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News Snippets

March 2006 News

  • Google skittled by Chinese googly
  • The Vista view gets closer
  • How to save datacentre power
  • All change for Microsoft Office

 

Google skittled by Chinese googly

The Google mission statement states "organise the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful". It does not state that there is a good business in not doing this or that under certain circumstances not all of the information will be made available to selected communities. The Chinese decision has had a major effect on the share price and more importantly the trust of the google users - what will be excluded from my search results? This is a sad development as the Google team have measurably changed (and enhanced) the way we can use the information held on the internet.

The Vista view gets closer

Vista: A distant view or prospect, especially one seen through an opening, as between rows of buildings or trees. The view is getting closer as the releases are being tested, although a full second beta is no longer planned. This gives the testers more opportunity for feedback although the some are not happy. There have been three Consumer Technology Previews (CTPs) since summer 2005 with another two planned for 2006. As it stands Vista features will not change although some functionality may be de-scoped into future releases.

Microsoft have not yet disclosed how it will package the different editions or how the licensing will work so we can expect some excitement even if it has nothing to do with the software.

How to save datacentre power

Datacentre power requirements are being challenged by the increased heat produced by the server and storage infrastructure. The traditional fan cooling systems need to be converted to chilled water systems, carbon dioxide refrigeration should be used for the blade servers and the datacentres need to be redesigned to address the physics of heat distribution. Those that implement these changes can expect 20-25% reduction in power consumption.

All change for Microsoft Office

Office 2007 brings with it a user new interface. This is good and bad. Good because it provides enormous productivity - bad because it will require the user to learn new ways of working. They have become accustomed to the Office interface with all of its idiosyncrasies, eccentricities and non-intuitive ways - now Microsoft has got it right it will cause pain and suffering to adapt to this new way. Plan your training as early as possible. This is not going to be a plug and play experience!!

Snippets

  • After acquiring Siebel, Oracle plan to reduce the workforce by ca. 2000 (the bulk coming from Oracle) as they focus on CRM. The Siebel Nexus project (composite application platform) is also a casualty of the merger.
  • VMware to offer next version of the GSX Server virtualisation product free and rename it VMware Server. Microsoft Virtual Server is also expected to be bundled free of charge in the next major update to Windows server. This will make things virtually interesting!!
  • Microsoft puts the Groove P2P productivity capabilities into Office 2007.
  • Apple has started to ship Intel MacBook laptops. There are 1.83GHz, 2GHz and 2.16GHz Core duo options. I wonder if AMD are concerned.
  • UK ID card schedule slips a year as the security concerns are finally acknowledged. The UK Home Office have admitted that the first cards will not be available until 2009.
  • HP and Oracle join forces to target service-oriented architecture (SOA) development. HP will resell Oracle's Fusion Middleware and tighten the integration with OpenView IT management suite.

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