Tag Archives | Microsoft

Why Can’t All Software Installation Be Like This?

Posted by Harry McCracken on July 17, 2009 at 2:08 pm

Microsoft is saying it’ll roll out an update to Internet Explorer 8 in August with a tweak to the setup routine which I just love. If you have another browser set as the default, you’ll see this dialog when you run IE for the first time:

Internet Explorer First Run

Not only does it not set IE as the default browser without your permission, but it doesn’t even pre-select IE–an option which is always the one that Microsoft would prefer, but frequently not the one the user in question prefers. You’re forced to click your preferred option; there’s essentially no way to end up with IE as your default browser by accident, and nobody will feel that Microsoft is tugging at his or her sleeve or interfering with the system configuration.

[UPDATE: Clarification based on feedback in comments–what Microsoft is doing is showing you this dialog even if you chose Express Settings, which formerly set IE8 as the default browser.]

(Okay, it’s possible that some people will maintain that Microsoft shouldn’t even ask about default browser settings–but it seems like a reasonable matter to bring up during installation of a new browser.)

I’d like to see every software company with a product that involves operating system default settings take this approach; it should also be required behavior when it comes to depositing icons in the Start menu, the desktop, and the System Tray.

The world of software and the Web is rife with examples of companies erring on the side of serving their own interests rather than helping consumers get what they want. The next time I install IE 8 on a system and see this dialog, it’ll make me feel better about Microsoft’s role as a citizen of the dominion that is my PC. Isn’t it just possible that that’s worth more to the company than any number of PCs having their default browser switched to IE for reasons other than express desire of the computer’s owner?

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About Those Totally Unscripted Microsoft Commercials…

Posted by Harry McCracken on July 16, 2009 at 8:23 am

As Ars Technica is reporting, Microsoft COO Kevin Turner is saying that that Apple has asked Microsoft to pull its Laptop Hunters ads that show consumers turning up their noses at Macs as being overpriced and underequipped:

And so we’ve been running these PC value ads. Just giving people saying, hey, what are you looking to spend? “Oh, I’m looking to spend less than $1,000.” Well we’ll give you $1,000. Go in and look and see what you can buy. And they come out and they just show them. Those are completely unscripted commercials.

And you know why I know they’re working? Because two weeks ago we got a call from the Apple legal department saying, hey — this is a true story — saying, “Hey, you need to stop running those ads, we lowered our prices.” They took like $100 off or something. It was the greatest single phone call in the history that I’ve ever taken in business. (Applause.)

I did cartwheels down the hallway. At first I said, “Is this a joke? Who are you?” Not understanding what an opportunity. And so we’re just going to keep running them and running them and running them.

Two thoughts:

1) If Apple’s complaint was that some of the specific pricing facts quoted in the commercial are no longer correct–like the statement in this one that the best Mac laptop under $2000 has 2GB of RAM–what exactly is that reason for cartwheels? Seems like a reasonable point to me. Seems like something Microsoft might do in a similar situation. Like if Mozilla ran ads saying that Internet Explorer didn’t have tabs, for instance.

2) Microsoft keeps saying that the ads are unscripted. I believe it. But they weren’t unedited, of course. And it’s worth noting that when folks noticed that Lauren, the first Laptop Hunter, mistakenly called the Apple Store “the Mac Store,” the company’s re-edited, 30-second version of what was originally a 60-second ad changed her “unscripted” comments to have her calling it the Apple Store. Here are the original ad and the fixed version:

I’m not sure whether the correction to Lauren’s “Mac Store” reference was made in the interest of accuracy…or whether it was because some people thought it made her look like a ditz. Maybe it was a little bit of both.

Microsoft also tinkered slightly with Lauren’s comments about Macs later in the ad, apparently to compress them for the shorter ad. I’m assuming that the rewording was accomplished through piecing together of existing audio rather than by having her record new material. ‘But I do sort of wonder if they finessed anything else in the ads to serve their purposes.

The folks in the ads may be real, but cinema vérité these commercials aren’t….

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Microsoft Stores Won’t Fall Far from Apple’s Tree

Posted by David Worthington on July 15, 2009 at 6:23 pm

Microsoft StoreWhen Microsoft opens its retail stores this far, look no further than your local Apple store to find one. The software giant has designs to open many of its store in close proximity to its rival, according to reports.

Microsoft announced its intention to open retail stores in February. It placed David Porter, a new Microsoft corporate vice president and 25-year Wal-Mart veteran, as the executive in charge of its retail endeavors.

The notion that a Microsoft store could succeed has faced skepticism. Apple sells complete systems; whereas, Microsoft primarily remains a software company. Porter is working with Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices Division, but throwing an Xbox in a window doesn’t exactly replicate the shopping experience of the Apple store.

When Microsoft announced its intentions to open store, I wrote that selling software in retail stores should be about as successful as opening a video rental business in 2010 (and made a crack comparing its stores to Wasabi flavored ice cream). My colleague Harry McCracken believes that a Microsoft store makes as much sense as a Procter & Gamble store.

Without having been privy to Microsoft’s plans, I still feel that way. I recently stopped by the Apple store at Fifth Avenue in Manhattan (the one with the giant glass cube out front) to exchange a faulty iPhone, and was amazed by how psyched people were to be giving their money to Apple. That store alone clears nearly $500 million a year in sales.

What’s more, it’s located across the street from Central Park, and it was a beautiful day when I visited. People seemed to be just as happy inside of the store as they were strolling by the park. Anyone out there want to argue that Microsoft customers have the same affinity for that company’s products?

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Bill Gates Sees Project Natal in Windows’ Future

Posted by Jared Newman on July 15, 2009 at 3:08 pm

xboxnatalMicrosoft tricked us by revealing its 3D motion-sensing camera at E3. At the game industry’s biggest trade show, we all assumed Project Natal would be a console peripheral for gaming, but Bill Gates says the camera will have other uses in Windows.

As part of a lengthy interview with CNet, the Microsoft chairman said Project Natal is not just for games, “but for media consumption as a whole, and even if they connect it up to Windows PCs for interacting in terms of meetings, and collaboration, and communication.”

Gates stayed pretty vague when describing how Natal might be used away from the Xbox 360. He noted that motion control could come in handy when managing movies, music and “home system type stuff.” He also said “there’s incredible value as we use [Natal] in the office connected to a Windows PC,” but the rest is left to imagination.

It’s easy to see some common ground with the Xbox 360 and Windows PCs. The obvious use is gaming, but one of the things shown during Natal’s E3 demonstration was motion-controlled menus. Instead of using a joystick or remote control, the demonstrator moved through the Xbox 360 dashboard by flicking his hand in the air. That functionality might be useful for PC entertainment hubs, so maybe Natal will be integrated with Windows Media Center.

Beyond that, I’m at a loss for ideas. The key to Natal is that it senses three axes instead of two, but what office uses or collaborations would take advantage of that? Are we looking at a reinvention of the wheel, or just tacky gimmicks? Natal is an exciting prospect for gaming and entertainment, but I fail to see how it’ll work as an office tool. It could fail miserably in that regard if it doesn’t change everything.

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5Words for Monday, July 13th 2009

Posted by Harry McCracken on July 13, 2009 at 10:06 am

5wordsSpecial all-Office-2010 section:

Office 2o10 hits BitTorrent. (Surprise!)

Scoble: Office back from dead.

Still waiting on Web apps.

Amazing disappearing Office 2010 site.

Computerworld likes the Technical Preview.

Ed Bott’s impressions so far.

Paul Thurrott: lots to say.

Special no-Office-2010 section:

Windows 7 for businesses: September.

Windows 7 and touch input.

“Seamless XP” in Windows 7.

Most companies skipping Windows 7?

Has Microsoft turned the corner?

Chrome OS: Important. And irrelevant.

Why America doesn’t love Nokia.

Apple tablet rumor. Yes, again.

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Office 2010: The Technologizer First Look

Posted by Harry McCracken on July 13, 2009 at 9:06 am

Office 2010 First LookToday at its Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans, Microsoft is announcing that it’s distributing a Technical Preview version of its upcoming Office 2010 suite to tens of thousands of testers. It won’t be a public beta that’s open to everyone who wants a sneak peek; that will come later this year, and the final version of Office 2010 isn’t due until some time during the first half of next year. But for the first time since it demoed some features last October, Microsoft is showing off the new Office and providing more information about its plans. And it’s briefed reporters and provided them with early access to the Technical Preview (including me).

Office 2010 will be the first version of the suite to reflect the era in which upstarts such as Google Docs and Zoho are delivering Office-like features in the browser, and charging little or no money for them. Microsoft’s response to the new challengers is multifaceted. On one hand, it’s introducing the first Web-based versions of the major Office apps. But it’s also stuffing scads of ambitious new features into the traditional versions of the applications, as if to prove its oft-stated (and accurate) contention that local software can still do lots of things that Web services can’t. And it intends to make the traditional and Web versions of the apps into a powerful team that’s more useful and versatile than either standalone software or a purely browser-based suite can be.

Unfortunately, using the current version of the Technical Preview doesn’t tell us enough to come to even a preliminary verdict about whether the final version of Office 2010 will be a no-brainer upgrade. That’s because Microsoft isn’t providing access to the Web applications or an array of new collaboration tools yet–and it’s the online and collaborative stuff that’s the biggest, boldest change planned for Office 2010. Moreover, the Technical Preview, unlike an almost-finished piece of software such as the Windows 7 Release Candidate, is still subject to meaningful revision before it goes out the door. It’s rough around the edges in spots, and Microsoft says it’s still looking for input from testers. So all I can say is that I’m cautiously optimistic about Office 2010 based on what I’ve seen so far.

Okay, that’s not all I can say–read on for my hands-on impressions of the Technical Preview, plus some information on the features that Microsoft isn’t ready to let outsiders try just yet. There’s a lot to chew on, so I’ll focus on the features thagt impress and/or intrigue me most.

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Is Google Apple…or Microsoft? Neither, I Hope!

Posted by Harry McCracken on July 11, 2009 at 6:53 pm

Your Potential. Our Passion.Google’s announcement of Chrome OS is causing observers to try and figure out which other gigantic tech company it most closely resemble. Brian Caufield of Forbes thinks that Google is “stealing” ideas from Apple, pointing out that both companies now make operating systems for PCs and phones, browsers, productivity suites, and e-mail, and bringing up the fact that Google CEO Eric Schmidt serves on Apple’s board.

I’m not convinced that Google is intentionally or unconsciously cribbing anything from Apple. In every case Caufield cites except browsers, Google’s products and Apple’s are wildly different. The two companies’ approaches to operating systems couldn’t be less similar: Apple’s OS is a rich, proprietary, decidedly traditional piece of software that’s available only on its own, premium-priced computers. Google’s Chrome OS is going to be a simple, open-source, Web-centric product that will show up on cheap netbooks from other companies, and Google plans to give it away. Remind me again exactly what part of this constitutes intellectual theft?

Beyond the fundamentally different personalities of the two companies–which Caufield does acknowledge–it’s also worth nothing that they seem to be steering clear of each other’s core businesses. Apple doesn’t do search; Google doesn’t sell music or video.

Then there’s Anil Dash’s comparison of Google to Microsoft. I can quibble with some of the examples he gives–he says that Google is focusing on Android at the expense of the iPhone, when in fact Google continues to produce some of the best iPhone apps and services of anybody. But the basic metaphor is apt, and worrisome–between Android and Chrome OS Chrome-the-browser and Google Apps and Knol and Wave and 11,342 other projects, Google is entering almost every market you can imagine it entering. So far, the results are more often good-to-excellent than disappointing. But there’s no way that Google can successfully be all things to all people indefinitely. (Lots of folks are excited about Wave, but it felt disturbingly Microsoftian to me.)

Of course, Google’s at its best when it’s reminiscent of neither Apple nor Microsoft, but is its own admirable self. May it continue to be really good at being Google for a long time to come…

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Silverlight 3’s Chicken-or-the-Egg Conundrum

Posted by Harry McCracken on July 10, 2009 at 2:35 pm

SilverlightMicrosoft is rolling out version 3 of Silverlight, its competitor to Adobe’s Flash, and the Expression tools used to create Silverlight content in San Francisco today. The new version of Silverlight can smoothly stream live HD video, supports hardware graphics acceleration, does 2-and-a-half-D effects involving moving flat objects in 3D space, and can be used to build applications that run outside of a Web browser as well as inside it. Basically, it looks pretty cool.

Steve Ballmer doesn’t seem to be here, but another Microsoft exec invoked his Developers, Developers, Developers mantra at the keynote this morning. And every Microsoft employee I’ve chatted with has stressed the notion that Microsoft is about helping developers build applications. (They keep bringing up the fact that Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in 1975 to sell their version of the BASIC programming language–call me paranoid, but I think they may have discussed the talking points they wanted to hammer home.)

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Microsoft Promotes Top Windows Exec

Posted by David Worthington on July 8, 2009 at 3:58 pm

Steven SinofskySteven Sinofsky, the no-nonsense head of Windows and Windows Live Engineering, has been promoted to president at Microsoft. With Sinosky’s hands further up the reins, I expect that the company will not soon repeat mistakes that delayed Windows Vista, and ship future versions of Windows on a more predictable schedule.

Sinofsky has been the company’ s public face of Windows 7, which is rumored to be nearing its release to manufacturing, giving PC manufacturers time to prep for the OS’s official debut on October 22nd.

He will be the fifth Microsoft president, joining Robbie Bach from the company’s Entertainment Division; Business Division head Steven Elop; Bob Muglia, from the company’s Server and Tools business unit; and Online Service chief Qi Lu.

That executive line up represents a shift to a second generation of leadership at the company, and includes some new blood. Elop joined Microsoft from Juniper Networks, and Lu comes from Yahoo. Only Bach and Muglia are veteran executives; Sinofsky worked his way up from engineer, and was the former head of Microsoft Office development. He headed up Office 2007–which, like Windows 7, was a rare high-profile Microsoft software release that hit its major milestones without any high-profile delays or glitches.

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