WinInfo Daily UPDATE--Short Takes--July 29, 2005

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Short Takes Blog

Short Takes
- Microsoft Discusses Windows Vista Premium Editions
- Longhorn Server Won't Be Called Windows Vista Server
- Microsoft Shows Off Future Hotmail Release--Looks Like OWA, Quacks
Like OWA
- Windows Vista Trademark Worries Are Groundless
- Windows Genuine Advantage Is Hacked
- Yahoo! Buys Konfabulator, Provides Widget Application for Free
- Microsoft to Launch Xbox 360 Concurrently in Europe, Japan, North
America
- Microsoft Wipes Apple Off the Map
- Microsoft Patents Custom Emoticons
- Hackers Turn Attention to Popular Applications
- Judge Bans Microsoft Researcher from Google Job

==== Short Takes Blog ====
By Paul Thurrott, thurrott@windowsitpro.com

It's been a busy, crazy week, as I'm sure you can imagine if you're
staying up with the Windows Vista news. For me, at least, it won't get
easier any time soon. I'm working up a lot of new content for the
SuperSite for Windows--including several videos that visually
demonstrate key Vista Beta 1 features--and will post some of that
information today and much more next week (including a comparison of
Vista Beta 1 and Mac OS X Tiger features). In the meantime, be sure to
check out my exhaustive Vista Beta 1 review.
http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=FC1D:3817B5

Meanwhile, Vermont was great, despite Microsoft's attempt to mess up my
vacation. I'll be sure to alert Microsoft about my next vacation (next
month in Quebec) so the company can schedule another major announcement
then.

OK, I need to rant about Vista Beta 1 and the shabby way the company
decided to let people know it was coming on July 27, as I had
originally reported, not on August 3, as Microsoft had previously--and
dubiously--announced. When I had my first Vista Beta 1 briefing 2 weeks
ago, the July 27 date I had reported came up, and I was sort of
congratulated for finding out about the company's internal milestone
(which let me know it was still correct) but was told that the actual
public release would be "days or weeks" later (this was before
Microsoft publicly announced the August 3 date). That comment led me to
believe that I'd have at least a few days after July 27 to post a
review. A near-beta 1 build was delivered to me in Vermont, so I was
able to install the system on two notebook computers, test it, and
begin fleshing out a review. By the beginning of this past week, back
in Boston, I began writing the final review based on several more
installations, positive I'd have until the end of the week to finish
it. Then, late Tuesday, several people contacted me to tell me that
Microsoft wasn't just finalizing beta 1 on the next day, as planned,
but would also release it to testers that day. That meant I could post
my review Wednesday, days earlier than scheduled. But it wasn't ready.
So Wednesday was Hell Day (tm), during which I engaged in several
frenzied phone calls and email messages with various Microsofties and
PR people, all while finishing the lengthy review (and hoping it was
coherent). At noon, my time, Vista Beta 1 was "declared," a ceremonial
process more than anything, and Microsoft began prepping servers for
the massive downloads. Meanwhile, it's July, which means my family is
on our summer schedule, which involves wrapping up things by
midafternoon and heading to the beach until it closes at 8:00.
Wednesday, coincidentally, was the final day of a heat wave in which
temperatures soared into the upper 90s, and my family sat in the den,
in their bathing suits, waiting for me to finish. I finally did so,
hours later than expected--at 5:30, and we raced over to the beach
(fortunately just 7 minutes away), flew out of the minivan, and ...
were greeted by the rumble of thunder. We go to a private beach with
lifeguards, and they pull everyone out of the water at the slightest
hint of thunder or lightning. Another rumble: Boston's heat wave was
coming to a violent end. No swimming. No beach. Thanks again,
Microsoft.

The lesson here is that although kids can be placated by ice cream, I
can't. I don't even like ice cream. And although that tendency has been
described by some as "un-American," I'd suggest that it's really just
one of the weird things that makes me ... me. Anyway, I did go swimming
yesterday, despite temperatures in the 70s. And I'm going again today.
Try and stop me, Microsoft. I dare you. :)

==== Short Takes ====
An often-irreverent look at some of the week's other stories, by
Paul Thurrott, thurrott@windowsitpro.com

Microsoft Discusses Windows Vista Premium Editions
As I first reported in "The Road to Windows Longhorn 2005" showcase
on the SuperSite for Windows a few months ago, Microsoft plans to ship
one or more premium editions of Windows Vista--one for home users
(think Media Center) and one for businesses (think Tablet PC). These
editions would be in addition to those that replace Windows XP Home
Edition and XP Professional Edition. This week, Microsoft confirmed
that it's working on premium Vista editions and revealed that it will
likely ship an Office 12 Premium Edition product as well. The goal,
apparently, is to cash in on those people who are willing to pay more
to get more, a slight detour from the company's stated policy of
providing more value for less. I guess when you own the market you can
pretty much do what you want. My advice, if anyone is listening, is to
can the product editions and ship one PC client version in which users
can enable or disable features as they see fit. I think of this
mythical product as Windows Choice. Just a thought.
http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=FC16:3817B5

Longhorn Server Won't Be Called Windows Vista Server
Although Microsoft is stopping short of admitting that the next
major Windows Server release will be called Windows Server 2007, that's
exactly what's going to happen. The company went with the Vista
branding for the Longhorn client, but Longhorn Server will continue to
use the standard Windows Server naming conventions. So if you were
worried that the server guys had lost their minds, relax: They still
get it.

Microsoft Shows Off Future Hotmail Release--Looks Like OWA, Quacks Like
OWA
A future version of MSN Hotmail, currently known simply as Mail
Beta, looks suspiciously like a product that's been around for quite
some time. But fear not, this time Microsoft is copying itself. The
future Hotmail release, which Microsoft Senior Vice President Yusuf
Mehdi publicly revealed this week, looks a lot like Outlook Web Access
(OWA) in that it provides much of the look and feel of the Microsoft
Office Outlook client, albeit from a Web browser. However, the next
Hotmail release uses MSN's stark new blue-and-white UI, which you can
see today most prominently on MSN Music. When will Mail Beta become the
next Hotmail release? Right now, no one is saying.

Windows Vista Trademark Worries Are Groundless
You might have seen some reports this week claiming that Microsoft
will face a trademark fight over its use of the word vista in its
product name Windows Vista. Such a battle, however, is unlikely.
Although some companies use the word vista in their company and product
names (including a company called Vista), Microsoft is trying to
copyright the name Windows Vista, not Vista. And unless one of those
existing products is a PC OS, it's unlikely that Microsoft has anything
to fear--at least not from this kind of thing. Even the company named
Vista, which is considering a lawsuit, agrees that the term Windows
Vista is "not a problem." So much for that supposed controversy.

Windows Genuine Advantage Is Hacked
Let me wax poetic about the wonders of Windows Genuine Advantage.
OK, I'm done. Just days after Microsoft made its antipiracy technology
mandatory for Web-based downloads of software updates, hackers broke
Windows Genuine Advantage with a single line of JavaScript code. The
code lets people bypass the Windows Genuine Advantage security check,
freeing them to download Microsoft software updates. Although this sort
of thing warms the bottom of my heart like a hot buttered rum,
Microsoft will likely thwart it rather quickly. And so the game begins.
Your move, Mr. Bond.

Yahoo! Buys Konfabulator, Provides Widget Application for Free
Yahoo! purchased Pixoria, the tiny company that created the widget
environment Konfabulator for Mac OS X, only to watch Apple Computer rip
it off with an almost identical feature called Dashboard in Mac OS X
10.4 Tiger. Konfabulator has a few advantages over Dashboard, however.
One, it's available for Windows. Two, the widgets it uses don't have to
exist in some weird pseudo environment that's separate from the
desktop. And now, thanks to Yahoo!, Konfabulator has a third advantage:
It's free. Previously available for $20, Yahoo! Widgets, as it's now
called, is bargain priced at $0. It's definitely worth checking out.
http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=FC1E:3817B5

Microsoft to Launch Xbox 360 Concurrently in Europe, Japan, North
America
In November, Microsoft will do what no other video game machine
maker has done before: Release a new console, the Xbox 360, in Europe,
Japan, and North America simultaneously. Previously, video game console
releases were spread out over different geographic regions to maintain
steady sales over time but, as with movie releases, Microsoft wants a
big bang up front. The reason for this change is obvious: Microsoft
needs to capitalize on the fact that it will have the only next-
generation console on the market during the holiday 2005 selling
season, as Nintendo and Sony won't deliver their new machines until
2006.

Microsoft Wipes Apple Off the Map
Microsoft insists that this situation is just a weird coincidence,
and I'm inclined to agree, but it's so funny I can't help but tell you
about it. This week, Microsoft unveiled its new MSN Virtual Earth
service, which provides satellite imagery of cities and towns all over
the earth. It's similar to Google Maps in that regard. But MSN Virtual
Earth and Google Maps use different satellite imagery, so the results
can be somewhat different. When you view Apple's corporate headquarters
at One Infinite Loop in Cupertino, California, for example, Google Map
shows you what you'd expect--a college-like campus. However, MSN
Virtual Earth shows you an empty lot, as if Apple never existed.
Microsoft claims the imagery is just out of date and that the view is
from the past. But I have a different theory. I think Microsoft's
technology is more powerful. I think what we're really looking at with
MSN Virtual Earth is ... the future.

Microsoft Patents Custom Emoticons
They're fun and wacky, but Microsoft has patented them, so we'd
better not see you using them without proper authorization. This week,
Microsoft received a patent for custom emoticons, the little icon-like
graphics that translate characters such as :) into a smiley face. I
have only one thing to say about this: :P

Hackers Turn Attention to Popular Applications
With Windows now resembling a punching bag that long ago left its
best days behind it, hackers are increasingly turning to other avenues
for amusement. What do you hack if you can't hack the world's most
often-used OS? You hack the world's most often-used applications, of
course. The SANS Institute reports that hackers are turning to
applications such as Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE), Apple iTunes,
and Mozilla Firefox, and they're finding exactly what they want to
find: multitudes of vulnerabilities. I like to think of these
applications as "target-rich environments" because most of them have
never undergone any type of intense security review and will suffer as
a result. It's nice to know that hackers are keeping busy now that
Windows is finally starting to shore up its defenses. I was worried
they'd have to get jobs or something.

Judge Bans Microsoft Researcher from Google Job
Enjoy this story, Microsoft watchers, because it might just be the
last time Microsoft beats Google at anything. This week, a superior
court judge in Washington state barred ex-Microsoft researcher Kai-Fu
Lee from joining Google to start up Google's China-based research
center. It turns out that Lee signed an agreement barring him from
working for a direct competitor for a year, and the judge wants time to
look over the agreement to ensure that Lee doesn't betray Microsoft's
plans to Google. Lee has to stay away from Google until at least
September, when the judge will convene a hearing. Google referred to
Microsoft's legal foray as an "intimidation campaign." Hey, you're the
guys who decided to compete with Microsoft. What did you think the
company would do, send you flowers and chocolates?

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