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20 headlines about Microsoft’s Vista OS Debut
Enjoy!

Geek Corner: Windows Vista not ‘Wow’ing
Vista security claim challenged
Windows Vista’s Hyped Security Will Be Tested
Vista’s Hello; Gates’ Last Hurrah?
Hackers Race to Be First to Find Holes in Windows Vista
Hackers Off And Running To Test Vista’s Hyped Security
Vista gets off to a slow start
Microsoft’s long-delayed Vista hits retail shelves, but few rush …
Few Rush Out to Buy New Windows Vista
Consumers yawn with release of Vista OS
After Marketing Frenzy, a Tame Release for Vista
Microsoft debuts first new Windows since 2001
Another hard day at the Office 2007
New Microsoft operating system low on buzz
Expert: Gaming Glitch Found In Windows Vista
Wait! Don’t buy Windows Vista!
Microsoft downplays Vista’s speech recognition exploit
The picture in Vista is anything but hi-def
Playing iTunes on Windows Vista requires tricky workaround
Vista hole opens door to ’shout hacking’

If you try to assess the status of Microsoft’s Vista debut online today, you might first notice that many computer related periodicals offer positive or neutral headlines about the OS. That could cause you to wonder if there is another unholy alliance between Microsoft and the magazine industry. Not unlike the long standing need of third party vendors to have a good relationship with Microsoft to survive in the hardware or software business. But regardless of that, there are plenty of other reports out there that get to the heart of the MS problem.

Just now, while preparing this post, some peculiar things are happening. They might be worth mentioning. Since I was Googling to prepare this, Google has been uncharacteristically performance challenged today. Server errors and erroneous responses to simple requests. The reason I mention this is when I returned to make some notes on the magazine reviews of the Vista launch, the previous hits were gone. I have been unable to retrieve the earlier hits. And it was real noticeable that when simply searching as before on the single word “vista” much of the returned data showed negative Vista stories. Oh no, a conspiracy theory for today. Next was to be the negative part of the Vista launch. Might as well continue with that.

Microsoft’s top three Vista security features
InfoWorld via Yahoo! News - Jan 31 2:53 PM
Microsoft finally rolled its Vista operating system out the door Tuesday, billing it as its most secure operating system ever, but what are the security features that will really matter to enterprise users?

Interesting that they ask what will matter to enterprise users when they are the only ones to get the complete security offering from Microsoft.

Gartner Dings Vista On BitLocker
TechWeb via Yahoo! News - Jan 31
Small businesses and home users of Vista won’t get the benefit of Microsoft’s disk protection, an analyst notes.

The report below may be the most compelling reason to avoid Vista.

DON’T BUY VISTA! HERE’S WHY!
The Oregonian
Thursday, 1 February 2007, Vista gives a view of a new world Internet law professor Michael Geist casts an eye over the fine print in Windows Vista and is concerned at what he finds.Windows Vista on display, APConsumers got their hands on Vista in late JanuaryVista, the latest version of Microsoft Windows has made its long awaited …

The chronic security issues will likely appear soon as every other Windows product has. Our last offering of reports on Vista, at least for this post, are listed below. They feature concerns that will support the other reports online that most are waiting to see what happens and Vista is not flying off the shelves. The performance of Microsoft has been so sad over the years we are compelled to do our part to offer criticism.

Gamers Report Windows Vista Glitches
NewsFactor via Yahoo! News - Jan 31 9:58 AM
As Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates travels the world promoting Windows Vista and its Xbox interoperability, some gamers are traveling the Web posting negative comments about the new operating system’s impact on games.

Bloggers air gripes over Vista’s DRM
Some folks, it turns out, are pretty livid about Microsoft’s copy-protection measures. Not because they’re professional pirates hoping to make a killing selling copied DVDs and not even because they’re casual music pirates who will miss getting stuff for free–but because the system itself is apparently capable of locking you out of your own machine, and because any other kind of software bought at the store might not work with the operating system by next year.

Not a set of small problems for Microsoft to overcome and we are only too happy to present some of them for you.
Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Microsoft’s net income falls by 28 percent in Q2
Microsoft’s net income fell 28 percent year over year for its 2007 second fiscal quarter as it spent ahead of its mass market launch of Windows Vista this month.

A few days ago the only smile in a group of news items was Senator John Kerry announcing his intention not to run for President for 2008. Ah, but this is much better. The sky is falling. Really, the sky is falling for Microsoft. Why do you suppose Mr Gates Foundation is distancing himself from the company. This way he can blame its fall on someone else.

Who cares? More evidence of the much anticipated fall of Microsoft will always be welcom here.
Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Who cares what Bill Gates thinks about anything? Ok, maybe anyone mindless enough to own stock in MS. Maybe some crazed investment banker or billionaire wannabe is interested. But certainly no one should be waiting for Gates to tell us what a wired home should be like. Hey Bill, run your foundation, try to make yourself look better than you have any right to look and most improtantly, shut up.

LCD tv’s and of all things, content, plus the misplaced babble from Bill Gates underscore the top news from the Consumer Electronics Show. Substantially no better than the auto show, the electronics industry has made some notable blunders over the years. Without going back to the days of vacuum tubes, one such notable blunder involves the battle over VHS or Beta as the industry standard. The story attributes the VHS win to market forces and consumer preference over the superior quality of Beta. CD’s were touted as a media that was nearly indestructable upon entry to the market. There are just a couple of blunders. A top news item for this year is content. With a long and sordid history from the likes of the cable television industry, content is purely marketing strategy and hype, aka, BS. Cable television’s notable atttribute of 57 channels and nothing on was inspired by their habit of spawning a new channel based on greed every time content had a success. For a long time all you get at best is 6 hours of content repeated four times a day. And most of that is reruns. Not to mention the original appeal of cable was to pay upfront to eliminate annoying advertisements. Ya, that lasted a long time didn’t it?

Dole out new technology after you have bled the consumer dry with dribbling out tiny increments in advancements so the greedy corporate fiends can gouge the consumer for every buck they are dumb enough to contribute. Send all the jobs overseas or import cheap labor, keep voting for party politics and allow multi-million dollar golden parachutes for any clown smart enough to get a sleazy board of directors to go along with it. Force unnecessary digital TV on an unsuspecting public and have an annual electronics show to promote the continuation of this nonsense.
Good going America, keep up the good work.

C. Harris
MoreWhat.com
this qualifies as a rant, not well written based on emotional distress over mindless consumption

As a follow up to the last couple of posts, detailing the most popular section from Google News would be mostly pointless. In summary, some stories are staying there too long even if they are worthwhile. Maybe that can be blamed on the hectic holiday week or two. People are returning to the routine tasks associated with the first day back to work or sleeping in if they work for the federal government.

Our anti-Microsoft bias allows us to mention the story about MS sending laptops to 90 bloggers. But our MS bias also allows us to not waste time reading it since anything related to MS is stupid. Don’t have time for stupid today. Stories about MS rank right up there with Hollywood gossip crap which wastes too much space in the media already.

A recent story that could use more attention is the US announcement to safeguard the polar bear population whose habitat is facing a bleak future based on recent events related to rising temperatures and areas experiencing an unusual meltdown in areas not previously affected. Rather than continuous argument by opposing forces, it would be helpful to enter into productive discussions to determine the actual threat or lack of same.

Reports related to current international conflicts, terrorism and the usual set of war updates focus too much on each new event. A continued or renewed attention to the big picture or the core problems responsible for these situations would be more productive if anyone is really interested in solving major issues.

Overall, starting this new year, it may be helpful to focus on the news media as a major contributor to the lack of progress on major issues of world importance. How often are reports in the news entirely too incomplete? Enough already with the paid consultants, undisclosed sources and anonymous statements from ghost sources claimed to be insiders, senior officials or other prominent unknowns. Maybe the media could come up with some meaningful information, reports, facts or interviews that actually connect with reality. Otherwise the media is no more helpful than the gossip machine or tabloid press for which they display disdain. To be continued.

Stanford Matthews

As we make the transition back to routine things that matter and slowly move the focus from Christmas, New Year’s and other holiday considerations, our first post after displaying James H. Snowden’s ” A Wonderful Night” concerns video gaming. Gaming is a good example of what matters to many that should not. At least, not as much as it does. With all the important issues that need attention, gaming, stands as a testament to the apathy or misguided priorities of the public at large. But there was some unexpected humor with gaming in the big retail season. It is a big retail sales event based on the importance that is given to it rather than the primary focus of the birth of Christ. Gaming had a large share of the news cycles this past month when compared to more spiritual endeavors. That is probably not a good thing. But here is the bit of humor.

This may not be fact since references to sales of Microsoft’s Xbox, Nintendo’s Wii and Sony’s Playstation 3 that we have seen came from what appear to be Nintendo fan or corporate sites, but assuming for the moment it is true, Nintendo’s Wii seems to be the big winner. Some reports indicate Nintendo outsold Sony two to one. We found this surprising and funny. Also humorous was Microsoft expanding their warranty for Xbox. The only thing worse than an inadequate warranty is having a good warranty plus needing to use it. Based on MS’s reputation with their product lines, it would not surprise if many people made warranty claims. Not side-splitting humor but we find it amusing largely due to the insanity of such popular culture fads or crazes that commonly dominate life in the US.

How about we all make a New Year’s resolution to contribute more time to solving major issues this year. Odds are that even if we do make this resolution it will be no more successful than most resolutions but it is worth the effort if only to make us more aware that we need to address things that really matter. For now, enough said. Happy New Year from all of us at MoreWhat.com

Stanford Matthews and C. Harris

Problems plague Xbox Live video
Microsoft cites high demand for movie, TV downloads
By TODD BISHOP
P-I REPORTER

Early users of Microsoft Corp.’s new Xbox Live online TV and
movie service have been reporting widespread technical problems,
including unusually long download times, undelivered content and
repeat charges.

Microsoft acknowledged the difficulties Friday, promised refunds
to people experiencing trouble and said it was on track to resolving
the situation.

The upside for Microsoft is these problems are not related to late
or postponed releases or security flaws or lack of features. The
downside is Microsoft has found an entirely new area in which to
fail. Ah, but the loyal fans will continue to return to the power of
the dark side.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Anything we can point you to that is critical of Microsoft or any
product or service they are involved with is a noble mission in
our humble opinions. Enjoy.

Perspective: Zune is out of tune, for now

By Scott Ard
Published: November 13, 2006, 12:48 PM PST
At the risk of being called an Apple fanboy, a Microsoft basher
and a dog kicker, I gotta say the Zune does not impress me.
Microsoft recently sent an emissary to CNET with three
Zunes to demonstrate Redmond’s new offensive against the
Apple-iPod

Allchin Backtracks On Vista ‘No Anti-Virus’ Comments
InformationWeek, NY - 2 hours ago
Jim Allchin, co-president of Microsoft’s Platforms & Services ision, has
clarified his widely reported comment that Vista was so secure he had not
bothered …

Vista delay has PC makers fearing slow holiday sales
Fort Worth Star Telegram, TX - 9 hours ago
… Most of those PCs will be able to run Vista later, and Microsoft and major
PC makers in late October kicked off a campaign called the Technology
Guarantee …

Pirate Vista Ahoy !!!
p2pnet.net, Canada - 9 hours ago
p2pnet.net News:- Some people won’t have to wait until the end of January
next year to get their hands on Microsoft Vista. “It appears …

Vista pirated already
bit-tech.net, UK - 10 hours ago
… come Summer next year. Vista hasn’t been the only Microsoft product
targeted by the pirates in recent days. Office 2007 is also …

Microsoft To Post 6 Patches on Tuesday
Tech2, India - 12 hours ago
… that it will be releasing six security updates this … of the updates are
labeled ‘critical’, Microsoft’s highest warning … Other yet to be patched
flaws have been …

Security Bites Podcast: Get ready for Microsoft patches
CNET News.com, CA - Nov 10, 2006
Microsoft on Tuesday plans to deliver six security bulletins with patches.
Also, Mozilla has fixed Firefox 1.5 flaws, Windows Vista is ready and
Google sent …

Microsoft to patch XML flaw
Builder UK, UK - Nov 10, 2006
… bulletins will deliver updates for Windows, some of which will be rated
“critical”, Microsoft said. Security companies are tracking several flaws
in the …

It would be in the interest of everyone in the open source community
and equally beneficial for the remainder of the world to shun Novell
and SUSE Linux lest they and Microsoft become successful as the
new Axis of Evil on the planet.

Microsoft has played the IT version of Star Wars’ Darth Vader for
many years and their deal with Novell is one more step to complete
the cast of the Empire Strikes Back. Only JEDI warrior Red Hat is
helping the Skywalker Fedora attempt commercial and open source
alliances that should be one path to the future. An alliance like all
the ones that work due to benefit to both sides of the equation.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Novell Sells Out

Thursday, November 02 2006 @ 05:55 PM EST

You can read the press release for yourself. Novell is paying
Microsoft for its patents, and will pay royalties ongoing. Microsoft
in turn promises not to sue individual non-commercial coders or
paid coders who contribute to SUSE:

Under the patent agreement, both companies will make up-front
payments in exchange for a release from any potential liability
for use of each others patented intellectual property, with a net
balancing payment from Microsoft to Novell reflecting the larger
applicable volume of Microsoft’s product shipments. Novell will
also make running royalty payments based on a percentage of its
revenues from open source products.

Industry Reactions Mixed About Novell/Microsoft
eWeek, NY -
The Nov. 2 announcement of a mutual-assistance contract
between Microsoft and Novell has been greeted by others
with reactions ranging from modest hopes for …