ITNews

The Vista trudge continues. The InfoWorld posting Price cuts don’t get to heart of Vista’s problems, says analyst tells the story.

“In some ways, it’s an attempt to remove any barriers that may be dissuading people from buying Vista,” said Michael Cherry, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft, a Kirkland, Wash.-based research firm. “But the missing step here is simplifying what people need to know to buy. People are so confused about the versions and what they need on hardware that they don’t even get to the price.”

But Microsoft didn’t reduce the number of Vista versions on Thursday; instead, it said it would cut the price of the OS. How much the company’s didn’t spell out except in general terms: In developing countries some prices will be slashed in half, while in established markets such as in the U.S. and Europe, prices may fall just a few percentage points, or not at all.

Let’s see. Price cuts for some, and none for others. Strange.

The closing of the posting seems to sum up the latest installment of the ongoing Microsoft comedy of errors.

“For one thing, I don’t sense the need that people think they need to have the latest technology anymore,” Cherry continued, giving his interpretation of what’s forced Microsoft’s hand. “That’s one. The other is that Microsoft has always gambled that if their software got bigger and they added more features, they didn’t have to fine-tune it because the hardware would be there to bail them out.

“That’s not what happened here with Vista.”

Somehow, I think Microsoft would probably continue their Vista failing streak, even if they gave it away.

…John

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer posting Microsoft execs saw problems with early Vista paints a sleazy picture of Microsoft, Intel, and the release of Vista.

Microsoft and PC makers used “Windows Vista Capable” stickers in an attempt to maintain sales of Windows XP machines during the 2006 holiday shopping season, after Windows Vista’s retail release was delayed to early 2007. The internal e-mails reveal an extensive debate inside Microsoft over the hardware specifications needed to qualify.

One message points to chip maker Intel Corp., a key Microsoft partner, to explain the decision to lower the requirements a piece of hardware needed to qualify for the “Windows Vista Capable” designation.

“In the end, we lowered the requirement to help Intel make their quarterly earnings so they could continue to sell motherboards with the 915 graphics embedded,” Microsoft executive John Kalkman wrote in the message, referring to a class of Intel graphics technology that doesn’t work with Windows Vista’s most-advanced graphics technology, known as Aero Glass.

In another message, Microsoft executive Mike Nash wrote that he “personally got burned by the Intel 915 chipset issue.”

Looks to me like conspiring to “get the numbers,” and pumping and dumping an uncooked product onto unsuspecting wretches, was far more important than getting it right. The price for such unscrupulous actions may be a totally failed product and increased difficulties launching future products.

Someday, hopefully soon, the computer buying public is going to feel they have been had again and again by Microsoft and friends, and register their anger by choosing other products.

…John

IBM upgraded the z9 mainframe to the 50% faster z10. The refrigerator size box selling price starts at $1 million.

(From IBM)

What do you get for a cool million? IBM says the z10 machines have the computing power of 1,500 standard business server computers, but are smaller and 85 percent more energy-efficient than such a server cluster.

IBM has been doing multiprocessor systems for ever. The z10 uses quad-core processors. A fully loaded z10 has 64 processors.

The z10 isn’t just for the “legacy” crowd. It also runs Linux.

This grey beard recalls when a cool million for a mainframe was chump change, size of a truck, and required another truck full of refrigeration gear.

…John

Don’t want to continue on the Microsoft trek? Maybe dumping Windows is your ticket.

(From: InfoWorld)

The InfoWorld posting Time to dump Windows? says

Can it be done? Is it the right time? Find out what it’ll take to finally switch to desktop Mac OS X or Linux

The Mac OS X option
Of the plausible alternatives to Windows, Apple’s Mac OS X has the largest market share and history. InfoWorld chief technologist Tom Yager has written that the latest version of the Mac OS, Leopard (10.5), is simply the best operating system available.

The PC Mag posting Apple OS X 10.5.2 (Leopard) says

After three months with Apple’s Mac OS X Leopard Version 10.5, I have three main things to say about it. First: Despite minor problems, it’s by far the best operating system ever written for the vast majority of consumers, with dozens of new features that have real practical value—like truly automated backups, document and spreadsheet preview images in folders, and notes and to-do lists integrated into the mail program. Propeller-heads with IT know-how will no doubt hold up Linux as the better choice, and Vista has its devotees as well (and will probably have more when SP1 is widely available), but, for the average user, Leopard is the most polished and easiest to use OS I’ve tested. Second: Leopard started out with a generous share of first-version glitches, but almost all of them have now been resolved by the second of two automated updates, which brings Leopard up to version 10.5.2. Finally, Leopard is extravagantly overdressed for the jobs that it’s designed to do, and its pervasive eye-candy starts out looking dazzling but soon becomes distracting. Fortunately, from the beginning, the OS started out with options that let you put it on a low-eye-sugar diet, and the latest update has even more.

I’ll second that. My only regret about switching to a Mac is I didn’t do it sooner.

The Linux option
The more technically inclined may be attracted to Linux, the most popular form of desktop Unix. Linux desktops typically are challenged by limited hardware compatibility (due to lack of drivers), limited application options, and user interfaces that require active participation to get work done, which tends to keep Linux away from the general user population. But those who work with a Linux server all day may find that using it on the desktop as well actually makes their lives easier.

InfoWorld Enterprise Desktop blogger Randall Kennedy argues that desktop Linux is doomed to remain a tiny niche OS, given the Linux community’s lack of interest in providing a UI that regular people could use.

Before switching to a Mac, I gave Linux desktop a shoot. I like may attributes of Linux. Unfortunately, I agree with Randall Kennedy view about the desktop.

I regularly connect to local and remote Windows server and workstations using the Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) client running on my Mac. Thanks Microsoft.

…John

The new Parallel Computing Lab at the University of California at Berkeley is funded by Intel and Microsoft. UCB beat out MIT, Stanford, and the University of Illinois, for the honors of cracking this tough nut.

The EETimes posting Multicore puts screws to parallel-programming models gives some of the details.

I’ve seen several schemes over the years to harness Symmetric multiprocessing, or SMP, computing cycles. Some highly hand tweaked programs showed what could be done. I don’t think any compiler has been very successful turning generic source code into screaming performers.

The Parallel Computing Laboratory (“Par Lab”) approach is

We decided on a fresh approach: to start top-down from applications; to innovate across disciplinary boundaries by creating a culture that encourages interaction and cooperation; and to create prototypes that can be quickly adapted to reflect multidisciplinary innovation.

I’m looking forward to the prototypes, and seeing how they crack the share-cache and share-nothing multicore nuts.

…John