Pattern Finder

The Quotes That Didn't Make the NYT Article on Google vs. Microsoft

The New York Times just published an article by Steve Lohr and Miguel Helft on Google vs. Microsoft entitled, "Google Gets Ready to Rumble with Microsoft." While I was quoted in it--"A recent report by the Burton Group, a technology research firm, concluded that it was 'unclear at this point whether Google will be able to capitalize on the trends that it’s accelerating.'”--there were a number of my quotes left on the cutting room floor. So I thought I'd add them back in via my blog.

Back on December 4, Steve Lohr talked to me and Ken Anderson (an analyst in our Executive Advisory Program) for 45 minutes on our views about Google vs. Microsoft. I was on the phone due to my August report on Google Apps, and Ken was on the phone because he used to be the CIO at Google. Steve quizzed me on Google's strengths and weaknesses in the enterprise space, and pressed Ken to divulge some good insider stories (happily, Ken held firm).

Some of the quotes I tossed into the conversation with Steve were:

Standards Work Doesn't Have to Be Contentious

As a relief from the flame wars going on in the ODF vs. OOXML space (e.g., Brian Jones' recent blog post about Rob Weir's "We're at war" statement), check out what's going on with the OpenSearch protocol.

On November 6, DeWitt Clinton (currently at Google; previously at A9/Amazon, Microsoft, and Tripod, among others) put up a blog post in which he noted that Microsoft is using OpenSearch to implement the Federated Search Connectors in Search Server 2008. He pointed out that Microsoft is extending the OpenSearch description document format with the Location Definition file format. He then did a compare and contrast between the baseline standard and Microsoft's enhancements, and midway through the post said, "First off, it’s great to see Microsoft continue to embrace OpenSearch, and extend it in a good way. They’ve remained faithful to the specification and introduced a number of valuable improvements." He mentioned in the post that he was puzzled by a few things in the Location Definition spec, and someone at Microsoft made a comment to the post that day, explaining some of the spec decisions.

In any case, after following some of the "he said, she said" posts in the ODF vs. OOXML world, it's a relief to see rational discussions about a standard by employees in competing companies.

Wrestling with Windows Home Server

Windows Home Server is a really cool product. So I was bummed when it refused to install on my desktop PC. Happily, in the wrestling match that ensued ("Ladies and gentlemen! In this corner we have the newly released Windows Home Server! In the opposite corner, we have former Support Engineer Guy Creese!") I pinned the product to the mat. After being shown who's boss, the product is now up, running, and protecting my PCs.

The first challenge was to get Windows Home Server to even show up for the wrestling match. Windows Home Server is a new product by Microsoft that automatically backs up multiple PCs in a home network. Although it's possible to get the software and install it on a bare PC, the more common model is to buy the software already installed on a box: HP's MediaSmart Home Server is one of the first solutions available. On December 1, I bought the HP EX470 MediaSmart Home Server from Amazon.com on one of the few days it was available--it's currently out of stock again.

While unpacking the system I was struck by its "cuteness." It's glossy black; 5.5" wide, 10" deep, and  9.75" tall; and has glowing blue lights on the front (whose intensity you can control from the Windows Home Server menu--a nice touch).

So, all excited about my new toy, I went to install the software on my Dell 9100 (the Home Server is "headless"--it has no monitor--you set up the system via a PC on the network) and it wouldn't install. After accepting the license verbiage and clicking "Install," the menu would think for three seconds and then hang, with Windows XP announcing it had encountered a problem and sending an error report to Microsoft. At this point, the wrestling match began.