November 20th, 2009

Will Microsoft's Silverlight dampen the appeal of Google's Chrome OS?

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 6:40 am

Categories: .Net Framework, App Compatibility, Corporate strategy, Development tools, Google, Internet Explorer, OEMs, Silverlight (wpf/e), Web 2.0, Windows client

Tags: Google Inc., Microsoft Silverlight, Operating System, Microsoft Windows Presentation Foundation, Microsoft Corp., Google Chrome, Chrome OS, Web Browsers, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems

I’m not one of those ready to write Windows an RIP certificate now that Google has finally taken (some of) the wraps off its Chrome OS. In fact, after reading through industry watchers’ questions and Google’s answers about it, I’m thinking that Chrome OS may not look quite so appealing by the time it rolls out in late 2010. Here’s why.

First, as others have noted, Google’s Chrome OS is a new windowing system layered on top of Linux that is being customized to run on netbooks. Chrome OS is an “extension to Chrome,” the company’s browser, in Google execs’ own words. Google officials are billing Chrome OS, among other things, as a way to provide Web applications with the functionality of desktop applications.

Microsoft offers an extension not just to its browser, Internet Explorer, but also to Firefox, Apple’s Safari and Google’s own Chrome. That extension is Silverlight. Among other things, Silverlight is a vehicle for providing increasingly complex consumer and business apps via a browser.

At the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference (PDC) this week, Microsoft rolled out its strategy and plans for Silverlight 4, the version of its browser plug-in that is slated for final release by mid-2010. Silverlight 4 is adding support for data binding, enterprise networking and printing, and lots of other features that are likely to make the platform more appealing to folks writing not just single-function, lightweight Web apps, but enterprise apps, as well.

Silverlight is a slimmed-down, cross-platform version of Microsoft’s Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) programming model. Each successive iteration of Silverlight includes more and more WPF functionality (and vice versa).

Some day — Microsoft won’t say exactly when — Silverlight and WPF are going to merge into one Web programming and app delivery model that, most likely, will be known as Silverlight, Brad Becker, Director of Product Management for Microsoft’s Rich Client Platforms, told me this week at TechEd. Now that the two share the same compiled assemblies, tools and the like, that idea isn’t really so far-fetched. Until that happens, Microsoft plans to continue to offer both WPF and Silverlight, steering developers of more complex, resource-intensive applications toward WPF and Web-centric app developers toward Silverlight.

When Google execs were asked during this week’s press conference where they shared more information (but no code or systems) about the Chrome OS as to whether Silverlight would be able to work on Chrome OS, they said no comment. Maybe they see Silverlight might be more foe than friend of the Chrome OS.

I understand Silverlight is not an operating system. But some Google watchers are questioning whether the Chrome OS is actually an operating system, either, or just a glorified browser. Unlike Silverlight, which can run on a variety of PCs and soon, phones, Google OS is going to be a dedicated Linux-based netbook OS that will only work with certain predesignated peripherals. Microsoft already offers a netbook OS — Windows — which doesn’t force you to run all apps inside your browser — and which works with lots of different devices.

Would you go so far as to say the Chrome OS is going to be more of a Silverlight competitor than a WIndows one? I’m thinking right now that may seem a bit far-fetched, but as more and more apps are designed to run in Silverlight, maybe not….?

November 18th, 2009

Microsoft shares a few tidbits on IE9 and (lots) more on Silverlight 4

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 11:20 am

Categories: Corporate strategy, Development tools, Internet Explorer, PDC 2009, Silverlight (wpf/e), Windows client

Tags: Microsoft Silverlight, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Microsoft Corp., Web Browsers, Internet, Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft shared some information about what’s coming in Internet Explorer 9 and Silverlight 4 during its November 18 Professional Developers Conference (PDC) keynotes.

If you want to see a real example of the difference in disclosure policies between Microsoft’s Windows unit and its Developer Division, the level of information provided by execs with each division today made that quite clear.

As expected, Microsoft Windows President Steven Sinofsky shared a few tidbits about Internet Explorer (IE) 9. Sinofsky emphasized that Microsoft will continue to play up privacy, user choice and responsible development with the next IE release. But he offered no information on when the team is planning to release a test build or the final version of the browser.

Sinofsky said during the Wednesday morning keynote that the IE team is about three weeks into the IE 9 project. (I’ve been getting tips that there already is a build of the product out there that is being used inside Microsoft, but it’s not available to external testers yet.)

Sinofsky noted that Microsoft is fully aware that it needs to keep pushing on the standards front. He noted that IE 9 is currently passing 32 of 100 Acid3 tests (compared to Firefox at more than 70 and Opera at 100). He also made it clear that Microsoft is aware it needs to continue to do work to improve JavaScript performance with IE.

Sinofsky said IE 9 will support hardware-accelerated rendering and rounded borders, but didn’t say a whole lot more about it. There are a (very) few more specifics about IE 9 on the IE Team blog today.

Scott Guthrie, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President for .Net, had lots more to say about Silverlight 4, the next version of Microsoft’s browser plug-in that competes with Adobe Flash.

Microsoft is making a public beta of Silverlight 4 available for download today, November 18. A single, near-final Release Candidate will follow and then the final version of Silverlight 4 will be out in the first half of 2010, according to Guthrie.

Guthrie said Silverlight 4 will be a major new release of the plug-in. He said the upcoming version will incorporate nine of the ten most requested features by developers.

Guthrie itemized and demonstrated some of the new features of Silverlight 4 — which include everything from its support for webcam and microphone access, to the ability to run Silverlight inside the Google Chrome browser. Silverlight 4 also will include full support for Visual Studio 2010, native multicast support and improved printing, networking and reporting capabilities, company officials said. Silverlight Program Manager Tim Heuer has a full list of those Silverlight 4 features on his blog.

I’m interested in hearing from anyone who manages to download Silverlight 4 (servers are crawling, I hear) about what you think of the new beta of the product. Feel free to chime in in the talkbacks….

November 17th, 2009

Microsoft to share some details on IE 9 at PDC show this week

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 10:18 am

Categories: Corporate strategy, Internet Explorer, PDC 2009, Windows client

Tags: Microsoft Internet Explorer, Microsoft Corp., Web Browsers, Internet, Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft is on tap to share some information about its Internet Explorer (IE) 9 browser at its Professional Developers Conference this week, but isn’t yet ready to deliver any bits.

Microsoft will be providing “a bit of conversation about IE” during the keynote at PDC on November 18, but isn’t yet ready to deliver even a Community Technology Preview (CTP) of its next-generation browser, a company spokesperson said.

Microsoft officials have declined to say anything but the broadest promises of more standards compliance, better security and better performance as its planned set of deliverables for IE 9.

Even before IE 8 was released, developers and users already had a long list of feature improvements that they are hoping the Microsoft IE team includes in IE 9.

Microsoft released IE 8 to the Web in March 2009. The team has been on a mission to deliver new releases of IE more rapidly, but it’s unclear whether the IE team will be able to get a new version out any faster than every two years.

I continue to hear developers and customers hoping that Microsoft will reverse course and deliver a WebKit rendering-engine-based version of IE. Microsoft officials have said no way, no how. I don’t think this is something we’ll be seeing any time soon… and definitely not in the IE 9 timeframe…

Me? I’d just be happy if my IE tabs hung less with IE 9. What about you? What are you hoping makes it into the next version of IE?

November 13th, 2009

Microsoft admits its GPL violation; will reissue Windows 7 tool under open-source license

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 1:36 pm

Categories: Corporate strategy, Open source, Windows 7, Windows client

Tags: GPL, Microsoft Corp., USB, Tool, Productivity, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows, Open Source, Operating Systems, Software

Microsoft officials confirmed on November 13 — a few days after pulling a Windows 7 download tool that allegedly contained improperly-licensed open-souce code — that the company did, indeed violate the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL).

Microsoft pulled the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool from the Microsoft Store on November 10 after a report by “Within Windows” blogger Rafael Rivera that he had found what looked to be open-source code in the tool. Inclusion of open-source code isn’t a no-no, but Microsoft’s decision to put a restrictive, non-open-source license on the tool incorporating that code was. (The USB tool, which Microsoft made available on October 22, is designed to help netbook users upgrade from XP to Windows 7 in a more streamlined way.)

From a November 13 blog posting by Microsoft Open Source Community Manager Peter Galli:

“After looking at the code (within the USB tool) in question, we are now able to confirm this (inclusion of improperly licensed GPL v2 code) was indeed the case, although it was not intentional on our part. While we had contracted with a third party to create the tool, we share responsibility as we did not catch it as part of our code review process. We have furthermore conducted a review of other code provided through the  Microsoft Store and this was the only incident of this sort we could find.”

Galli said Microsoft plans to make the source code and binaries for the Microsoft tool available the week of November 16 under the terms of the General Public License v2 “and are also taking measures to apply what we have learned from this experience for future code reviews we perform.”

November 13th, 2009

Microsoft opens up Windows 7 to advertisers via downloadable themes

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 5:01 am

Categories: Advertising, Corporate strategy, Windows 7, Windows Live, Windows client, Zune

Tags: Brand, Theme, Microsoft Corp., Advertiser, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows, Branding, Operating Systems, Software, Marketing

The same way that it already allows advertisers to buy placement on various Microsoft sites and properties, Microsoft may allow them to extend their brands onto Windows 7.

The ads aren’t being foisted on Windows 7 users. Those who don’t want the branded themes don’t have to see them, as they’re opt in.

Microsoft announced on November 13 that it has begun test pilots with a handful of advertisers for ads on Windows 7. The two “theme experiences” they are offering are known as the “Windows Theme Experience” and the “Windows Personalization Gallery.” The trial is set to run through October 2010.

Advertisers participating in the pilot include Ducati, Infiniti, Porsche and Twentieth Century Fox, according to a Microsoft press release.

Via the Windows Theme Experience pilot, advertisers are going to be able to put their brand on Internet Explorer 8 add-ons; Windows 7 and Windows Vista gadgets; Windows 7 backgrounds and borders and Windows “audio elements.” Via the Windows Personalization Gallery pilot, advertisers will be able to push their brands “throughout the operation of their Windows 7-based PC including backgrounds, slide shows, borders and application audio elements.”

Users will have to download the branded themes and elements from Microsoft’s Windows Web site in order to add them to their PCs. Some of these branded themes and elements already are available for download, like the Ferrari theme, the Coca Cola “Happiness Factory” theme and the Porsche theme. They are available alongside of some of Microsoft’s own brand themes — such as the Gears of War theme, Bing screen shots theme and Zune characters theme.

“These new themes are intended for a brand’s most passionate fans and allow for a deeper engagement by letting consumers embed their favorite brand into their PC experience,” according to Microsoft.

I have to admit, I do like the Zune characters theme, but because I like the artwork in that theme pack, not because I want to tell the world that I’m a Zune fan. What about you? Are there branded themes you’d willing put on your PC — either ones already in the gallery or ones you’d like to see added to it?

November 12th, 2009

PDC 2009: Tune in for our live blogging frenzy next week

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 6:31 am

Categories: .Net Framework, Azure, Corporate strategy, Development tools, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Big Brains, Multicore/distributed computing, Office 2010/Office 14, PDC 2009, Red Dog, Research, Silverlight (wpf/e), Utility/cloud computing, Virtualization, Visual Studio 10 ("Hawaii"), Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 /("Windows 7 Server")

Tags: Microsoft Corp., Professional Developers Conference Keynote, Blogging, Internet, Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft’s Professional Developers Conference (PDC) 2009 kicks off the week of November 16. Like we did last year, a handful of us Microsoft watchers will be live blogging the keynotes as a group.

The PDC keynotes are slated for Tuesday November 17 from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. PT and Wednesday November 18 from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. We’ll be using CoverItLive to blog, so the more of you who chime in and comment along with us, the merrier. Your group-blogging hosts (besides me) will be Ed Bott, Kip Kniskern, Paul Thurrott, Rafael Rivera, Tom Warren and Long Zheng

Come back here next week and watch along with us as Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie; Server and Tools President Bob Muglia; Kurt DelBene, Senior VP of Microsoft’s Office Business Productivity Group and more talk about what’s coming for developers in the next year. (I’ll post the CoverItLive viewer on my site during keynote viewing hours next week.)

There will be new info on Microsoft’s Azure cloud operating environment, .Net 4.0, Oslo, Office 2010, Silverlight, SQL Server and more. And more than a few of the “Big Brains” — Microsoft’s Technical Fellows — are on tap to present during the four-day confab.  I’ve already posted about some of what’s on tap (and not on tap) for PDC 2009 over the past few weeks. Expect lots more PDC news on my blog throughout the week next week.

Hope to see you (virtually) and/or live in Los Angeles next week!

November 10th, 2009

Did Microsoft Windows 7 download tool violate the GPL?

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 7:30 am

Categories: Corporate strategy, Linux, Open source, Windows 7, Windows client

Tags: GPL, Microsoft Corp., Tool, Productivity, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows, Open Source, Operating Systems, Software, Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft has pulled an update tool for Windows 7 from the Microsoft Store site after a report indicating that the tool incorporated open-source code in a way that violated the GNU General Public License.

Rafael Rivera of the “Within Windows” blog reported on November 6 that he had found something suspicious when mucking around int he code for the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool. (That tool, which Microsoft made available on October 22, is designed to help netbook users upgrade from XP to Windows 7 in a more streamlined way.)

On November 9, Microsoft pulled the download tool from its site. A spokesperson sent me the following update:

“Microsoft is looking into this issue and is taking down the WUDT tool from the Microsoft Store site until its investigations are complete. We apologize to our customers for any inconvenience.”

Rivera noted that the Microsoft tool may violate more than a few GPL terms and conditions. From his post:

“A simple search of some method names and properties, gleaned from Reflector’s output, revealed the source code was obviously lifted from the CodePlex-hosted (yikes) GPLv2-licensed ImageMaster project. (The author of the code was not contacted by Microsoft.)…

“Microsoft did not offer or provide source code for their modifications to ImageMaster nor their tool…. Second, Microsoft glued in some of their own licensing terms, further restricting your rights to the software (TermsOfUse.rtf).”

Microsoft has run afoul of the GPL licensing terms on a few occasions. Most recently, there were questions raised by some in the open-source community about Microsoft’s motives for making some of its drivers available for inclusion in the Linux source tree. (Microsoft officials maintained that the company didn’t release the source code because of potential legal issues; some in the open-source community begged to differ.)

Stay tuned for more on this, as Microsoft proceeds with its investigation….

November 10th, 2009

Study claims netbook users dissatisfied with Windows 7. Are you?

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 7:07 am

Categories: Channel, Corporate strategy, OEMs, Resellers, System builders, Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows client

Tags: Microsoft Windows 7 Starter, Netbook, Microsoft Windows 7, Netbooks, Nettops & MIDs, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Hardware, Mary Jo Foley

Another day, another Windows 7 study. The latest comes from Retrevo, a consumer electronics shopping site, which asserts that users aren’t keen on Windows 7 netbooks running Starter Edition.

In a blog post entitled “Is Microsoft Trying to Kill the Netbook Market?” Retrevo officials outline their findings, based on responses from 1,100 of its “users.” Among the claims are users aren’t aware of the limitations of Windows 7 Starter Edition (like no desktop personalization, no multimonitor support, no DVD playback). Retrevo said 54% of respondents would not be satisfied if their new Netbook only came with Windows 7 Starter Edition. XP Starter was a better choice, Retrovo’s respondents said.

While I do think Microsoft would like nothing better than for the netbook market to disappear, as it has put a serious dent in its Windows client margins, the rest of Retrovo’s findings seem off-base to me. (Example: Windows 7 netbooks running Starter will support the use of a DVD player via a USB port, contrary to Retrovo’s assertion that Microsoft killed that XP Starter feature.)

Whether you agree with Microsoft’s decision to continue to field lots of different Windows SKUs or not, I’d claim the company has been pretty clear for the past year that Windows 7 Starter was not going to be able to do everything. (Originally, it also was going to be crippled so it wouldn’t allow users to run more than three apps concurrently, but Microsoft removed that limitation earlier this year.)

Microsoft officials also have noted that PC makers can choose any version of Windows 7, including Ultimate, to preload on netbooks. Whether OEMs can cost-justify some of the pricier SKUs is another matter.

I’ve been shopping for a Windows 7 PC starting on October 22, the day they went on sale at retail. I’ve been impressed by the choice of Windows 7 netbooks I’ve found. Many come with Starter Edition; others I saw were preloaded with Windows Home Premium. Toshiba loaned me one of their Mini NB205-N330 netbooks running Windows 7 Starter. I’ve found it very responsive, portable and perfect for my basic daily  tasks (surfing the Web, posting to my blog, answering email, etc.).

Yes, I am a more educated consumer than many out there, so I know what a netbook running Starter will and won’t do. But two different salespeople at my local Best Buy were very clear with me about what Windows 7 starter netbooks would and wouldn’t do. I’m not implying that it’s been completely smooth sailing for PC users looking to move to Win7; Computerworld noted recently that some Dell and HP users who ordered upgrades to Windows 7 are having to wait considerably longer than they were led to believe for their upgrade disks.

I’d be curious what others in the market for Windows 7 PCs have found. Are retailers, PC makers, resellers savvy about the new PCs and upgrade deals out there? Are Windows 7 Starter netbooks good enough for you?

October 29th, 2009

Microsoft adds more choices for developers targeting its Azure cloud

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 9:05 am

Categories: .Net Framework, Azure, Code names, Corporate strategy, Database, Development tools, Open source, PDC 2009, Red Dog, Utility/cloud computing, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 /("Windows 7 Server")

Tags: Developer, Java, SDK, Microsoft Corp., Eclipse, Java Development Tools, Microsoft Windows, Open Source, Development Tools, Software Development

Microsoft is getting its Azure ducks before it removes the beta tag from its cloud service in mid-November.

Update: The Azure team posted a bit of a roadmap update to their blog on October 29. The team noted that the Azure preview will remain open through the end of 2009. Microsoft plans to start charging for Azure usage/hosting as of February 1, 2010.

On October 28, the company announced plans for more development tools aimed at programmers who want to use PHP, Java and the Eclipse IDE to create and modify Web applications for Azure.

At the Eclipse Summit Europe, Microsoft announced a plug-in called the Windows Azure Tools for Eclipse which is targeted at PHP developers. The plug-in bundles together the already-announced Azure software-development kit (SDK) for PHP into the Eclipse PHP project.Soyatec is developing the new toolset, with funding and guidance from Microsoft.

The plug-in includes a Window Azure storage explorer so developers can browse data in Windows Azure tables, blobs or queues, according to Microsoft. A Community Technology Preview (CTP) of Windows Azure Tools for Eclipse is available for download now. The final “release to Web” of the toolkit is slated for November.

Microsoft also took the wraps off a new Windows Azure SDK for Java on Wednesday. The SDK is being developed by Soyatec in conjunction with Microsoft.  A CTP of the Soyatec SDK for Java is available for download; the final release-to-Web version is slated for November.

(Microsoft and another partner, Schakra, also are developing a Java SDK for Azure. This original SDK is targeting Azure .Net Services, while the new toolkit from Soyatek is targeting Windows Azure, the OS layer of Azure, which was codenamed Red Dog. Microsoft recently decided to pull workflow services out of the Azure .Net Services layer, so as to wait for the final .Net 4 release, slated for late March. A new CTP of the Schakra Java SDK is slated for November. There’s no word on when the final release will be done.)

In other Eclipse-related news, Microsoft and solution provider Tasktop Technologies announced they will be developing updates to the Eclipse integrated development environment (IDE) to take advantage of new features in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Tasktop will contribute enhancements to the Eclipse IDE that will be available under the Eclipse Public License for early access the first quarter of 2010; general release is slated to happen as part of the Eclipse Helios release in June 2010. Microsoft is funding the project.

While Microsoft continues to put more of its Azure pieces in place prior to its PDC launch, its foremost competitor, Amazon.com, is continuing to roll out more elements of its own cloud computing environment that are squarely targeted at Microsoft. Earlier this week, Amazon announced the Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) beta. As cloud-computing maven Roger Jennings explained in a blog post, Amazon is now delivering pre-configured MySQL 5.1 instances with up to 68 GB of memory and 26 ECUs (8 virtual cores with 3.25 ECUs each) servicing up to 1 TB of data storage

October 28th, 2009

Microsoft's Windows 7 challenge: Selling Live services (without being sued)

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 8:57 am

Categories: Advertising, Channel, Corporate strategy, OEMs, Resellers, System builders, Vista, Windows 7, Windows Live, Windows client

Tags: Antitrust, Microsoft Windows Live, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows, Corporate Law, Operating Systems, Software, Business Operations, Mary Jo Foley

I was wondering how aggressively — or not — Microsoft would market Windows Live services once it began selling Windows 7.

The answer seems to be somewhat aggressively. But is that tepid enough to keep the Softies out of antitrust hot water?

For more than a year now, Microsoft has been pulling certain features out of Windows and making them available as free “rich” services. The suite of these services is known as Windows Live Essentials (WLE) and includes Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Live Writer, Messenger and Mail.

Although Microsoft officials take care to avoid saying that removing features and offering them separately might be motivated in any way by the threat of antitrust suits, I’d think this would be one (big) definite upside for the WLE strategy/approach. The downside (for Microsoft) around this decoupling is that the company needs to find ways to get users to understand that these functions are available for free download, or, in some cases, preloaded by PC makers on new machines.

I asked Microsoft officials how they intended to let consumers know about the existence of Windows Live Essentials (WLE), a bundle of several Windows Live services meant to complement Windows 7, and received via e-mail this list of “ways we are educating consumers about the offering”:

• The most recent version of Windows Live Essentials (WLE) can be downloaded from download.live.com
• Most large OEMS will ship WLE on Windows 7 PCs.  For example, we have already announced that Dell will ship WLE on its machines, and we expect to announce other specific partners in the coming months.
• Windows.com and Microsoft.com both include information on WLE and where to go to download it
• Windows 7 users can find a link to download (download.live.com) WLE within the Control Panel.  An easy way to find this link is who search to type Windows Live Essentials into the Start Menu search bar
• We offer WLE as an Optional Update through the Microsoft Update program
• Customers who are enrolled in Windows Update will receive automatic upgrades to any WLE applications they have installed on their PC
• WLE is highlighted in the Getting Started experience within Windows for new PC purchasers

One way Microsoft also is getting the word out, which company officials didn’t mention, is by featuring WLE on new “Signature” PCs that are sold through Microsoft’s own Store.

As Todd Bishop over at TechFlash noted recently, the Windows 7 PCs that Microsoft is highlighting on the Microsoft online store come with a number of Microsoft software and service offerings — including WLE — preloaded. (The Signature PCs also include Microsoft Security Essentials, Silverlight, Bing 3D Maps, Zune 4.0, plus a few select third-party wares, like Adobe Flash and Reader.) Signature PCs include systems from Sony, HP, Dell, Acer, Lenovo and other vendors.

I’m surprised we haven’t seen Microsoft push WLE more than through some rather vague mentions by Microsoft spokesperson of the year, the now-five-year-old Kylie. But maybe the specter of looming antitrust busters is keeping the Softies from going all-out with a splashy WLE campaign.

Do you think any of the ways Microsoft is promoting WLE — including the new Signature PCs –might leave open loopholes for Microsoft’s competitors to run screaming to the authorities?