Vista DayMicrosoft's next-generation desktop OS is, at last, available to business customers. On Unblog, Barbara Darrow sees a different rabbit in Microsoft's hat: "A completely non-scientific survey of Microsoft partners indicates--at least to me-- that interest is higher in the new Office 2007 slate of products than in Vista itself. Maybe that's because Office 2007 is simply not as late as Vista and the team hasn't had to pull back on as many promises as the new Windows client. Office is hitting its 36- to 48-month release cycle pretty much right on." Top Links: Microsoft's Vista Launch Page Our Windows News Center One Hundred Things To Know About Vista Review: A Comprehensive Look At Microsoft Office 2007
"Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was typically ebullient, expecting Vista take-up to be faster, stronger than that for Windows XP... UPDATE: Dan Saffer, at Adaptive Path (a San-Francisco-based web design firm), raves about the new Office: "I have been looking over the changes that have taken place in MS Office 2007, and all I can say is, wow. Office 2007 just might be the best interaction design to ever come out of Microsoft, and it’s certainly the most significant upgrade to a major suite of applications since, well, probably ever." Newsweek just featured Office's' radically changed look as well. UPDATE: CRN Test Center's Frank Ohlhorst's is less taken with Vista, particularly the issue that may make or break it--security: "What is the compelling reason to upgrade? Some may say it's security. But to me, most of the security enhancements stem from end-user interaction via User Access Control (UAC) -- in other words, ask the user if it's OK to do something. That's not a security improvement; it's just a way to shift the blame from poor code execution to the end user. After all, most end users will probably click "OK" without even reading the warning text." Meanwhile, Gizmodo doesn't like the first Vista commercial. Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:26 AM, November 30, 2006 A New Look For CRN TVWe've upgraded the player for CRN TV to give you a bigger picture, more frequently updated content and immediate access to our recent CRN TV and GovernmentVAR TV episodes. This week's shows include profiles of our newest CRN Hall of Fame Inductees. Today: Intel's Craig Barrett. Tune in and let us know what you think. Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:28 AM, November 27, 2006 Countdown To VistaAlexander Wolfe looks at the final beta build of Window Vista, due out November 30th. "Windows Vista RTM is far more solid than both this summer's Beta 2 and the almost-but-not-quite-buttoned-down RC2 version released earlier this fall." Also, don't miss last month's roundup of the Top 5 Vista Features For VARs as well as our live update of Vista news in the Windows News Center. Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:21 AM, November 27, 2006 Six Cool NotebooksCan "unrecalled" become a new marketing slogan? The CRN Test Center's Mark Spiwak tests six notebooks not affected by the nearly-ten-million strong laptop-battery recall from Sony: "The CRN Test Center decided to take a hard look at six notebooks that were not affected by the recalls. We evaluated everything from battery and air vent temperatures, AC power draw and battery life to performance and price. Test Center engineers then set out to determine which of them runs the coolest and draws the least amount of power. What we found is that there's a real difference among those notebooks." Posted by Joe Caponi at 12:35 PM, November 22, 2006 Five Answers From Dell's (Delayed) EarningsLast week, Ed Moltzen posed five questions he wanted answered in Dell's earnings report. Now we've got the report, and Ed examines the results: "Many investors are primarily focused on whether or not Dell has improved its product and profitability margins. But there are several other questions that Dell may or may not answer this week where the answers could have both long- and short-term implications for the company, if not its stock price." Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:12 AM, November 22, 2006 Palmasino Vists Second Life
If you're not up-to-speed on online role playing games, it's time to get caught up. My kids play in Club Penguin and they're eager to get into ToonTown; World of Warcraft is the largest, at least according to MMOGChart.com; but it's Second Life, with it's realistic characters and rich economic and social features, that has rated having a Reuters news bureau. With Sam Palmisano running around in there, it's no surprise. Posted by Joe Caponi at 12:02 PM, November 20, 2006 Under the Hood of Mini-PCsThis week, Techbuilder takes a detailed look at Intel's Core Duo family of processors and how they've given a boost to mini-style PCs that can be deployed for a vast variety of uses: "These systems must be seen and experienced to be fully appreciated. Many buyers will find them irresistible. These systems also offer great value propositions for PC users who want compact, quiet systems for home or small business office use. Bottom line: Their tiny footprints, quiet ways and sleek good looks are sure to attract both attention and interest." Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:57 AM, November 20, 2006 VARBusiness 2007 State of the MarketWant to know what your partners, your competitors, are really planning for 2007? We've got it. Posted by Joe Caponi at 05:46 PM, November 15, 2006 Work In A Time Of WarCRN's Scott Campbell travelled last year to post-Katrina New Orleans to cover VARs struggling to keep their business operating and serve their customers in the flooded city. Now he has an even more remarkable story to tell. In Survival Of A Solution Provider, Campbell goes to Beruit, Lebanon to speak to the people of BMB Group, a Cisco and Microsoft partner, facing similar issues in the wake of the month-long Hezbollah-Israel war this year: "War was a part of their lives again. The solution provider's managers met to strategize and prepare multiple scenarios as the war raged on. First, Samia offered all 40 employees in Beirut jobs in BMB offices in Algeria or Egypt if they wanted to leave. That soothed concerns about job security... Read it all. And don't miss Campbell's slide show of images from Beruit. Posted by Joe Caponi at 06:15 PM, November 14, 2006 A Links Catch-UpYep, I've been travelling for the past week, getting a jump on the holidays and visiting family. But things weren't slow around ChannelWeb -- here are some of the best reads from the past last week: CRN names the Top 25 Most Influential Executives Of 2006, complete with slide show. The CRN Test Center puts three channel-friendly Linux desktop distributions (Linspire, SUSE and Xandros) to the test. Good to its word, Sun moves more of the Java code base to the open-source General Public License. Speaking of Java, Stacy Cowley looks at how Eclipse has become the "de-facto industry standard" for Java development. Robert Faletra has advice for solution providers eyeing the managed services market: Go for it: "In this early stage of market development, sales cycles are long, success rates are low and profitable pricing models are unclear. The advantage of being in the market at this stage—if you can afford it—is that the expertise and knowledge that's gained accelerates your business in stage two, where most profits will be made."
"Auerbach was maniacal in his pursuit of victory. He always had a plan. He was always three or four steps ahead of his opponents... In the VARBusiness 2007 State of the Market survey, leadership factors heavily in the success of a business. More so than any other method, establishing and managing goals, having management focus on sales and formalizing a sales plan are what it takes to grow a reseller business. You can see Auerbach in these characteristics." And a well-earned thanks to VARBusiness' Gayle Kesten, who filled in here at ChannelWeb and deployed our Executive Briefing and Web Services newsletters. Posted by Joe Caponi at 03:48 PM, November 13, 2006 Go To 11 (n)The standard is far from finalized, but that hasn't stopped vendors and early adopters from deploying 802.11n wireless networks, according to Peter Hagopian, who writes this week's TechBuilder recipe. "The first draft of 802.11n specifies support of speeds up to 270 megabits per second (Mbps), or five times that of a typical 802.11g network, which runs at 54 Mbps. Longer term, the speed of 802.11n devices is expected to double, reaching 540 Mbps." Get started with a few hundred dollars of equipment. Posted by Joe Caponi at 01:40 PM, November 13, 2006 TechBuilder Tests SLED10TechBuilder's A. Lizard evaluates SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop version 10 from a system builder perspective: "The real problem with the "enterprise distributions" like this one, at least from the viewpoint of a white box builder, is that they're intended for companies big enough to have their own internal Linux support capabilities." Of course, that doesn't prevent him from applying a few tweaks to get it humming along nicely... Posted by Joe Caponi at 09:26 AM, November 6, 2006 November Surprise: Microsoft-Novell DealPaula Rooney looks at the the details. Technical: "The companies agreed to improve interoperability by enhancing and optimizing performance of Linux workloads on Microsoft's virtualization platform and conversely, virtualized Windows workloads that run on SUSE Linux Enterprise 10's Xen-based virtual platform. Legal: "(The) far reaching pact... contains a new "patent covenant" that will free their mutual customers from potential legal liabilities when deploying joint Windows-Linux solutions." Continue reading "November Surprise: Microsoft-Novell Deal" Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:03 AM, November 3, 2006 Kumar SentencedComputer Associate's former CEO, Sanjay Kumar, sentenced for securities fraud "In April, Kumar and co-defendant Stephen Richards, once a top CA sales executive, pleaded guilty to a nine-count indictment charging them with securities fraud, conspiracy and obstruction of justice, making false Securities and Exchange Commission filings, perjury and making false statements. The two men had originally pleaded not guilty. I've written about CA before, as has VARBusiness' Lawrence Walsh (scroll down a bit). What's sad is how easy it would have been to avoid this situation--for instance, by not breaking the law. Posted by Joe Caponi at 01:13 PM, November 2, 2006 Your Product Mix Is Out of WhackParticularly if you're relying on 'traditional' vendors. Robert Faletra says "You need to look beyond the traditional vendor set, and that takes work." "The profitability that generally comes with newer products or vendors used to be because there was lots of mystery around the product set. Today that's less true, and in fact, the better margins tend to be because the product set is more competitive and just does more at a lower price." Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:48 AM, November 2, 2006 Eye on DellOver on The Chart, Ed Moltzen has been keeping an eye on Dell, including it's plans for Vista and Linux support (or lack thereof), as well as some analyst upgrades on Dell stock. Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:31 AM, November 2, 2006 The Ultimate Channel BlogrollOver on VARBusiness, online editor Gayle Kesten has put together a tremendous directory of channel business and technology blogs from vendors, solution providers, reporters and analysts. Click around, and feel free to send in any blogs you recommend. Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:05 AM, November 2, 2006 2007 Editorial CalendarsMedia buyers, concerned citizens, industrial spies... our CRN and VARBusiness 2007 Editorial Calendars are online. Posted by Joe Caponi at 04:05 PM, November 1, 2006 |
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It's not the biggest online role-playing game, but it's the one that's getting all the attention lately. Second Life was the 'location' where IBM CEO Sam Palmasino last week 
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