Lifehacking @ Microsoft - "teaser post"

Ik volg al een tijdje met belangstelling de lifehacking.nl weblog. Deze staat boordevol handige tips en truuks over alledaagse probleempjes en hun oplossingen en er wordt ook behoorlijk wat over Microsoft produkten  geschreven.

Door dit alles heb ik aardig wat inspiratie opgedaan voor wat posts over de inzet van Microsoft (gerelateerde) produkten en diensten en hoe ze mijn leven gemakkelijker en ik geef toe ook wat luxer maken.

Ik zal ze in de komende weken in een serie uitgebreide posts beschrijven, maar hier alvast de "teasers" :

1. Backup van alle PC's in huis onder controle
2. De overtreffende trap : Een externe backup van al je backups
3. Optimaal TV kijken, muziek luisteren en foto's kijken
4. Nooit meer TV reclames in opgenomen televisie
5. (Opgenomen) Televisie kijken op je mobiele telefoon
6. Via webbrowser, overal ter wereld bij je TV, muziek en foto collectie kunnen (ook mobiel)
7. Multimedia ervaring overal in huis zonder draadjes

Ik hoop dat ze jullie aanspreken en ik weet bijna zeker dat er een aantal collega bloggers zijn die dit lijstje nog gaan overtreffen :-)

Forrester on Enterprise Software adoption and Enterprise 2.0 ..

2 reports by Forrester (you need a subscription).

On Web 2.0 in the Enterprise : "... The market will remain volatile, but Forrester expects midtier software vendors, consultancies and systems integrators, and Microsoft to reap the biggest rewards in the coming year."

The State Of Enterprise Software Adoption: 2007 To 2008

How are enterprises adopting, using, and managing all types of software, including enterprise applications, Web 2.0, open source, software-as-a-service (SaaS), and service-oriented architecture (SOA) — and what do they plan to do with IT budgets in the next 12 months? This document gives highlights of an extensive data set collected from 1,017 IT decision-makers across North American and European enterprises via our Business Data Services Enterprise And SMB Software Survey, North America And Europe, Q3 2007. What's hot? Enterprise resource planning (ERP) upgrades, SOA, and Web 2.0.

Top Enterprise Web 2.0 Predictions For 2008

The enterprise Web 2.0 market, which includes the deployment of tools like blogs, wikis, and social networking within the enterprise, was a growing force in enterprise software in 2007. While the market is still quite immature, it will continue to gain importance in 2008 as an increasing number of firms look to enterprise Web 2.0 tools to solve long-standing information worker problems. As a result, Forrester expects to see strong demand growth for tools like enterprise RSS and social networking, an increased role for IT departments in technology acquisition, and steadily growing revenue from current deployments. The market will remain volatile, but Forrester expects midtier software vendors, consultancies and systems integrators, and Microsoft to reap the biggest rewards in the coming year.

Conference Call @ Microsoft

I am not that good a dancer, so I'm glad I use Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 most of the time for my conferences. It's presence based, so less dancing time :-)

Microsoft is software aan het ontwikkelen voor éénjarigen

DucthCowboys publiceerde gisteren een artikel over een nieuw programma dat Microsoft is gestart voor het ontwikkelen van software gericht op éénjarigen.

Software je kan er niet vroeg genoeg mee beginnen. Ik zou willen dat ik zo'n start had kunnen maken ..

Kinderen worden op steeds jongere leeftijd geconfronteerd met de digitale wereld. Op weblogs en fora schrijven hun moeders al vóór hun geboorte over hun vorderingen. Ook in de wereld van het jonge kind speelt de digitale wereld al snel een grote rol. Een kind kan al met al niet vroeg genoeg wennen aan de omgang met software.
Vanuit de gedachte dat ouders bang zijn dat hun kind bij voorbaat al een digitale ontwikkelingsachterstand oploopt, is Microsoft gestart met de ontwikkeling van software voor éénjarigen.

De software voor éénjarigen is specifiek gericht op de nog niet volledig ontwikkelde fijne motoriek van het jonge kind. Gebruik van vrolijke kleuren en een zeer eenvoudige interface moeten het jonge kind prikkelen en uitdagen om te gaan spelen. ...

Continue at source

Source: Microsoft is software aan het ontwikkelen voor éénjarigen
paul@dutchcowboys.nl (Paul Aelen)
Date Published: Sun, 27 Jan 2008

Dell betreedt VoIP-markt met partners

Verrassend ...

Dell begeeft zich op de Voice over IP-markt en neemt daarvoor Nortel en start-up Fonality in de arm. Samen met partner Nortel gaat Dell zich richten op het middensegment tot zo'n vijfhonderd medewerkers, waar de eisen complexer zijn en bedrijven vaker meerdere locaties hebben.

Source: Dell betreedt VoIP-markt met partners
redactie@channelworld.nl (Ferry Waterkamp)
Date Published: Thu, 24 Jan 2008

Computable test: Microsoft weinig gecharmeerd van VoIP-standaarden

Computable heeft Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 getest. Ik las de test afgelopen weekend, omdat ie toen pas in de geprinte versie op de mat viel. Deze tests zitten blijkbaar niet in de standaard RSS feed van Computable.

Ik vind dat de conclusies van de test erg aansturen op een generaliserend beeld van Microsoft en niet getuigen van een wat dieper onderzoek en een grondige test ...

... Microsoft verzorgt met Office Communications Server 2007 de realtime communicatie tussen personen in een bedrijf, of dat nu via IM (instant messaging) of telefonie is. Het is de bedoeling dat Office Communications Server 2007 het centrale communicatiepunt in bedrijven wordt.

De telefoon staat nog altijd op de eerste plaats als het gaat om snelle persoon-tot-persoon-communicatie in een bedrijf. Chatten (instant messaging of IM) echter is een goede tweede. Daarna komt e-mail, maar dat is geen realtime-communicatie. Voor dit laatste biedt Microsoft al zijn Exchange Server en hoewel daarin ook een IM-server vervat is, ontbreekt ondersteuning voor telefonie. Microsoft besloot alle realtime-communicatie onder te brengen in een apart serverproduct.

In essentie bestaat Office Communications Server 2007 (OCS2007) uit een VoIP-server die communiceert met VoIP-toestellen die Microsoft Unified Communications (UC) ondersteunen. Microsoft geeft je alvast een startpunt via Microsoft Office Communicator 2007, een softwarematige ip-telefoon met volwaardige ondersteuning voor UC.

Makers van ip-telefonieapparatuur kunnen samenwerken met OCS2007, maar dan moeten ze bepaalde aanpassingen plegen zodat hun apparatuur compatibel wordt met UC. Verschillende fabrikanten hebben dergelijke ondersteuning aangekondigd, maar alleen Nortel heeft die al uitgevoerd. ...

....

...Conclusie

Windows-centrisch ingerichte organisaties zullen vast in de wolken zijn met de functionaliteit die Office Communications Server 2007 biedt voor realtime-communicatie. Wij denken echter dat Nederlandse bedrijven niet bepaald staan te springen om OCS2007 te implementeren.

Niet alleen omdat de systeemvereisten fors en installatie en integratie ingewikkeld zijn. Er zijn ook nogal wat compatibiliteitsproblemen, voor zowel hardware als protocollen, met bestaande ip-telefoniesystemen. Tot slot zijn er nog de hoge implementatiekosten.

De Kern

• Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 biedt allesomvattende realtime-communicatie (IM en VoIP).
• Helaas doet Microsoft weer eens aan "embrace and extend" van standaardprotocollen. ...

Source : Computable.nl

Ingewikkeld te implementeren ?

Michael Osterman van Osterman Research publiceerde afgelopen week het artikel : 'Office Communication Server 2007 deployment might be easier than you think' op NetworkWorld.com.

So just how easy is it to deploy OCS? Alex Lewis, a senior consultant focused on Microsoft technologies, decided to find out.

As discussed in a column earlier this month, Alex deployed OCS in an environment that emulated a small enterprise of fewer than 5,000 seats. Using two domain controllers, one Exchange 2007 server and a SharePoint server with PKI already deployed, he deployed a single OCS server.

The entire process, including the creation of certificates and their configuration, took just over two hours. Admittedly, Alex had a clean DNS infrastructure, but the entire deployment went more smoothly than he expected.

2 uur da's niet slecht. Natuurlijk is de implementatie in een produktieomgeving een ander verhaal, maar het plaatst "ingewikkeld" wel in een ander perspectief.

Nog een ander punt uit het artikel :

Er zijn ook nogal wat compatibiliteitsproblemen, voor zowel hardware als protocollen, met bestaande ip-telefoniesystemen ?

Een erg eenzijdige / voorbarige conclusie .. 'Microsoft houdt zich weer eens niet aan de standaarden'. Met name SIP (Session Initiation protocol) wordt aangehaald in het artikel :

... IP-telefoons communiceren via Microsofts eigen protocol met Communications Server.

Alle communicatiemiddelen en dus ook de ip-telefoons die je zou gebruiken met het systeem van Microsoft, moeten in staat zijn informatie met Communications Server uit te wisselen via Microsofts Unified Communications (UC). Helaas kun je dus geen gewone softphones of bestaande ip-telefoons (noch SIP, noch Skype) gebruiken met Communications Server. Het moet echt een speciaal aangepast toestel zijn (of software voor een softphone) dat UC ondersteunt. ...

De Computable testers zouden toch moeten weten dat Microsoft juist een van de drijvende krachten is achter SIP en dat het de SIP standaard zelf is die te wensen overlaat.

Hoe zit het met de SIP toestellen van Cisco, Nortel, Alcatel, zijn die allemaal onderling uitwisselbaar ?

Is dit een Microsoft  "probleem" of is dit een moment opname in een industrie die sterk in ontwikkeling is, onder andere doordat software leveranciers deze hebben opgebroken ?

Een recent artikel in Automatiseringgids geeft het huidige probleem nog maar eens aan :

Alle grote leveranciers van telefoniesystemen ondersteunen de SIP. Het resultaat is echter bedroevend. Hooguit werken de zestien basisfuncties van telefonie in een heterogene opstelling. Om gebruik te maken van de honderden functionaliteiten, waarmee de IP-bedrijfscentrales vaak worden aangeprezen, is het gebruik van de telefoons van de IP-PBX-leverancier een vereiste. Daarmee is de wereld van de bedrijfscentrale twintig jaar teruggeworpen

Uiteraard heeft Computable een punt dat uitwisselbaarheid noodzakelijk is en ik weet dat het komen tot een goede SIP standaard absoluut een focus van Microsoft is. Maar zoals ook het AG artikel bevestigd, is dit een industrie verantwoordelijkheid. En die industrie is er nog niet helemaal uit zo te zien ...

Computable besteed in de test ook niet of nauwelijks aandacht aan de grote hoeveelheid partnerships die Microsoft inmiddels heeft rondom het UC platform. Gartner Group definieert dit alsvolgt :

Enterprises looking into UC, particularly those with Microsoft applications already in place, should understand the Microsoft portfolio because it represents a new paradigm for communication by a market leader. Microsoft’s solution is comprehensive but is also the basis for a range of partner offerings.

Computable: Certificaat Microsoft populairst in Nederland

Goede bevestiging van de populariteit van het Microsoft platform onder ICTers.

... Nederlandse ict'ers leren graag. Verhoudingsgewijs worden nergens ter wereld zo veel Microsoft-certificaten behaald als in Nederland. Vooral binnen grote bedrijven wordt heel wat afgeleerd.

"Een diploma is in Nederland een randvoorwaarde voor een succesvolle carrière", zegt Rob Tummers, bij Microsoft verantwoordelijk voor de opleidingen en certificeringen. Het zou kunnen verklaren waarom het Microsoft-certificaat in ons land zo populair is.

In opdracht van Microsoft bekeek onderzoeksbureau IDC hoeveel Microsoft Certified Professionals (MCP) er wereldwijd per land zijn. Verhoudingsgewijs staat Nederland bovenaan de ranglijst. Ruim 83.000 mensen hebben hier met goed gevolg een Microsoft-examen afgelegd. Ter illustratie: Duitsland telt meer dan 175.000 MCP'ers, maar heeft ook vijf keer zo veel inwoners als Nederland. ...

Source: Certificaat Microsoft populairst in Nederland
Date Published: Fri, 25 Jan 2008

Microsoft Joins DataPortability.org

This is a good step of Microsoft and will most certainly boost intercion and growth of 'Web 2.0' ...

...Today Microsoft is announcing that it has joined DataPortability.org, a group committed to advancing the conversation about the portability, security and privacy of individuals’ information online.  There are important security and privacy issues to solve as the internet evolves, and we are committed to being an integral part of the industry conversation on behalf of our users.

The decision to join DataPortability.org is an outgrowth of a deeper theme that technology and the internet should be deployed to help people be at the center of their online worlds, a theme that has begun to permeate our products and services over the past few years. We believe the logical evolution of the internet is to enable the removal of barriers to provide integrated, seamless experiences, but to do so in a manner that ensures that users retain full control over the security and privacy of their information.

Windows Live is focused on providing tools and a platform to enable these types of seamless experiences.  Windows Live has more than 420 million active Live IDs that work across our services and across partner sites.  Through each Windows Live advancement we’re making technical investments to ensure users’ information is available to them in the places they want, even across the networks they use every day.  Windows Live Writer, Mail, Photo Gallery and Spaces, for example, allow users to get access and publish to the places they want, even outside Microsoft’s network.  And the Windows Live Platform and Terms of Use offer a set of APIs and controls that allow for the growth of an ecosystem based on the premise of user control and portability. 

Microsoft feels strongly that getting the right balance for data portability, security and privacy is critical for the industry, and doing it well requires the participation of all the major web services.  We are no stranger to these types of broad industry dialogues, and the one that is taking shape at DataPortability will be very effective in furthering users’ interests. ...

Source: http://dev.live.com/blogs/devlive/archive/2008/01/23/203.aspx

Mobile IM Adoption Forecast Europe: 2007 To 2013

Interesting statistic. 2013 is a long long time in the future I personally expect the mobile (what is the definition of mobile ?) share of IM to be either bigger than 24% or replaced by a new means of communication all together ...

European mobile operators are launching mobile IM services, with mixed results among the different operators. But by the end of 2013, as many as 24% of mobile consumers will be using mobile IM services. To achieve that number, mobile operators have to get over their fear of brand erosion and SMS revenue cannibalization. Product managers will need to work on device usability, enable SMS interoperability, provide flat-fee IM packages, and market IM services by using Social Computing energy. In the long run, IM and presence services will integrate better with handsets' native applications and other services.

Source: Mobile IM Adoption Forecast Europe: 2007 To 2013
"Niek van Veen"
Date Published: Fri, 18 Jan 2008

General manager Lotus: Microsoft bluft

Altijd grappig zo'n pot verwijt de ketel discussie. Computable quote Mike Rhodin die een poging doet de claim van Microsoft over het grote aantal Lotus Notes klanten dat afscheid neemt en naar het Microsoft platform migreert af te zwakken

Volgens general manager Lotussoftware Mike Rhodin bluft Microsoft als het bedrijf zegt dat in de laatste zes maanden van 2007 meer dan driehonderd grote bedrijven van Lotusproducten zijn overgestapt op Microsoft Outlook, Exchange Server en SharePoint Server. Rodhin: "Heb jij die lijst gezien?"

Source: General manager Lotus: Microsoft bluft
Date Published: Wed, 23 Jan 2008 10:53:11 GMT

Ik heb een kleine reactie op de Computable site achtergelaten :

24 januari 2008 (17:32) | Peter de Haas

Misschien moeten we de lijst van referenties van IBM maar eens afzetten tegen die van Microsoft als het gaat om deze zgn 'competitive wins'.
http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/search.aspx?Keywords=lotus%20notes
Microsoft kan niet zondermeer lijsten met klantnamen publiceren zonder toestemming.
IBM ontkent al jaren dat ze terrein verliezen, maar nagenoeg alle analisten publiceren cijfers over marktaandelen die er niet om liegen..

Ja ja, de lijst met reference cases op de Microsoft site is best indrukwekkend.

Zoek ook even op de IBM Lotus website. Ik heb in dit voorbeeld de zoektermen Microsoft en Exchange gebruikt. Welgeteld 18 reference cases ...

Check ook het overzicht van casestudies op mijn blog hier.

'Mac-gebruikers kunnen de borst natmaken'

Met deze en een eerdere post heb ik niet de intentie Apple te 'bashen' verre van dat. 

Deze ontwikkeling illustreert jammergenoeg de sterke relatie tussen marktaandeel en de aantrekkingskracht van criminelen / hackers. Het plaats discussie over platform en daaraan gerelateerde beveiliging in een ander perspectief ..

Het succes van de Mac gaat dit jaar een keerzijde krijgen, voorspelt Secunia: het platform heeft nu de kritieke massa bereikt om de interesse van de hackers te wekken.

Source: 'Mac-gebruikers kunnen de borst natmaken'
Automatisering Gids
Date Published: Wed, 23 Jan 2008

Osterman Research confirms Microsoft Exchange's leadership in NA Email market

People who regularly read my posts know I have a thing for market analysis, as it tends to put things into perspective. At least where more analysts publish similar figures that is ...

Triggered by an earlier post today I came across a recent report by Osterman research of which the excutive summary already contained some good insights :

... This report presents the results of a detailed research program into preferences and plans for messaging servers among mid-sized (100 to 2,500 email users) and large (>2,500 email users) organizations in the North American market. ...

• ... Windows messaging dominates
  While Linux popularity has grown, Windows remains the preferred messaging platform for most organizations. It will continue to dominate in the smaller enterprises for some time. Within larger organizations, however, Linux is more popular as an email infrastructure platform. ...
  
  
• ... Popularity of messaging architectures
  Microsoft continues to lead the installed base of corporate messaging systems. While Exchange accounts for the largest single share of the installed base in North America, the much larger market for the platform is in large organizations of >2,500 users where Notes/Domino has a large share, while
  Exchange dominates more completely in the middle tier of 100- to 2,500-seat organizations. ...

Osterman Research has published Enterprise Messaging Server Trends, 2007-2010.  Click here for an executive summary of this report.

One Collaboration Platform to Rule Them All?

Cathing up on some news of earlier this month.

CMSWire published an article quoting some of the findings from a recent report by Osterman Research. Let's go straight to the quotes ...

... SharePoint is a big topic these days. With the release of SharePoint Server 2007, analysts everywhere are trying to get a grasp on its reach into the enterprise and the issues surrounding its implementation.

According to the latest from Osterman Research, SharePoint is becoming the de facto collaboration platform for many organizations today. ...

Strong confirmation on the uptake of SharePoint ...

... The Osterman study sought to determine trends in the use of SharePoint over the next 12 months. Results of the study indicate that in organizations that deployed Microsoft Exchange, more than half are currently using SharePoint and 12 percent plan to deploy it in the next 12 months.

The number of organizations that employ SharePoint for mission-critical applications is less than 20 percent, a figure expected to double over the next year. Meanwhile, the number of SharePoint applications will quadruple. ...

Good detail on the level of application into 'mission-critical' area's and a strong confirmation of the level of trust companies have with regards to SharePoint, as the mission critical application of SharePoint will double over the next year ...

... The study also noted that most deployments are hosted by third-party hosting providers. Organizations for the most part don’t have plans in place for hosting SharePoint applications. ...

This is one I didn't expect to be the case already. The fact that the majority of the surveyed companies uses a hosted SharePoint environment shows also a high level of confidence in the partner ecosystem around the Microsoft platform and in hosted (SaaS) solutions ...

... To many IT managers, implementing SharePoint is a no-brainer. ..

... At the end of the day, SharePoint is still a lot cheaper than many other enterprise CMS systems. Thus it makes sense that organizations want to take advantage of it for content management and collaboration.

However, with great power comes great responsibility.

Organizations looking to implement SharePoint just need to remember this one word: governance. It’s not a big word, but it carries a big stick. ...

Be sure to read the whole article for the full perspective : CMSWire.com

A New Wave of Unified Communications Software from Microsoft

Analysis by Sandra M. Gustavsen, Analyst, Access Intelligence LLC :

... Microsoft aims to put “people at the center” with its unified communications and Voice over IP (VoIP) software that promises to revolutionize the way people communicate. Touted as a milestone for Microsoft and for the entire communications industry, the Microsoft offerings announced in October 2007 further the transformation toward software-based communications from a traditional PBX telephony model. Microsoft identifies some major trends that are enabling this transformation, including hardware performance improvements, advances in technology and the global and mobile nature of today’s businesses.

In addition, Microsoft sees a business model shift from a single vendor for all communications needs (vertical model) to a more horizontal model that combines hardware, software and technology which, though from differing vendors, all works together. ...

... To date, Microsoft has  partnered with 50 companies that will roll out new products and services based on Microsoft’s platform, including systems integrators, telephony providers, independent software vendors and device manufacturers. With Microsoft now competing in the VoIP market, leading business communications manufacturers are reinforcing their plans to interoperate with Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007 to enable new unified communications capabilities.

.... Following the February 2007 beta release of the OCS 2007 specification, most leading vendors in the VoIP system market, including Alcatel-Lucent, Avaya, Cisco, Ericsson, Mitel, NEC, Nortel and Siemens, announced plans to make their equipment compatible with OCS 2007. The Microsoft software solutions can be utilized along with existing PBX infrastructures so that businesses need not discard expensive equipment in the near term, but migrate slowly toward an all software-based communications solution which is likely just a matter of time. See related snapshots below on how Mitel, NEC and Nortel  are partnering with Microsoft for new solutions going forward. ...

Wow, 50 partnerships and counting, this sure puts the announcements of UC competitors into perspective doesn't it ?

Read the whole article for lot's more details : TMCnet.com

Computable test : Microsoft Search Server 2008 Express

Microsoft en Enterprise Search een hele goede combinatie. Onderstaande test van Computabble geeft je veel informatie over Microsoft Search Server 2008 Express, een versie die gratis.

Test: Informatie opzoeken op de Microsoft-manier

Alle kennis en informatie in je bedrijf aan je vingertoppen... als je die informatie maar kunt vinden. In de meeste bedrijven wordt er heel wat informatie opgeslagen in bestanden, e-mails, streams, noem maar op. Maar daar iets in terugvinden is heel andere koek. Microsoft brengt met Search Server 2008 een zoeksysteem voor bedrijfsinformatie op de markt.

Conclusie

Search Server 2008 Express biedt een rijke zoekomgeving die heel wat verschillende soorten opslagsystemen kan doorzoeken en indexeren. Voor alles wat niet standaard ondersteund wordt kunnen derden speciale connectors schrijven. Zoals we gewend zijn van Microsoft is een en ander wel nogal Windows-centrisch en worden er bijvoorbeeld geen controlesystemen voor authentificatie ondersteund die niet werken zoals die van Microsoft zelf. Maar als je netwerk en bedrijf Windows-centrisch is, kan deze Search Server je gouden diensten bewijzen.

Productinfo

Product: Search Server 2008 Express

Producent: Microsoft Inc., USA; www.microsoft.com

Leverancier: Microsoft Nederland, www.microsoft.nl

Adviesprijs (excl. BTW): de Express-versie draait op één server en is gratis; de gewone versie werkt in een multiserver-omgeving en is bedoeld voor grote organisaties; prijzen hiervan werden niet medegedeeld.

Systeemvereisten: Windows Server 2003, .NET Framework 3.0, evt. SQL Server 2005

De Kern

• Microsoft Search Server 2008 Express zoekt informatie in al je documenten en e-mails in heel het netwerk.

• De juiste informatie zoeken én vinden is het halve werk.

  Het Search Server 2008-systeem van Microsoft is in feite een uitbreiding op SharePoint Services. Zoals de naam al aangeeft, is het een zoeksysteem om informatie terug te vinden opgeslagen in SharePoint-sites, websites, netwerkvolumes en publieke folders van Exchange. Er bestaat een gewone en een Express versie van Search Server. De gratis Express-versie is bedoeld voor wat kleinere bedrijven die minder informatie en servers te doorzoeken hebben en waar dus één fysieke zoekserver volstaat. De betaalde gewone versie is bedoeld voor grote organisaties en kan op meerdere servers draaien. Wij hebben Search Server 2008 Express uitgeprobeerd.

Ga naar de Computable site voor alle informatie : Comptable.nl

Institute for interactive research : don't click

It's very hard not to use your mouse at first, but this site really shows it can be done and after 30 seconds or so your used to it .. almost ...

dontclick.it

Notes Virtual Conference Achieve Independence from Notes with Quest

In my mailbox today :

Attend this virtual conference to learn how your organization can break free from Lotus Notes by using Quest tools for a seamless messaging and application migration.
At the conference, you can visit interactive web booths and listen to webcasts to explore topics such as:

• How to Avoid Hassles in Notes Messaging Migration
• The Key to Preventing Chaos in Migrating Notes Applications
• The Seamless Way to Recompose Notes Applications in SharePoint
• Managing Your New Messaging Environment with Efficiency
• Migration Services that Pay for Themselves
  
  At each booth, you can chat online with Exchange and SharePoint experts about your Notes migration projects.

Register : http://events.unisfair.com/index.jsp?eid=198&seid=429

Some other Quest Webcasts on this topic :

1. Gain Independence from Lotus Notes
2. How to Avoid Hassles in Notes Messaging Migration
3. The Key to Preventing Chaos in Migrating Notes Applications
4. The Seamless Way to Recompose Notes Application in SharePoint
5. Migration Services that Pay for Themselves

Bill Gates Looks Ahead at “Next Digital Decade”

Lot's of new developments and then to think I already beat Bill Gates to it by choosing this topic little over 2 months ago, but he didn't use any of my slides ;-)

Microsoft announces new entertainment partnerships with Disney-ABC Television Group, MGM and NBC Universal.

Source: Bill Gates Looks Ahead at “Next Digital Decade”
Date Published: Mon, 07 Jan 2008

Red Hat Linux en Firefox meer bugs dan Microsoft

Voor de mensen die meetellen ...

... Beveiligingwatcher Secunia heeft zijn rapport over 2007 gepubliceerd. Opvallend is dat open-sourcesoftware, zoals Red Hat Linux en Firefox, het afgelopen jaar meer veiligheidslekken vertoonden dan vergelijkbare Microsoft-producten. Ook bevatten browser plug-ins en veiligheidsproducten zelf nog steeds veel fouten. 

Van alle besturingsystemen die Secunia het afgelopen jaar heeft gemonitord, bleek Red Hat (zonder Fedora) de meeste lekken te bevatten. ...

... Het volledige rapport is hier te vinden ...

Source: Red Hat Linux en Firefox meer bugs dan Microsoft
Automatisering Gids
Date Published: Thu, 17 Jan 2008

Confusion and uncertainty in the Enterprise Search market ?

Google certainly want's you to believe this, judging on a post by Google's Rodrigo Vaca :

... Last week's developments in the enterprise search market are sure to bring confusion and uncertainty to many customers. Customers of existing enterprise search solutions will start wondering about the future of the investment they made in the past. Is their product still going to be developed and improved? What about support for a diverse enterprise IT landscape? How long before they're asked to do a painful -and costly- migration? ...

This obviously refers to the announcement of Microsoft to acquire Fast. Google apparently wants Fast customers to believe that there's no future developments and that current Microsoft Enterprise Search solutions don't operate in a diverse enterprise IT landscape ... well they do.

And let's face it Google Enterprise Search does not provide the capabilities Fast Search solutions provide, so exactly how does Google envision a switch to Google's platform, because there's simply no way they can fill the holes.

Microsoft acquired Fast because of the fact that it compliments its Enterprise Search capabilities and not with the intent to move clients over in any form ...

... On the other side, customers of some content management systems just realized that an enterprise search "feature" - or an "express" product, for that matter - is just not enough. Good enterprise search requires a dedicated, specialized system that is secure, returns relevant results quickly, and most importantly, is able to find all content throughout the enterprise, regardless where it is located. ...

Again a little (intended?)confusion about Microsoft's solutions in Enterprise Search. Maybe some external independent research might not hurt : Burton Group, Forrester, Forrester,  Gartner.

Google is tempting you to make a fast switch. I would recommend, think first and ask Microsoft to inform you about its Search strategy and solutions (and not trust the competition to do this for you ;-)) and then make a sound decision ...

The Radicati Group - Microsoft Exchange 2007 Survey Request

If your organisation is running Microsoft Exchange 2007 'on premise', it maybe worthwhile to participate. You contribute ot the overall insight of MS Exchange's TCO, gain insight and a freebee with Radicati ...

The Radicati Group is conducting a survey to understand the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of Microsoft Exchange 2007 in enterprise environments. If you are familiar with your organization’s Exchange 2007 deployment and would like to participate please email us at info@radicati.com.

We will send you a 20 minute questionnaire to fill out, and once we have reviewed your response we may also schedule a brief 10 minute conference call to go over your answers with you. That is all there is to it!

In return for your participation, we will offer you 1 free call in line to any of our web conferences throughout 2008 (a $100 value!), as well as a complimentary copy of the survey results.

Please do not respond if you are a provider of Hosted Exchange services, or are using a Hosted Exchange solution as this study deals only with on-premise deployments. Also, we may reject survey responses that are not sufficiently complete or do not contain realistic answers.

Thank you in advance for your participation!

The Radicati Group Analyst Team
www.radicati.com

Proposion organsiation fully integrated in Quest Software

This afternoon I received an email letter from Proposion's Steve Walch, who outlines the full integration of the Proposion organsiation into Quest Software. This means Quest Software has a strong organsiation and solutions helping you migrate away from lotus Notes / Domino ...

This will be the last edition of the Proposion Post, but we have a really good reason!

Last quarter, Proposion Software was acquired by Quest Software, a leading provider of innovative products that help organizations get more performance and productivity from their applications, databases and Windows infrastructure.  Proposion joins Quest as part of the SharePoint products business unit and our Notes-to-SharePoint integration and migration tools are becoming part of Quest’s rapidly expanding SharePoint product line.

Our industry leading Proposion Portal Migrator has been updated and re-released as Quest’s Notes Migrator for SharePoint.  The product now supports migration of OLE objects and DocLinks, generation of InfoPath forms, QuickPlace support, Domino.Doc support and more.  Our upcoming 4.5 release will add support for ad hoc transfer of Notes documents to SharePoint direct from users’ desktops.

Please see http://www.quest.com/notes-migrator-for-sharepoint for details.  Contact your Quest rep or sales@quest.com for information about our upgrade program. 

Proposion Portal Adapter (SharePoint web parts for Notes mail & calendar) is scheduled to be re-released as Quest’s Notes Integrator for SharePoint later this year.  Proposion’s older development tools are being withdrawn from the market. 
Proposion’s Newburyport, MA, office is now a Quest office and our development team is expanding.  (Yes, we are hiring!)  I personally will be taking a role as a Product Manager working on the same product line as before.

I would like to thank all our customers and partners who have helped make Proposion’s rapid growth possible.  Feel free to drop me a line if I can help with anything.   I hope to see many of you next week at Lotusphere.

-Steve

Checkout http://www.quest.com/sharepoint for more information

Why is there a 'Panic button' in FeedDemon 2.6 ?

This is why :

FeedDemon 2.6

While browsing the NewsGator site on FeedDemon I noticed that the new 2.6 version is released. It includes a number of improvements over my current version :

Reading Feeds

• Newspaper Format: When you select a channel, FeedDemon's tabbed browser displays the channel's news items in a newspaper for easy reading. You can display a newspaper of news items for an entire folder or view one feed at a time.

• News Bins: Store news items in a central location and provide a handy way to collect items from different channels. If you find an interesting item that you might want to read again, just store it in a news bin for future reference. News Bins are synchronized through the NewsGator Online platform, so you can read these items from FeedDemon on other computers as well as other NewsGator readers.

• Synchronization: Read a post in FeedDemon and it is marked as read in other NewsGator readers.

• Shared Experience: See what news is popular with other NewsGator users and find out who is linking to the news you’re reading.

• Video: Watch embedded video right within the newspaper view.

• Panic Button: Ever gone on vacation and gotten a little behind on your reading? The Panic Button solves this and many other problems by quickly marking all older items read.

Finding Feeds

• Watches: Look for keywords in news items as they're downloaded. After you create a watch, it examines every incoming news item whenever any channel is updated.

• News Comes To You: Subscribe to feeds from all over the web or choose some of the dozens of default feeds.

• Search: Search outside of FeedDemon's subscriptions by selecting a feed search engine, then enter your keyword, and FeedDemon will subscribe to a dynamic channel containing the search results for that keyword.

Other

• Podcasts: Powerful podcasting tools enable you to download audio files and automatically copy them to your iPod or other media player. The bundled FeedStation utility enables you to schedule your downloads so they happen overnight while you're asleep. When you wake up, you'll find new audio waiting on your media player of choice.

NewsGator stops charging for consumer RSS client apps (Computerworld)

Peter O'Kelly posted something interesting about Newsgators client products :

FeedDemon is, imho, the leading XML syndication client; now it's also free

As part of an effort to help bolster its enterprise business and provide more relevant content to users, NewsGator Technologies Inc. today announced that all of its consumer RSS (Real Simple Syndication) client applications are now available without charge.

The list of free applications includes NewsGator Inbox, FeedDemon, NetNewsWire and NewsGator Go for Windows Mobile, Blackberry/Java, iPhone and HTML mobile applications, as well as NewsGator Online, the company said. All include free synchronization across the Web, desktop and mobile devices, NewsGator said.

NewsGator stops charging for consumer RSS client apps

Source: NewsGator stops charging for consumer RSS client apps (Computerworld)
Peter
Date Published: Thu, 10 Jan 2008 01:16:00 GMT

 

I am a feedDemon user for almost 6 months and I agree with Peter that this is the best RSS client app out there.

The integration between FeedDemon and NewsGator Online is fantastic and the fact that you can work with Newsbins which can be shared through an RSS feed is great. The Comments Elsewhere on my site is basicly a newsbin RSS feed I share on my blog.

FeedDemon is great : Go and get it ...

I wonder if NewsGator gives me a refund, I am afteralll Dutch :-)

Microsoft Buys FAST; Last Year It Was BI, This Year It's Search

Guy Creese of Burton Group shares his view on how the FAST acquisition will compliment Microsoft Enterprise Search portfolio :

.... Microsoft announced today that it was buying Fast Search & Transfer, the Norwegian enterprise search firm, for approximately $1.2 billion. It looks like pretty much a done deal, in that FAST's Board of Directors is recommending the acquisition and the two largest shareholders are on board (per a ZDNet blog post)....

... Strategically, Microsoft now has all the bases covered (and, as a nice side benefit, prevented IBM and Oracle from adding FAST to their arsenal). Now, of course, it has to execute, which is always easier said than done.

If you go down the list of competitors, they're now coming up short:

• Autonomy: Starting to look a bit stranded as the remaining, large, best-of-breed vendor, and strong only in tier three. Great for publishers and specialized niche search, but too expensive for general deployment.
• Oracle: Has a solid tier two offering with Secure Enterprise Search, but nothing for tiers one and three.
• IBM: A lot of strong technology, but oriented more for integrators (think IBM Global Services) than for an off-the-shelf purchase. It doesn't help that there are internal organizational walls to overcome. Search falls within the Information Management division at IBM, while collaboration is controlled by the IBM Lotus division.
• Google: A strong offering for tier one (Google Search Appliance), but nothing for tiers two and three.

To sum up, Microsoft just became a one-stop shop vendor for enterprise search. ...

Source: Microsoft Buys FAST; Last Year It Was BI, This Year It's Search
Date Published: Tue, 08 Jan 2008

Loneserver.com .. New Server on the block

Funny Windows Server 2008 video :

 

Video: The Lone Server

Polycom Wins INTERNET TELEPHONY Magazine's 2007 Product of the Year Award

That's the cool thing about Microsoft, not only does it create cool products for a broad market, it does so with partners, something we call the partner eco system. Polycom in this case build products for Microsoft UC platform. I've seen and worked with the products and they are really great and most of all very practical to use ...

... Conference phones manufacturer Polycom (News - Alert) recently won an INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine’s 2007 Product of the Year Award for its CX Product Family for Microsoft OCS 2007 and for its HDX 8000.

The Polycom product family includes: a portable Microsoft (News - Alert) Office Communicator 2007 speakerphone peripheral, the CX100; the CX200 speakerphone and handset; the CX400 cordless desktop handset; and the CX700 executive IPtelephone.

Office Communications Server 2007 delivers streamlined communications for users. The product helps users find and communicate with the right person, right now, from the applications they use most. Thanks to Microsoft OCS 2007, customers can leverage streamlined communications without expensive infrastructure and network upgrades, while maintaining the operational control required.

According to Sunil Bhalla, senior vice president and general manager for Polycom’s voice division, Polycom’s CX solutions for Office Communications Server 2007 enable a flexible, engaging and person-centric communications experience with high definition quality sound, PC integration, buddy list call initiation, and cordless design. ...

Source: TMCnet.com

2007 Analyst Reports on or including Microsoft Products and solutions

The Microsoft Analyst Relations page features lot's of reports for which Microsoft has obtained the reprint or distribution rights. I have made a selection of the 2007 reports on topics that mean something in 'my world' :

Below is a collection of reports published by leading independent analyst firms on, or including, Microsoft. Microsoft has secured all copyright and publishing privileges with the firms to include the reports on this site for all audiences. All reports were researched and funded by the analyst firms themselves.

(some links may expire over time)

Enterprise Search

• Microsoft: The Latest Disruptor in Enterprise Search (Forrester Research, Nov. 6, 2007, .pdf, 104K) This Forrester report examines Microsoft’s expanded enterprise search offerings. Analyst Ken Poore writes “Microsoft Search Server 2008 raises the bar and frees up search. This week, Microsoft made its latest move into the enterprise search platforms market with two strategic products: Microsoft Search Server Express 2008 and Microsoft Search Server 2008. These products deliver a solid set of features that reset the feature/price/ease-of-use equation for entry-level and midtier enterprise search.”
  
• Microsoft Drives a Wedge Between High and Low-End Enterprise Search (Forrester Research, Sept. 28, 2007, .pdf, 121 kb) This Forrester report examines Microsoft’s position into the enterprise search market. Analyst Matthew Brown writes “Microsoft offers significantly improved search capabilities in MOSS 2007 and its standalone search product, MOSS 2007 for Search. And Microsoft isn't just throwing products into the market. Instead, it has mobilized the entire organization behind search, including extensive marketing and events, partner training programs, and specific global sales goals.”
  
• Magic Quadrant for Information Access Technology, 2007 (Gartner, September 5, 2007): This Gartner Magic Quadrant by Whit Andrews evaluates leading vendors in the Information Access market which extends beyond enterprise search to encompass a collection of information access technologies. Gartner positions Microsoft in the Challengers quadrant. According to Gartner, “Challengers possess sufficient resources to effectively penetrate the information access technology market.”
  
• How Secure Should Your Search Be? (Forrester Research, Inc., April 12, 2007, .pdf, 128 kb) This Forrester report examines enterprise search security as a complex issue that requires careful weighing of requirements to achieve “winning search strategies that will balance costs with advanced functionality.” For example, organizations should consider whether search will span more than one secure repository and if the answer is ‘yes’, analyst Matt Brown writes companies should evaluate “higher-end products including those from infrastructure providers such as Microsoft.”

Messaging and Workflow

• Messaging, Workflow Roadmap Announced (Directions on Microsoft, Oct. 30, 2007, .pdf, 377 kb) “Oslo supports principles – service-oriented architecture and composite applications – that Microsoft believes will drive future business application development.”

 

SaaS / Enterprise 2.0 / Consumerisation

• Evaluating IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and SAP Web and Consumerization Strategies (Gartner Research, Oct. 3, 2007) This vendor evaluation looks at Consumerization and the Web as two related and highly impactful issues facing users and vendors today. Analysts David Mitchell Smith and Charles Abrams state that “one major force behind the consumerization of IT is the Internet and enterprises' adoption of Internet technologies.”
  
• Rich Internet Apps Move Beyond The Browser (Forrester Research, June 27, 2007) This Forrester report examines the adoption of rich internet applications (RIAs). The independent report finds that while early RIAs were exclusively browser-based, new platforms from Microsoft [and other vendors] broaden developer options for delivering rich media and content to clients. Forrester writes that “Microsoft has a tactical edge because its dominant position at the desktop with the .NET Framework will attract large numbers of developers who already target Microsoft’s desktop and browser platforms.”

Enterprise Content Management

• Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Content Management, 2007 (Gartner, September 21, 2007): This Gartner Magic Quadrant by Karen Shegda evaluates leading vendors in the Enterprise Content Management market which includes web content management, records management, document imaging, document management, workflow and document-centric collaboration. Gartner positions Microsoft in the Visionaries quadrant.

Unified Communications

• Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications, 2007 (Gartner, August 20, 2007): This Gartner Magic Quadrant by Bern Elliot evaluates leading vendors in the unified communications market. Gartner positions Microsoft in the Leaders quadrant. According to Gartner, “The Leaders quadrant contains vendors selling comprehensive and integrated UC solutions that directly, or with well-defined partnerships, address the full range of market needs.”
• Microsoft Communicator Overhangs the Enterprise Communications Market (Gartner, Inc., May 1, 2007) In this Gartner report, analyst Geoff Johnson discusses Microsoft’s upcoming launch of Office Communications Server 2007. He states that “reliable integration of communications into enterprise platforms is a necessary precursor to the eventual development of communications-enabled business processes.”

Office 2007

• A Look at Improvements and Shortcoming in Microsoft Office 2007 Desktop Applications (Forrester Research, July 17, 2007, .pdf, 464 kb) This report, the second in Forrester’s “Innovation on the Desktop” series, states that “the breadth of Microsoft Office 2007 and its change of focus from desktop apps to a full system targeted at information workers warrants careful consideration by (Information and Knowledge Management Professionals.)” Analyst Kyle McNabb writes that “office productivity will evolve, taking advantage of more thin client and SaaS approaches, but we’ve not seen the end of the thick client.”

Project and Portfolio Management

• Magic Quadrant for IT Project and Portfolio Management, 2007 (Gartner, June 15, 2007, .pdf, 213 kb): This Gartner Magic Quadrant by Matt Light and Daniel Stang evaluates leading technology solution vendors in the IT Project and Portfolio Management space. Gartner positions Microsoft in the Leaders quadrant. According to Gartner, Leaders “distinguish themselves with relatively high ratings in many characteristics, not just a few” and “also tend to have, not just capable system integration partners, but some core, direct PPM service offerings, going beyond implementation and support to include process-change consulting.”

Customer Relationship Management

• Microsoft Leads in Record-Centric Customer Service Management Software: The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q2 2007 (Forrester Research, May 24, 2007, .pdf, 199 kb) “Microsoft Dynamics CRM, which delivers sufficient customer service capabilitie at a low cost, has emerged as a leader among customer record-centric products. Although not as functionally rich in core customer service capabilities, Microsoft compensates through its architecture, integration, usability, and business strategy. The product shines in its ability to support agents through phone agent, blended agent, and agent collaboration tools — all of which sit on top of a solid workflow engine. In the future, look for Microsoft to exploit its Customer Care Framework, a modular XML Web Services architecture for rapid development and deployment of contact center solutions.”
  
• Magic Quadrant for CRM Customer Service Contact Centers, (Gartner, March 6, 2007): This Gartner Magic Quadrant by Michael Maoz evaluates leading CRM vendors in the customer service contact centers space and positions Microsoft Dynamics CRM in the Visionary quadrant. According to Gartner, Visionaries are ahead of potential competitors in delivery of innovative products and/or delivery models.
  
• The Forrester Wave™: Midmarket CRM Suites, Q1 2007 (Forrester, February 21, 2007, .pdf , 513 kb): “The Microsoft brand gives Dynamics CRM major momentum. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is one of the newer products included in our evaluation, but the vendor has made impressive progress building out its solution, which emerged as a Leader for the first time in a Forrester Wave.”
  
• The Forrester Wave™: Enterprise CRM Suites, Q1 2007 (Forrester Research, Feb. 5, 2007, .pdf, 488 kb) Microsoft Dynamics CRM was rated a Strong Performer in this Forrester Wave. Forrester applied two sets of criteria weightings to this analysis, one appropriate for large enterprise wide deployments and another focused on midmarket priorities - the two sets of criteria were then used to evaluate and position the solutions.

Waarde van Microsoft patenten hoger dan van IBM

Leuk perspectief op patenten en de waarde ervan. Blijkbaar scoort Microsoft hoger dan IBM als het aankomt op de wetenschappelijke waarde van de ingediende patenten ofwel "hard wetenschap" zoals de patent board het noemt ...

... IBM diende in een jaar tijd bijna 3700 patenten in. Toch scoort Microsoft het hoogst op de lijst van meest krachtige patentaanvragers van de IEEE, dat patentaanvragen toetst. Dat komt vooral omdat de patenten van Microsoft meer waarde hebben dan die van IBM. ...

... Toch voert IBM niet de lijst aan. Dat doet Microsoft. Bij het samenstellen van de lijst kijkt Spectrum niet alleen naar het aantal patenten dat ingediend is, maar ook naar andere factoren. Deze factoren zijn onder andere hoeveel patenten de afgelopen jaren zijn ingediend en hoe vaak nieuwe patentaanvragen verwijzen naar deze eerdere patenten. Ook wordt gekeken hoeveel technieken van een patent gebruikmaken en hoe veel technieken in een patent worden gebruikt. 

IBM scoort dus het best op het aantal aangevraagde patenten, maar de patenten van Microsoft hebben volgens de IEEE meer waarde. "Microsoft doet het goed met de hoogste score op het gebied van wetenschappelijke kracht, wat meet welk deel van de ingediende patenten gelinkt is aan de 'harde' wetenschap", schrijft het Patent Board. ...

Source: IBM dient tien patentaanvragen per dag in
Date Published: Thu, 03 Jan 2008 11:00:06 GMT

IDC: It’s iPhone Day… But Who Wants the iPhone?

Podcast by IDC on the reasons for using and TCO for the iPhone. Too much rational stuff for emaitional buyers :-) ?

IDC and Market Insight Corp. conducted a brief survey of online shoppers of mobile phones to determine consumer interest in the iPhone. Respondents were asked if, and why, they might purchase the iPhone, and how they might use it. According to IDC analysts Shiv Bakhshi and Chris Hazelton, the responses suggest that the cost of acquiring the device — including both the price of the device (sans mobile operator subsidy) and the potential cost of switching carriers — may be an issue.

Source: It’s iPhone Day… But Who Wants the iPhone?
Date Published: Fri, 29 Jun 2007

Forrester: SWOT Analysis: Microsoft Unified Communications, Q3 2007

SWOT Analysis of Microsoft's UC platform by Forrester Research :

Microsoft's leading share in IM and email puts it in an excellent position to win a substantial share of the unified communications (UC) market. How will it differentiate? With a holistic product set delivering instant messaging, email, collaboration, voice, and video features — all with a wide array of device support.

Competitors such as Cisco, Google, and IBM will pose threats to Microsoft with comparable feature sets, extensive delivery mechanisms, and robust interoperability. Microsoft can win customers in the market with its UC offerings so long as it delivers reliability and scalability, demonstrates the business value of a homogeneous Microsoft-branded UC solution, and satisfies users with its unique communications devices and software UC interfaces.

Source: SWOT Analysis: Microsoft Unified Communications, Q3 2007
"Henry Dewing"
Date Published: Mon, 31 Dec 2007

Windows Vista and Windows Live usage scenario's

A number of nice small video's on YouTube on usage scenario's for Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows Live.

Youtube.com

Microsoft Announces Offer to Acquire Fast Search & Transfer

In case you were not yet aware of this, Microsoft is very very serious about Enterprise Search ...

... Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq “MSFT”) today announced that it will make an offer to acquire Fast Search & Transfer ASA (OSE: “FAST”), a leading provider of enterprise search solutions, through a cash tender offer for 19.00 Norwegian kroner (NOK) per share. This offer represents a 42 percent premium to the closing share price on Jan. 4, 2008 (the last trading day prior to this announcement), and values the fully diluted equity of FAST at 6.6 billion NOK (or approximately $1.2 billion U.S.). FAST’s board of directors has unanimously recommended that its shareholders accept the offer. In addition, shareholders representing in aggregate 37 percent of the outstanding shares, including FAST’s two largest institutional shareholders, Orkla ASA and Hermes Focus Asset Management Europe, have irrevocably undertaken to accept the offer. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second quarter of calendar year 2008.

“Enterprise search is becoming an indispensable tool to businesses of all sizes, helping people find, use and share critical business information quickly,” said Jeff Raikes, president of the Microsoft Business Division. “Until now organizations have been forced to choose between powerful, high-end search technologies or more mainstream, infrastructure solutions. The combination of Microsoft and FAST gives customers a new choice: a single vendor with solutions that span the full range of customer needs.”

The companies possess a number of complementary strengths that advance a shared vision for helping businesses deliver information worker productivity and improved business results. FAST has a deep talent pool and is respected throughout the technology industry for its expertise in best-in-class, high-end search solutions. Microsoft offers worldwide customer reach and an extensive partner network, and is the recognized leader in business productivity with the popular Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, which combines search with best-in-class collaboration, business intelligence, portal and content management capabilities.

“This acquisition gives FAST an exciting way to spread our cutting-edge search technologies and innovations to more and more organizations across the world,” said John Lervik, CEO of FAST. “By joining Microsoft, we can benefit from the momentum behind the SharePoint business productivity platform to really empower a broader set of users through Microsoft’s strong sales and marketing network. It validates FAST’s momentum and leadership in enterprise search.”

In addition to bolstering Microsoft’s enterprise search efforts, this acquisition increases Microsoft’s research and development presence in Europe, complementing existing research teams in Cambridge, England, and Copenhagen, Denmark, with new and significant capabilities in Norway.

The offer will be subject to customary terms and conditions, including receipt of acceptances representing more than 90 percent of FAST shares and voting power on a fully diluted basis, and receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals on terms acceptable to Microsoft. The complete details of the offer, including all terms and conditions, will be contained in the offer document, which is expected to be sent to FAST shareholders during the week of Jan. 14, 2008. The offer will not be made in any jurisdiction in which the making of the offer would not be in compliance with the laws of such jurisdiction. ...

Source: Microsoft Announces Offer to Acquire Fast Search & Transfer
Date Published: Tue, 08 Jan 2008 09:52:00 GMT

Gizmodo: This Video Makes Bill Gates Look Cooler Than Steve Jobs

Very funny video :-) (follow link to source to play the video)

OMG, I can hear the fanboys battling already. Here's a video from last night's CES 2008 keynote, Bill Gates' last for the foreseeable future. And I know its scripted, edited and contrived, but I'm sold: The man is a cool geek. He's not cool in a fonzie/Jobs kind of way in this video. But very much like how he seemed at total ease with his geekiness and place in the universe at Mossberg and Swisher's All Things D conference the guy just looks happy here. (Especially while playing goofy and modest butt of the joke with this short's star studded cast.) He seems nothing like the anti-antitrust mogul with a killer instinct and "bad taste" we learned to hate in Pirates of Silicon Valley. Fanboys, get to your comment battle stations. Just leave me out of it -- I only wrote the headline.

Source : Gizmodo.com

 

Update 8/1/2008. The Full Video incl intro is avaialble here. For the Funny part go 5 min or so in the video: Microsoft.com

AG: Windows meest gebruikt op virtuele servers

Overzicht van de meest gebruikte OS onder service providers :

... Microsoft Windows is het meest gebruikte besturingssysteem op virtuele servers. Dat blijkt uit een enquête van de technologieafdeling Sage Research van onderzoeksbedrijf Chadwick Martin Bailey, gehouden onder serviceproviders en professionals.

Veel ondervraagden bleken meerdere besturingssystemen naast elkaar te hebben gevirtualiseerd. Microsoft Windows wordt op die manier gebruikt door 96 procent van de respondenten.

Op de tweede plek staat Linux met 52 procent. De top vier wordt afgerond met Unix (30 procent) en Solaris (29 procent). ...

Source: Windows meest gebruikt op virtuele servers
Automatisering Gids
Date Published: Thu, 03 Jan 2008