February 2, 2007 11:00 AM PST
Week in review: Visions of Vista? Buyer beware
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Week in review: Vista on the horizon
January 26, 2007 -
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January 19, 2007 -
Week in review: Apple steals the show
January 12, 2007
(continued from previous page)
A case in point: Vista's networking feature--one of Allchin's biggest gripes a year ago. Now, when users connect to a new network, they are asked if it is a home, work or public network, with the operating system automatically setting firewall and other settings based on that decision. That's a far cry from what the system offered during early testing.
Microsoft wasn't alone in losing a key and longtime executive this week. Dell announced that Kevin Rollins resigned as chief executive and that company founder Michael Dell had retaken the helm of the PC company. In addition to announcing Rollins' departure, the company said it now expects its fourth-quarter results to be below analyst expectations for both revenue and earnings per share.
Rollins' departure comes after a terrible year for the company, during which it lost its lead in PC market share to Hewlett-Packard, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission began an investigation into possible accounting improprieties. Several other executives have left the company in recent months, including Chief Financial Officer Jim Schneider, who was slated to leave the company at the end of January.
Rollins came to Dell in 1996 as the operations and business expert ready to help a 31-year-old Michael Dell make his direct-mail company grow. Together, the two built a PC powerhouse that changed the industry and made billions of dollars for shareholders. But their meteoric rise to the top of the tech industry slowed dramatically in 2006, Rollins' second year as Dell's CEO.
So what happened? Dell appears to have fallen prey to a common problem for those on top: quite simply, the world changed, and Dell did not change quickly enough.
Emerging energies
A Massachusetts company next month plans to release a combination power generator and space heater, a system that can cut down on electricity bills, according to backers--at least while the heat is running.
Combined heat and power systems, already available for industry and large buildings, are designed to harvest heat that is normally wasted during the process of power generation. As fuel is burned to make electricity, the resulting heat is captured and piped through a home's existing hot-air heating system.
Climate Energy's system is designed around a Honda internal-combustion engine that burns natural gas to generate electricity. A heat exchanger feeds any captured heat to a furnace, which then distributes the hot air.
Certainly, cars are at the center of the alternative-energy movement, and a company that specializes in electric scooters and economy cars is jumping into the sports car market. Zap will try to bring an electric sports car to the market by the end of 2008. The vehicle is built around the APX, a concept car developed by England's Lotus Engineering. Lotus designed the APX to accommodate a gas-powered V6.
The design goals for the Zap-X, if met, would allow Zap to leapfrog ahead of electric-car makers Tesla Motors and Wrightspeed, in terms of how far the vehicle will go on a single charge. Zap said its car, which will sell for about $60,000, will go 350 miles before needing a recharge, significantly farther than either the Tesla Roadster or the car from Wrightspeed.
However, experts warn that it won't be easy to end our dependence on petroleum or reduce how much the world uses. The amount of energy per liter derived from petroleum is far greater than most of the alternatives, a worldwide infrastructure based on it already exists, and people tend to be lazy--seeking out alternative fuels takes some effort.
What will you fill up your car with in 5 to 10 years? It's hard to say. Several alternatives to petroleum and diesel, or ways to economize on them, have come forward in the past few years. News.com has prepared an FAQ to address each of their pluses and minuses.
Also of note
The FBI appears to have adopted an invasive Internet surveillance technique that collects far more data on innocent Americans than previously has been disclosed...eBay confirmed its decision to ban auctions for the characters, currency, weapons, attire and accounts of online games such as World of Warcraft...YouTube's CEO said the video-sharing site plans to compensate video creators.
See more CNET content tagged:
Week in review, Microsoft Windows Vista, CompUSA Inc., reader, vision
202 comments
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Even if it were a stable, innovative and useful OS(give me a second to stop laughing), the licensing terms, DRM, an even more restrictive WGA along with lots of code bloat, and a ridiculous price tag make it something only the most die hard MS fanboy would even consider getting.
In this case, microsoft is competing with itself. They've been telling the masses for years that XP was what they needed, and now they are going to have a tough time convincing them otherwise.
Even if it were a stable, innovative and useful OS(give me a second to stop laughing), the licensing terms, DRM, an even more restrictive WGA along with lots of code bloat, and a ridiculous price tag make it something only the most die hard MS fanboy would even consider getting.
In this case, microsoft is competing with itself. They've been telling the masses for years that XP was what they needed, and now they are going to have a tough time convincing them otherwise.
Vista is another ME. MS has the only OS losing market share. It will only get worse as the shortsighted design decisions negatively impact users of all levels.
MS is irrelevant and their weak imitation of Linux and OSX will only sway the most die hard(read: most stupid).
research reports as PROOF, are either SHILLS, or the people from
the back of the class (who also need glasses and are hard of
hearing).
"Dreaming of the future" is not proof. To submit it, is merely an
admission of your mental inadequecies.
Vista is another ME. MS has the only OS losing market share. It will only get worse as the shortsighted design decisions negatively impact users of all levels.
MS is irrelevant and their weak imitation of Linux and OSX will only sway the most die hard(read: most stupid).
research reports as PROOF, are either SHILLS, or the people from
the back of the class (who also need glasses and are hard of
hearing).
"Dreaming of the future" is not proof. To submit it, is merely an
admission of your mental inadequecies.
I did not mind the change on the location of things, but the default options were selected to be lousy. The security options I can understand, but asking the same question twice is a bit stupid and very annoying ("You really want to do this?" and then "Are you really sure you want to do this ?"). Various error messages dialog boxes were minimized by default and I had to guess which of the minimized windows actually contained errors!
If I will NOT upgrade any of the other computers I own. I would have to be insane!
I am sticking with XP and that's it, already switched all my other computer to OS X and their OS update will be coming out soon with real improvements, not this BS.
That's my 2 cents.
I did not mind the change on the location of things, but the default options were selected to be lousy. The security options I can understand, but asking the same question twice is a bit stupid and very annoying ("You really want to do this?" and then "Are you really sure you want to do this ?"). Various error messages dialog boxes were minimized by default and I had to guess which of the minimized windows actually contained errors!
If I will NOT upgrade any of the other computers I own. I would have to be insane!
I am sticking with XP and that's it, already switched all my other computer to OS X and their OS update will be coming out soon with real improvements, not this BS.
That's my 2 cents.
Although the word bloated is intresting, since once before it was mentioned. So we fired up, Bussiness, Home and Ultimate and took a look at resource use vs XP. Although it was more, it was actually not a lot more. Which in comparison to other launchs is not surprising.
I still remeber in 1999 asking my boss to let me upgrade our systems to 256mb of ram and being laughed at.
My list of devices not compatible are fairly short. I have not really had many issues at all.
Now my wifes system which was AMD/Nvidia chip set based, did have some initial teething issues. As the initial driver support from Nvidia was lacking. But the past 2 months of releases has made the system really fly.
except for the part where it took you two months of upgraded/
driver releases just to get where it seems to run mostly OK.
??? Me, I am sticking with XP for the next year or so, at least for the
desk top. For the Mac laptop, well, I want to see what OSX10.5 has
to offer.
Elder Norm
Although the word bloated is intresting, since once before it was mentioned. So we fired up, Bussiness, Home and Ultimate and took a look at resource use vs XP. Although it was more, it was actually not a lot more. Which in comparison to other launchs is not surprising.
I still remeber in 1999 asking my boss to let me upgrade our systems to 256mb of ram and being laughed at.
My list of devices not compatible are fairly short. I have not really had many issues at all.
Now my wifes system which was AMD/Nvidia chip set based, did have some initial teething issues. As the initial driver support from Nvidia was lacking. But the past 2 months of releases has made the system really fly.
except for the part where it took you two months of upgraded/
driver releases just to get where it seems to run mostly OK.
??? Me, I am sticking with XP for the next year or so, at least for the
desk top. For the Mac laptop, well, I want to see what OSX10.5 has
to offer.
Elder Norm
Now someone pointed out here MS is not an inovator, which is true to a point. They are more of a stabilizer.
I often think of them as the 15th and 16th century British empire of the 20th Century.
Although ruthless, and bloodthirsty, they ended up laying down a set of tracks that the majority of the IT world has followed. They brought there form of English, and the British common law to the world.
I have yet, to see they hype that we see with Vista, roll out of any of the other camps besideds apple.
Sadley what, one other has said is fairly true, I started in this industry back in 81 as a Unix fan, and ran most of my life as a Unix/Linux user. But, sadley there is no true set standards. There are so many various versions, core to most may seam similar but then it fans out. The major fault of the open source community today is that they as a whole can not come to a common understanding.
I can't count the number of various Linux projects we have had to shelf here out of loss of support from one group or another where a dev project just ground to a halt.
Although I appluad Novell taking on the roll to bring a more commerical stable platform to Linux that can be adopted by more IT shops. I think back about Novell, when they bought Wordperfect, and were going to take on the desktop world. My fear is Novell has had a rep of buying third party products to try and ramp up market share. But the products they tend to buy are already on the down and out. Is linux dieing? no, to many home grown fans. Is its market place in the corp IT world dieing? No, but its growth has declined.
I have sat at so many county meetings where 3-4 years ago, you would hear Linux mentioned around the room at least 20% of the time. And we are talking an IT install base of millions of users. Today, when we have our county meetings, its a very very rare thing to hear the word mentioned. Unless its tied to an appliance.
Now someone pointed out here MS is not an inovator, which is true to a point. They are more of a stabilizer.
I often think of them as the 15th and 16th century British empire of the 20th Century.
Although ruthless, and bloodthirsty, they ended up laying down a set of tracks that the majority of the IT world has followed. They brought there form of English, and the British common law to the world.
I have yet, to see they hype that we see with Vista, roll out of any of the other camps besideds apple.
Sadley what, one other has said is fairly true, I started in this industry back in 81 as a Unix fan, and ran most of my life as a Unix/Linux user. But, sadley there is no true set standards. There are so many various versions, core to most may seam similar but then it fans out. The major fault of the open source community today is that they as a whole can not come to a common understanding.
I can't count the number of various Linux projects we have had to shelf here out of loss of support from one group or another where a dev project just ground to a halt.
Although I appluad Novell taking on the roll to bring a more commerical stable platform to Linux that can be adopted by more IT shops. I think back about Novell, when they bought Wordperfect, and were going to take on the desktop world. My fear is Novell has had a rep of buying third party products to try and ramp up market share. But the products they tend to buy are already on the down and out. Is linux dieing? no, to many home grown fans. Is its market place in the corp IT world dieing? No, but its growth has declined.
I have sat at so many county meetings where 3-4 years ago, you would hear Linux mentioned around the room at least 20% of the time. And we are talking an IT install base of millions of users. Today, when we have our county meetings, its a very very rare thing to hear the word mentioned. Unless its tied to an appliance.
because it is like high definition Windows with the AERO interface! Dont' listen to these ridiculous Microsoft bigots (i.e. Mac, Linux users) on here. They are just jealous and trash talking Vista.
It is funny that you mention those two makes of cars. Both are over priced, ugly, bloated, and unreliable.
Haven't you been readin' the other articles (like all over the net). IT
and computer professionals are telling people to hold off
upgrading to Vista until the first patch is released.
Just wait and see how many people are in line for MacOS X.5 when
it gets released.
because it is like high definition Windows with the AERO interface! Dont' listen to these ridiculous Microsoft bigots (i.e. Mac, Linux users) on here. They are just jealous and trash talking Vista.
It is funny that you mention those two makes of cars. Both are over priced, ugly, bloated, and unreliable.
Haven't you been readin' the other articles (like all over the net). IT
and computer professionals are telling people to hold off
upgrading to Vista until the first patch is released.
Just wait and see how many people are in line for MacOS X.5 when
it gets released.
I sat in the live cast meeting about Vista and upset that I as a
reseller of Windows software are not getting incentives, but costly
material at my expense to promote Vista.
I realize that they want to narrow the gap. Where only major sellers of
PC's (Such as HP. Dell, and Gateway..) keep creating the "Throw away
PC's" and avoid patents and universal PC standards to reduce the
options for customers to just replace parts to maintain their PC's.
They are planning to help them "Macify" the PC market. Removing
generics such as Elitegroup, PCChips.. you know them. They sell
frequently on sites like Tiger direct etc.
Distributors like ASI, DHL, & many more rely on the PC enthusiasts,
system builders, and small IT professionals to use their parts for
system upgrades, and main board replacements.
With the new Vista licensing, this effects large companies who purchase
part replacements to maintain systems, expecting to keep them running
for 5 years. IT now will have purchase completes with Licenses, in
order to use new volume licenses, which they purchased in the first
place to REDUCE unnecessary costs. This increases costs for the
customer. Also, with the limited branding of Vista, computer
enthusiasts, and game fanatics who just upgrade their computers on a
frequent basis, may consider buying cheaper PC's since they may in 1
year replace their motherboard and processor twice a year to handle the
latest PC titles.
This increases the sales of more affordable PC's, with copies of Windows
Vista, but it is going to cause a backlash.
I have already joined the Ohio Ubuntu Linux chapter as of 4 days ago,
and plan on not re-registering my partnership with Microsoft because of
this. I will be able to compete still with Dell and HP with affordable
desktops with Ubuntu, which will soon support by April all major chip
sets and printers. Since many of my customers who buy PC's are not
power users, the desktop environment and "ease of use" will draw
customers. I would able to sell a PC with a fully operational office
suite and educational packages for the cost of under $500. plus for
only $50.00 add Cedega, which supports many Gaming platforms, or even
wine, which now supports many static windows applications.
I will still have customers coming in for support, as they might need
assistance to use printers and cameras with their new systems, and
since I know about looking at system logs in Linux, I will be able to
diagnose minor (but soon to be ) hardware failures.
This is going to be an interesting year. Smaller computer stores are
going to have to compete with larger computer manufactures, and generic
brands and Distributors are going to support this effort. Since now even
states like Indiana has made a demand to put their schools on all Linux
platforms, this is going to be also a new thing occurring here in Ohio.
The chapter here has already made headway. You can review the meeting
notes at <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://ohio.ubuntu-us.org/node/2" target="_newWindow">http://ohio.ubuntu-us.org/node/2</a>
I sat in the live cast meeting about Vista and upset that I as a
reseller of Windows software are not getting incentives, but costly
material at my expense to promote Vista.
I realize that they want to narrow the gap. Where only major sellers of
PC's (Such as HP. Dell, and Gateway..) keep creating the "Throw away
PC's" and avoid patents and universal PC standards to reduce the
options for customers to just replace parts to maintain their PC's.
They are planning to help them "Macify" the PC market. Removing
generics such as Elitegroup, PCChips.. you know them. They sell
frequently on sites like Tiger direct etc.
Distributors like ASI, DHL, & many more rely on the PC enthusiasts,
system builders, and small IT professionals to use their parts for
system upgrades, and main board replacements.
With the new Vista licensing, this effects large companies who purchase
part replacements to maintain systems, expecting to keep them running
for 5 years. IT now will have purchase completes with Licenses, in
order to use new volume licenses, which they purchased in the first
place to REDUCE unnecessary costs. This increases costs for the
customer. Also, with the limited branding of Vista, computer
enthusiasts, and game fanatics who just upgrade their computers on a
frequent basis, may consider buying cheaper PC's since they may in 1
year replace their motherboard and processor twice a year to handle the
latest PC titles.
This increases the sales of more affordable PC's, with copies of Windows
Vista, but it is going to cause a backlash.
I have already joined the Ohio Ubuntu Linux chapter as of 4 days ago,
and plan on not re-registering my partnership with Microsoft because of
this. I will be able to compete still with Dell and HP with affordable
desktops with Ubuntu, which will soon support by April all major chip
sets and printers. Since many of my customers who buy PC's are not
power users, the desktop environment and "ease of use" will draw
customers. I would able to sell a PC with a fully operational office
suite and educational packages for the cost of under $500. plus for
only $50.00 add Cedega, which supports many Gaming platforms, or even
wine, which now supports many static windows applications.
I will still have customers coming in for support, as they might need
assistance to use printers and cameras with their new systems, and
since I know about looking at system logs in Linux, I will be able to
diagnose minor (but soon to be ) hardware failures.
This is going to be an interesting year. Smaller computer stores are
going to have to compete with larger computer manufactures, and generic
brands and Distributors are going to support this effort. Since now even
states like Indiana has made a demand to put their schools on all Linux
platforms, this is going to be also a new thing occurring here in Ohio.
The chapter here has already made headway. You can review the meeting
notes at <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://ohio.ubuntu-us.org/node/2" target="_newWindow">http://ohio.ubuntu-us.org/node/2</a>
Where did you get that "Editor's Desk" mumbo Jumbo. Site your
source -- I call B.S. on your claim.
I am a PC (Windows 2000, 98 and soon to be Vista) user, a Mac
User, and a linux user.
It never feels good to identify with something -- like an
computer platform -- and then get "one's nose bloodied," but it
is high time that Microsoft FINALLY get critically examined.
For decades, the masses have jumped on to the Microsoft Kool
Aid machine and tolerated mediocre offerings: it is time to
advance our industry, not set up camp.
Mac users took this same kind of heat all through the late 80's
and 1990 and look what happened: Apple listened and
responded with a totally brand new OS built on the
underpinnings of Unix.
Grow Up.
Where did you get that "Editor's Desk" mumbo Jumbo. Site your
source -- I call B.S. on your claim.
I am a PC (Windows 2000, 98 and soon to be Vista) user, a Mac
User, and a linux user.
It never feels good to identify with something -- like an
computer platform -- and then get "one's nose bloodied," but it
is high time that Microsoft FINALLY get critically examined.
For decades, the masses have jumped on to the Microsoft Kool
Aid machine and tolerated mediocre offerings: it is time to
advance our industry, not set up camp.
Mac users took this same kind of heat all through the late 80's
and 1990 and look what happened: Apple listened and
responded with a totally brand new OS built on the
underpinnings of Unix.
Grow Up.
WOW - my scanner won't work
WOW - Neither will my sound card
WOW - what a rip off
WOW - am I glad I did'nt upgrade
WOW - I am glad I ran vista upgrade advisor
sound components built-in. Funny thing. When you buy a
surround sound system for the living room it doesn't require a
sound card. Why should a computer?
WOW - my scanner won't work
WOW - Neither will my sound card
WOW - what a rip off
WOW - am I glad I did'nt upgrade
WOW - I am glad I ran vista upgrade advisor
sound components built-in. Funny thing. When you buy a
surround sound system for the living room it doesn't require a
sound card. Why should a computer?
Is it OSX that has draconian DRM that could possibly disable drivers?
Is it OSX that can arbritarily disable your PC through a back door with WGA?
Is it OSX that forces you to buy another copy if you upgrade your system often?
Is it OSX that is riddled with exploitable and exploited bugs?
Isn't it Windows that has the only advantage as a gaming system(and that advantage narrows almost daily)?
Aren't people like you either paid by MS to lie or somehow feel the need to lie for free?
Is it OSX that has draconian DRM that could possibly disable drivers?
Is it OSX that can arbritarily disable your PC through a back door with WGA?
Is it OSX that forces you to buy another copy if you upgrade your system often?
Is it OSX that is riddled with exploitable and exploited bugs?
Isn't it Windows that has the only advantage as a gaming system(and that advantage narrows almost daily)?
Aren't people like you either paid by MS to lie or somehow feel the need to lie for free?
A digital signal is the same no matter what you do to it. If it's a fast enough digital signal it will deliver the content at a high resolution. If it's slow then it wont but what does this have to do with an 'HD' monitor. Any monitor can pick up an HD signal and they all are at high resolution now. The only reason you would need a 'special HD labeled' monitor is for DRM restrictions and the industry wanting you to pay more money.
THINK!!!
A digital signal is the same no matter what you do to it. If it's a fast enough digital signal it will deliver the content at a high resolution. If it's slow then it wont but what does this have to do with an 'HD' monitor. Any monitor can pick up an HD signal and they all are at high resolution now. The only reason you would need a 'special HD labeled' monitor is for DRM restrictions and the industry wanting you to pay more money.
THINK!!!
the price of computers these days I'll purchase a Windows rig and
have both. Why not? This is not about your favorite team, it's about
using technology to expand our embarassing addiction.
I own a Mac-Based production company -- we use mac's for one
simple reason: they make us more money in less time due to the
superiority of the overall system.
However, we have many XP, 2000, and will have two Vista boxes
as well -- we test all our flash, video, and web-based work on
them.
I keep Microsoft boxes at home as well.
Well said.