on Wednesday October 18th, and we held a conference call with McAfee personnel at noon on Thursday October 19th to answer any remaining questions. We believe McAfee and all our other security partners have the information they need to replace our alerts with their alerts, and we are completely available to answer any questions." I have a question. What the heck is up with McAfee?
First IE 7 Vulnerability Appears ... Or Does it? This would be huge news, if it were just true: On Thursday, less than a day after Microsoft released Internet Explorer 7, its first new Web browser in 6 years, reports surfaced of the first IE 7 security vulnerability. "These reports are technically inaccurate," Christopher Budd, a security program manager with Microsoft, argued in a posting to the Microsoft Security Response Center Blog. "The issue concerned in these reports is not in Internet Explorer 7 (or any other [IE] version) at all." Instead, the flaw is a previously disclosed vulnerability in Outlook Express, and it hasn't resulting in any attacks. Once again, while controversy can be fun, it's usually just silly.
Windows XP SP3 Delayed till ... 2008??? Thanks to Neowin.net for first reporting on this astonishing issue: Microsoft, for some reason, this week changed the ETA for Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) to the first half of 2008. Previously, it was expected in the second half of 2007. What I don't get is that SP3 will just be a collection of hot-fixes. Why can't they just release it now? In fact, why can't Microsoft bundle XP hot-fixes as new service packs every 6 months or so? This is ridiculous. Oh wait, I'm a Microsoft shill. Let's see... I'm sure this is part of a concentrated effort at Microsoft to ensure that Microsoft releases the highest quality service pack possible.
Sony: 21 PS3 Games at Launch, Free Online Service A month from now, Sony will finally join Microsoft in the next generation video game arena with the launch of its PlayStation 3 (PS3) console. And this week, Sony revealed that it will have 21 PS3 games at launch. That's not too shabby: Microsoft's Xbox 360 launched with 18 titles, though the 360 will have over 160 games available by this holiday season. Sony also verified that it will offer PS3 users an online service for free, compared to Microsoft's Xbox Live, which is $50 a year for the high-end version (a version with no online multiplayer support is free). Sony also said that the first 500,000 PS3 units sold in North America will include a Blu-Ray version of the comedy movie "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby." Well, let me just get in line for that one.
Sony Confirms PS3 Production Issues On a darker note, Sony also admitted this week that it will likely not meet its PlayStation 3 shipment target for the year, despite already lowering that target previously. Sony blames a Blu-Ray parts shortage, meaning that this expensive new technology is now responsible for at least two product delays and two shipment target delays. Hey, I'm sure it's ready for prime time. "The honest answer is [that Sony's 2 million unit goal is] more of a [shipment] target,' says Jack Tretton, co-chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment America (SEC). You know, kind of like how the Pirate Code in "Pirates of the Caribbean" is more a set of guidelines than requirements.
Google Financial Success Continues ... Can Anyone Stop Them? Google continues to confound financial analysts, with the company raking in $733 million on revenues of $1.6 billion in the quarter ending September 30. That means its sales have doubled while its revenues are up 70 percent. "We had an excellent quarter in all respects, especially including international," said Chief Executive Eric Schmidt. 60 percent of Google's revenues come from ad sales off its search engine.
HP Surpasses Dell in Quarterly PC Sales In a stunning turnaround, HP has wrested the PC maker crown from Dell, selling more PCs in the third quarter of 2006. Though the figures are slightly different, both Gartner and IDC agree that HP is now the top PC maker in the world. Following the companies are Lenovo, Acer, and Toshiba in the top five. Averaging the Gartner and IDC figures, PC makers sold a total of 58.05 million PCs in the quarter, with HP selling about 9.75 million units, compared to 9.67 million for Dell.
Apple Roars to Strongest Quarterly Mac Sales Ever They may be an also-ran in the PC market with just 2.7 percent of worldwide PC sales, but Apple's market share is up, its Mac and iPod sales are up, and its financial picture is decidedly rosy. So if you're still writing off Apple for some reason, maybe it's time to start reevaluating things. For the quarter ending September 30, Apple sold 1.6 million Macs--it's most ever--and 8.7 million iPods. While Apple's desktop Macs barely moved, the company couldn't keep up with demand for portable machines, no doubt because of the back-to-school selling season. And despite analyst fears that iPod sales were peaking, that obviously isn't happening either. It's amazing that this company was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy and abject failure just a decade ago. Today, they're showing the rest of the tech industry how to be cool and profitable (and yes, a bit arrogant) at the same time.
End of Article
in addition a lot of those mac sales are people upgrding to the superior intel processors. and who'd blame them, powerPC macs are relative slow turtles. If I owned one I'd upgrade it too.
guruguru October 20, 2006 (Article Rating: )
Actually, Apple is on track to surpass Gateway as the #3 computer manufacturer. In fact, Gateway only sold something like 83,000 more units than Apple last quarter. With a worldwide install base of 15%, and a 12% U.S. notebook market share and rising, analysts have been reporting how Apple is taking market away from competitors. At Princeton, half of the computers sold to faculty and students are Macs. If you take out those big enterprise volume licenses of Windows for their cubicle workers and secretaries, Windows market share shoots down dramatically.
As for the IE7 vulnerability, that's just not true, Paul. It uses IE as its point of attack, and Secunia demonstrated it in a fully patched version of XP SP2. Obviously Microsofties will try to spin it because they don't want the bad PR, but if it's a vulnerability in Outlook Express, then, perhaps they should fix the damn vulnerability in Outlook Express?
If only it was a WMA DRM crack, then we'd see a patch in three days. I guess this is Microsoft's idea of "Trust Computing."
Preseton October 20, 2006 (Article Rating: )
@guruguru:
"in addition a lot of those mac sales are people upgrding to the superior intel processors. and who'd blame them, powerPC macs are relative slow turtles. If I owned one I'd upgrade it too."
Uh, XBox 360?
The big dual G5 PowerMacs actually hold their own, but the heat is just too much. The big thing about Intel is its low power consumption for Apple's notebooks. Notebooks outsell desktops now, so it was important to move to an architecture that allowed progress in that market.
Luckily, Apple's superior software infrastructure allows for architecture-independent universal binaries, unlike Windows. This is the reason OS X Leopard will ship in one single 64-bit version that runs 32-bit apps and drivers natively and not 7 editions of 32-bit and 64-bit versions like Vista, which only runs 32-bit code using slower translation and requires application developers to ship two versions of their executables. On the Mac, you ship one universal bundle that contains multiple-architecture code. For some reason, Microsoft hasn't caught up to this technology, which shipped with NeXTStep back in the early 1990s. Then again, Vista still relies on 25+ year old BIOS firmware for power management, so we shouldn't be surprised.
Preseton October 20, 2006 (Article Rating: )
Bonch, where are you getting the 15% install base figures? It simply is not possible. And you quote this as WORLDWIDE, where Apple barely makes a dent. The figures for the last quarter stand at 2.7% or so (and that is with increases). It just doesn't add up. And while Apple may be able to supplant Gateway, other figures clearly show that HP and Dell have many more times the sales of Gateway. Those two account for over 30 times the sales of the Mac.
The market share, install base, whatever, the argument doesn't hold water, so please, find something else to crow about.
And we all know that the G5's did NOT hold their own, outside of Apple's inflated claims to the contrary. If was more than just heat. Sure, Photoshop may have run faster, but they were dogs otherwise.
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bmnbmn October 20, 2006 (Article Rating: )
Paul, you're being silly on purpose. You know very well that it makes no sense for people to "own" the software they buy. Otherwise, they would copy it and sell it as they please. This is the same with music, books and other intellectual property.
The things is, I know that you know this very well. So, I think you are trying to throw some ninja smoke bomb here to hide you embarrassing comments about the new EULA.
BTW, I think that everyone should read Mt. Bott blog, because things aren't as Paul says they are.
bond07 October 20, 2006 (Article Rating: )
Wow.
Preseton is Bonch after all.
Back to ignore mode.
sticknick October 20, 2006 (Article Rating: )
Bonch, Paul is right about the IE7 "issue". It's not an IE7 vulnerability by any means, it's an OE flaw. Think of it this way: if there's a flaw in the Flash or RealPlayer ActiveX controls, does that make it an IE7 vulnerability just because IE7 uses them?
Or analagously: if there's a flaw in the Flash plugin for Firefox, or some other third party Firefox extenstion, does that mean the flaw is in Firefox?
OE in this case is like one of those third party plugins. The only thing different is that it is made by the same company and is always installed (as part of the OS).
PatriotB6007 October 20, 2006 (Article Rating: )
"Wow. Preseton is Bonch after all."
I've suspected it for some time, but the 12% Apple notebook comment confirmed it.
Actually, I was thinking that relative newcomers Vandil and Waethorn might be Bonch. Heck I suppose they still could be...
Or maybe I'm Bonch as well, suffering from severe multiple personality disorder...
PatriotB6007 October 20, 2006 (Article Rating: )
I've always wondered why Microsoft doesn't issue more service packs for their OSes. Like Paul said, every 6 months to a year, push out a new service pack with all the hotfixes and use the SP to roll out any new "features" like WGA or what you will instead of relying on flagging everything as Critical updates.
They could easily bundle every post-SP2 Critical Update + WGA + IE7 into an XPSP3 and make life easier for themselves and the people using their software.
At least Apple gets it right. Apple releases "service packs" for the lastest version of Mac OS X, 10.4, almost every 2-3 months. Tiger has already seen 8 service packs that implement new features, tweak settings, and bundled security/driver updates from the elasped time between "service packs". And Tiger has only been out since April 2005.
vandil October 20, 2006 (Article Rating: )
Actually, now that I think of it, I believe that Paul is trying to say something like "as long as one is buying a license, one should not complain about what the license says." Yeah, he's saying it in between lines and has implied it before. So, according to Paul, the solution is to buy the software not a license to use it. However, given that he knows this isn't possible now or in the futures, the conclusion is that the new Windows EULA is reasonable.
I don't even know how to begin explaining why this black-or-white-only logic is so inadequate for the complex world we live in.
Incidentally, this reasoning reminds of the people that say that there are always going to be rich people and poor people and so one should not worry so much about eliminating poverty since it is futile. The answer to that argument is that there are many different ways of being poor, some of them are inhuman, some are not. In the EULA case, there are many ways of writing an EULA, some are abusive some are not.
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An often irreverent look at some of the week's other news, including some more Windows 7 sales momentum, some Sophos stupidity, Microsoft's cloud computing self-loathing, more whining from the browser makers, Zoho's "Fake Office," and much, much more ...
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guruguru October 20, 2006 (Article Rating: