Think about this though: On that same computer i can install, Windows Vista, Win 7, Ubuntu melancholic meerkat, CentOS, haiku on any day of the week that I want, and the second it is released. That is a right i certainly do no have on any cellular phone in the US. This is all in the name of protecting the carriers network. In the 70's you had to rent a phone form the phone company for 10 bucks a month, under the same ruse.
Buy the phone you want, with the right to upgrade it how you see fit. I want the carriers to be dumb pipes, and get the hell out of my way.
If it is EVGA brand I believe they allow a trade in program within a certain amount of time for situations just like this. They have a trade in program where you send in your old card and pay the difference and they will send you the updated card of choice.
I just bought the 560 TI 2GB EVGA. Your post just made my day.
Around 7.5 percent of browser activity is IE6, and that is most likely weighted by windows updates etc. About half of those users are in China, using pirated versions of Windows. You want to help hold back the web for the lowest common denominator? The implications are significant: 1) a worsened non standardized web experience for everyone. 2) perpetuating exploitable vulnerabilities that help the malware/trojan fest that the web has become. 3) keeping Microsoft and Windows XP relevant. Seriously is it that difficult to look at a user agent and have the site prompt for an install of Firefox or Chrome or Opera or Webkit to help further the cause instead of holding the progress of the internet back?
I might be wrong but, I think they have interns and PR people doing their FaceBook and Social PR chores. The politicians who are technically comfortable enough to actually be using Google+, FaceBook, Twitter and other such web entities might actually be able to understand SOPA for what it is. The ones who need the New York Times to pop up a full page advertisement are the ones the Anti-SOPA companies need to connect with.
Coming from Jobs this was actually a strong compliment. "Good Artists Copy, Great Artists Steal" via Jobs which he flat out lifted from Picasso. Steve Jobs accomplished an awful lot in his 56 years I won't deny that. However he was also prone to stratospheric egotism, which i think might be affecting his judgment in this case. I am certain there are aspects in HTC's SenseUI flavored Android that were directly influenced by iOS. Do we know what those features were? Are those features native to the horrendous SenseUI or of Android itself? Many of the claims I have seen had prior art that was easily accessible. Can anyone point out patented ideas that are novel and unique without prior art that was stolen by HTC SenseUI Android, and Android as a whole? Or is this a copyright complaint like the slab shape Galaxy tab 10.1 argument?
So without knowing the quality of the CCD or the quality of the Optics on the device you are summarily dismissing it because the Mega Pixels are less than the number you like? Let me ask you a question: If you needed to get a good quality photo would you rather use a 5MP DSLR Nikon or an 8MP camera on a phone? I would take the DSLR without pause. The Mega Pixel argument is brought up buy salesmen and manufacturers because they make an otherwise crap camera sound better. Manufacturers use tricks like pixel doubling and pixel size to game this because uninformed consumers fall for it all the time. If the ability to take decent pictures is important to you, then you pay attention to this. The mega pixel myth is something you should have learned a long time ago. Now share this with your friends and help them make informed choices.
I think the biggest issue here is that the manufacturers and wireless carriers are responsible for the updates to the OS. Leaving this to them means that they incur development costs, strain their networks with downloadable updates, and then support costs for failed upgrades or confused consumers. Then they consider that if they do nothing they save those headaches and people will upgrade their phones/tablets sooner. Then they choose the latter. This is an awful precedent to set for the post PC PC's. We have lost control and the legal right to upgrade our OS on the smartphone and tablet hardware we purchased, at least in the Android ecosystem. Apple doesn't have this issue as they forced the carriers hand to prevent this and it results in an improved customer experience. This is something that I sincerely hope Google/Android resolves in the near future. It is hard to defend Google/Android when forced obsolescence is part of your purchase agreement.
There are time when there are security updates that take months to reach these devices. Is the manufacturer or carrier legally liable for failing to address these vulnerabilities in a timely manner? Perhaps when lawsuits start landing on their doorstep they will streamline or get out of the way of updates altogether.
Actually farble1670, it does have access to an App store. The Amazon App store, which has been out for quite some time. You even reference this in your comment, so I am somewhat confused as to the intended purpose?
There are two concepts here:
The Kindle Fire does not have access to the Google Market (App Store), and lacks Gmail, Google Maps, etc. (this is correct to the best of my knowledge)
Is an entirely different different statement than:
The Kindle Fire does not have access to an App Store. (this is incorrect)
Most likely people will find a way to get the Google Apps onto the Kindle Fire. However since it seems to be a complete fork of Android as Google progresses their Apps for Ice Cream Sandwich they most likely won't continue working on this device. The Google Apps are in my eyes the best applications on Android, Google Maps is fantastic and very useful. Not having access to them is the most significant flaw in the device.
The CEO is responsible for the strategy and vision of a company. Their job is not only to define them (strategy and vision (short and long term), but to see them put into operation, and exercised successfully. So when your CEO steers the boat into Iceberg infested waters and then into one (in this case several) that causes the ship to start sinking; you better mutiny. Keeping Apotheker is a death sentence to HP. He should be put on trial for all the money that investors have lost as a result. If you can name someone who charts the course more so than the CEO then please share with me?
You send me yours along with the IP address, and I'll tell you mine. Good try at information reconnaissance.
If you don't think Kevin is a target of up and coming hackers trying to prove themselves then you need to think more.
What's the risk in saying I use an AMD based PC/ATX with 4GiB of RAM running Ubuntu? Or that I use Wireshark to diagnose network issues? Or is he buying into obscurity now?
Are you serious you're posting as an anonymous coward, and berating a security professional for not divulging enough information?
This is just a way of maintaining "Jobs" and skilled labor in New Jersey. I do prefer having my gas pumped for me as I peruse slashdot rss feeds on my android phone, but having a law mandate it to preserve the economic balance of the state seems largely unnecessary. New York FTW!!!!
When you're hacking in meatspace otherwise known as "social engineering" it really doesn't matter what OS and level of patches you are running. Think about this: Take a company with 50,000 employees. Do you think one of them is dumb enough to give up username and password information? If you said no, then you are naive, or too young to know better. Security is difficult in companies because you cannot take out the human factor.
Secondly compromising Windows 7 even with an antivirus running is fairly simple if you have direct access to the machine, or the machine has access to the web. Your question to Kevin Mitnick is condescending, and uninformed and your guarantee is doubly so.
In BestBuy they call this a service and add something like $75 dollars to the sale price. They claim to remove the crapware installed by the factory, and create the recovery discs etc. I had a friend who needed a PC immediately and upon trying to buy a PC he was told that the ones they had left had all had this service done to them. When i told them that it was extra work for me to rebuild the machine, as I can't trust their tech to be honest and demanded that they not only strip the price of their un requested service, but that they give me a discount on the computer for making me have to start the computer from scratch. They knocked another 50 off the price of the computer for my friend. Its a shame that the average consumer should have to suffer this used car salesman BS. If my friend wasn't in a time crunch I would have driven the hour away to MicroCenter. BestBuy you're just making yourselves look bad.
So in a matter of two weeks the entire tech world as we knew it, was shifted on it's axis. The untouchable TouchPad became the un-buyable tablet du jour, as HP exits a hasty retreat from Hardware and tablets into services to parrot IBM. Steve Jobs resigns from Apple before the iPhone 5 and next version of iOS. Google buys Motorola and shifts the landscape of Android. Rob the fact that you're leaving is the only one of these shifts that really matters to me. You built a community here that is firmly entrenched in the past, as they predicted, despised, trumpeted and bickered about the nerd things of Today Tomorrow and Yesterday: Because it matters. Sure you've been imitated, by sites with more funding and slash2.0 ideas. But the quality of the user base here makes the difference. Good luck and Thank You for all the hard work.
I was able to buy two HP TouchPad 16gb for $99 apiece today. Direct from HP. They seem to be out of stock now however. It is a shame to see webOS so neglected, it was a great OS which has been failed by Palm and now HP. I think i would rather leave webOS running on this than currently hack Cyanogen Mod 7 on the device. That will change if I could get Android Ice Cream Sandwich or HoneyComb ported onto the tablet... The second one is a gift for my mother to browse the web check her gmail and read books on. The Nook seems to be confusing to her to buy books on.
I would be very impressed if you could explain to me how exactly IE 6 saved time and money and made life easier for IT staffs and Enterprises as whole? Arguably it had one of the longest shelf lives of any browser. Please be certain to include the (time | money | man hours) spent cleaning the ravages of malware | trojans | rootkits and other exploits in your calculated response. Making money by offering a service to repair and clean the infected computers might have kept you fed, but it doesn't mean that it was good for or saved the enterprise money, nor did it make the life of IT Staff easier.
Once again i see MS trying to break the web
on
Where Is Firefox OS?
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· Score: 1
I simply do not trust anything from Microsoft to be in the best interest of consumers. They haven't proven historically that they are capable of standards based benevolence (IE 6 anyone?). The MS setup of HTML5 will have to mandate that the html 5 apps are locked into the Windows ecosystem or Microsoft won't let this happen. It completely debases their platform with no chance for the up-sell. Maybe this is why they are debasing the security of WebGL? So they can come in with a proprietary platform that is full of great patents to protect the developers and end user from frivolous lawsuits....
Maybe it seems like this is a gross exaggeration, and most likely it is. However it is an honest gut instinct based off prior history, and I really do hope that I am wrong.
This could help to limit the issues seen with Androids "fragmentation" by consolidating on a single hardware platform... However they will alos let others make alternate devices (Are manufacturers vying to build tablets for Win8?), and they will still be running fully bloated Windows 95-Win8 underneath the the tacked on layer of TouchUI (metro). So when the touch interface fails you can Alt+Tab into task manager find out which services is crushing your system etc. On a positive note, it can run all the native Windows goodness (malware included). So you can have an impossibly difficult interface to touch through three levels deep to find out where your networking issues started. (hint: its spelled malware). It is sadly true. Microsoft's stance of only one OS for all your needs is here to stay. Except they don't have one OS, they have WinCe, Windows Embedded, Windows 7 phone OS, and Windows 7. Microsoft you don't have to listen to the marketing team when they show you the extrapolation of all the ways you can gouge money from the masses. Try making something people want.
If this fails, then they will try to strong arm the manufacturers, and shift the marketplace and if that fails then it is FUD to the rescue. I've been wrong before, very wrong ( I said the Beastie Boys would be one-hit-wonders). Microsoft is not the Beastie Boys. Hopefully they turn out something respectable and usable, and prove me wrong again.
Microsoft yet again has proven they don't get it. It is all Windows to them. This is a UI that could easily have been an app. Underneath it is still Microsoft Windows. Same bloat of legacy code. Same vulnerabilities that will make me want to puke when my friends and families and co-workers are infested with malware. Yes the same malware that already cripples MS Windows on a regular basis, for the average user. The same difficulties for the end user to maintain a system. I already dread the day when someone calls me about a tablet that cannot get online and they cannot understand how they have malware because they run Norton 360 on their tablet along with Windows AntiVirus 2011 that they just gave their credit card information to.
Then there will be the licensing difficulties when people try to integrate a Windows 8 tablet with their Sharepoint implementation. Sample dialog below.
Tech support: I cannot set up your Win8 personal tablet on our network. You are running Win8 tablet home supreme, and it needs to be Win 8 tablet professional enterprise edition with MDOP for that to work.
All of the things that Microsoft could do to fix these issues.
Create a new OS from the ground up and have Windows run as a VM till apps can be ported over appropriately. This challenges their economic viability, so they won't do it. The new hardware on a tablet form factor could run this as well. Quad Core Tegras are due out end of the 2011.
If you wonder why I am focusing on tablets so much in my rant, it is that this UI demo is what Microsoft was selling in the Video. Six different versions of Win8 tablet UI to ensue.
Microsoft knows they need to change and change radically. This Win 8 that was the most radical chance Microsoft was ever going to take is just a touch UI skin over their same product. Too Little Too Late. Now all they can do is hope to strong arm the supply chains and manufacturers who are already making products of their own.
If it is anything like the beta mode of +1 for Google, then it does (modify read:change) the search rankings. When i am logged into a Gmail account and I search for anything. Things, i have +1'd appear on the first page interlaced with the other search rankings as do sites others in my contacts have +1'd. I have to keep logging out to see actual search rankings (without social modifiers). As far as I can tell Bing flat out carbon copies Google's efforts and they will be doing the same.
On another note, I heard people are now naming their children "Like". It is only a matter of time before someone names their child +1. That is at least cooler than "Like".
There are a lot of variables so some answers may or may not be relevant, but take what you can use and discard the rest. I had exactly the same task set before me excepting the lack of network knowledge. I did have a lack of knowledge of their network however.
1. Look at the current points of failure. Often if you inherit something in dire need of an overhaul if you touch change or modify or fix one thing, you will break something else. It could be roaming profiles in the Novell network failing due to bandwidth bottlenecks. It could be the m0n0wall BSD that was incorrectly implemented and allowing SQL queries from the outside. It could be the fact that they are running Small business servers licenses and already have over 100 machines and employees. These are some painful memories....
2. Take a serious look at licensing. Do you have Open Value? Are you running pirated versions of Windows 2000 and Adobe Acrobat 6 standard on every machine? Make certain you factor the costs of actual compliance in when you make a ledger of what the complete costs are going to be during the overhaul. If the company has never spent money on licensing in the past expect a shock and horror response when you tell them about how the BSA works.
3. What are the possible upgrade paths with current servers? Are they running outdated GroupWise, and they want Exchange? Good luck migrating to Outlook 2010. Are the backups working? Are they backing up the relevant pieces? Are they backing up to tape? to the cloud!? To a desktop in the corner of the Accounting cubicle?
4. If you decide to implement new servers: What is the current state of AD? 2000 2003 native? 2008 etc? You might have trouble upgrading the AD level depending on the desktop OS versions. You may need to have a contingency plan for mass desktop upgrades. If you are doing a complete ground up overhaul, be aware that you may be a good candidate for VMWare servers, and Citrix VDI/desktop solutions. Make a list of the Apps you use that will not work over a virtual desktop. Auto CAD, Photoshop, AVID. Any lag in the system and they will hate you. Don't screw it up. Make certain the SAN you buy in that scenario has enough i/o to work effectively.
5. As for the core network upgrade. Rerun the entire network with Cat 6 dual runs. Double them up so there is a lot of room to move, and be prepared for growth. Gig switches absolutely. They don't need to be Cisco, Juniper is great too. Perimeter security: leave that to an expert. outsource to a reputable a responsive company. You are not a cisco expert. nor will you become one over night. You can learn how to support them and do minor configurations but CYA. If you are investing in all new telephones, VOIP and POE be careful Cisco to be supported will need an entire core of all Cisco. (Hidden tax) Don't go go low end don't go high end, don't get a system that has a million features you won't ever use.
6. I'd suggest not reinventing the wheel. Get a powerful mail server with lots of room for growth. Make certain you cover your ass with a solid and effective back up system. Standardize hardware. 25% a year get a refresh . Full cycles every 4 years. Look at inboxes and email usage. Employees want to use it as a filing system now. Be careful who you piss off. In my scenario, there were no email inbox cap sizes or message size limitations. Try to transfer a 8GB GroupWise inbox into Exchange or anywhere, you'll see how corrupt the files really are. You might learn people get really upset when you tell them they can't run as local admins any more, Watch their indignation when you explain to them they can't install pirated software or the version of Photoshop their cousins friend gave them. They will be mad at you when you explain to them that just because you bought a new mail server that they can no longer email 600mb videos of them skydiving to the their friends in the company. When they hear they are getting a complete system overhaul they think it will mean that they can send bigger files, store their itunes collection
Actually that Acronym goes back to Elvis. He had a gold pendant with a lighting bolt that said TCB. It might predate the king but I'm pretty certain he took ownership once he had the gold pendant made.
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Think about this though: On that same computer i can install, Windows Vista, Win 7, Ubuntu melancholic meerkat, CentOS, haiku on any day of the week that I want, and the second it is released. That is a right i certainly do no have on any cellular phone in the US. This is all in the name of protecting the carriers network. In the 70's you had to rent a phone form the phone company for 10 bucks a month, under the same ruse. Buy the phone you want, with the right to upgrade it how you see fit. I want the carriers to be dumb pipes, and get the hell out of my way.
If it is EVGA brand I believe they allow a trade in program within a certain amount of time for situations just like this. They have a trade in program where you send in your old card and pay the difference and they will send you the updated card of choice.
I just bought the 560 TI 2GB EVGA. Your post just made my day.
Around 7.5 percent of browser activity is IE6, and that is most likely weighted by windows updates etc. About half of those users are in China, using pirated versions of Windows. You want to help hold back the web for the lowest common denominator? The implications are significant: 1) a worsened non standardized web experience for everyone. 2) perpetuating exploitable vulnerabilities that help the malware/trojan fest that the web has become. 3) keeping Microsoft and Windows XP relevant. Seriously is it that difficult to look at a user agent and have the site prompt for an install of Firefox or Chrome or Opera or Webkit to help further the cause instead of holding the progress of the internet back?
I might be wrong but, I think they have interns and PR people doing their FaceBook and Social PR chores. The politicians who are technically comfortable enough to actually be using Google+, FaceBook, Twitter and other such web entities might actually be able to understand SOPA for what it is. The ones who need the New York Times to pop up a full page advertisement are the ones the Anti-SOPA companies need to connect with.
What in the Mainframe market sector is this the answer to?
Coming from Jobs this was actually a strong compliment. "Good Artists Copy, Great Artists Steal" via Jobs which he flat out lifted from Picasso. Steve Jobs accomplished an awful lot in his 56 years I won't deny that. However he was also prone to stratospheric egotism, which i think might be affecting his judgment in this case. I am certain there are aspects in HTC's SenseUI flavored Android that were directly influenced by iOS. Do we know what those features were? Are those features native to the horrendous SenseUI or of Android itself? Many of the claims I have seen had prior art that was easily accessible. Can anyone point out patented ideas that are novel and unique without prior art that was stolen by HTC SenseUI Android, and Android as a whole? Or is this a copyright complaint like the slab shape Galaxy tab 10.1 argument?
So without knowing the quality of the CCD or the quality of the Optics on the device you are summarily dismissing it because the Mega Pixels are less than the number you like? Let me ask you a question: If you needed to get a good quality photo would you rather use a 5MP DSLR Nikon or an 8MP camera on a phone? I would take the DSLR without pause. The Mega Pixel argument is brought up buy salesmen and manufacturers because they make an otherwise crap camera sound better. Manufacturers use tricks like pixel doubling and pixel size to game this because uninformed consumers fall for it all the time. If the ability to take decent pictures is important to you, then you pay attention to this. The mega pixel myth is something you should have learned a long time ago. Now share this with your friends and help them make informed choices.
I think the biggest issue here is that the manufacturers and wireless carriers are responsible for the updates to the OS. Leaving this to them means that they incur development costs, strain their networks with downloadable updates, and then support costs for failed upgrades or confused consumers. Then they consider that if they do nothing they save those headaches and people will upgrade their phones/tablets sooner. Then they choose the latter. This is an awful precedent to set for the post PC PC's. We have lost control and the legal right to upgrade our OS on the smartphone and tablet hardware we purchased, at least in the Android ecosystem. Apple doesn't have this issue as they forced the carriers hand to prevent this and it results in an improved customer experience. This is something that I sincerely hope Google/Android resolves in the near future. It is hard to defend Google/Android when forced obsolescence is part of your purchase agreement. There are time when there are security updates that take months to reach these devices. Is the manufacturer or carrier legally liable for failing to address these vulnerabilities in a timely manner? Perhaps when lawsuits start landing on their doorstep they will streamline or get out of the way of updates altogether.
Apple owns the copyright to 9" devices. Anyone audacious enough to put one out will get sued into the nether.
Actually farble1670, it does have access to an App store. The Amazon App store, which has been out for quite some time. You even reference this in your comment, so I am somewhat confused as to the intended purpose? There are two concepts here: The Kindle Fire does not have access to the Google Market (App Store), and lacks Gmail, Google Maps, etc. (this is correct to the best of my knowledge) Is an entirely different different statement than: The Kindle Fire does not have access to an App Store. (this is incorrect) Most likely people will find a way to get the Google Apps onto the Kindle Fire. However since it seems to be a complete fork of Android as Google progresses their Apps for Ice Cream Sandwich they most likely won't continue working on this device. The Google Apps are in my eyes the best applications on Android, Google Maps is fantastic and very useful. Not having access to them is the most significant flaw in the device.
The CEO is responsible for the strategy and vision of a company. Their job is not only to define them (strategy and vision (short and long term), but to see them put into operation, and exercised successfully. So when your CEO steers the boat into Iceberg infested waters and then into one (in this case several) that causes the ship to start sinking; you better mutiny. Keeping Apotheker is a death sentence to HP. He should be put on trial for all the money that investors have lost as a result. If you can name someone who charts the course more so than the CEO then please share with me?
You send me yours along with the IP address, and I'll tell you mine. Good try at information reconnaissance.
If you don't think Kevin is a target of up and coming hackers trying to prove themselves then you need to think more.
What's the risk in saying I use an AMD based PC/ATX with 4GiB of RAM running Ubuntu? Or that I use Wireshark to diagnose network issues? Or is he buying into obscurity now?
Are you serious you're posting as an anonymous coward, and berating a security professional for not divulging enough information?
This is just a way of maintaining "Jobs" and skilled labor in New Jersey. I do prefer having my gas pumped for me as I peruse slashdot rss feeds on my android phone, but having a law mandate it to preserve the economic balance of the state seems largely unnecessary. New York FTW!!!!
When you're hacking in meatspace otherwise known as "social engineering" it really doesn't matter what OS and level of patches you are running. Think about this: Take a company with 50,000 employees. Do you think one of them is dumb enough to give up username and password information? If you said no, then you are naive, or too young to know better. Security is difficult in companies because you cannot take out the human factor. Secondly compromising Windows 7 even with an antivirus running is fairly simple if you have direct access to the machine, or the machine has access to the web. Your question to Kevin Mitnick is condescending, and uninformed and your guarantee is doubly so.
In BestBuy they call this a service and add something like $75 dollars to the sale price. They claim to remove the crapware installed by the factory, and create the recovery discs etc. I had a friend who needed a PC immediately and upon trying to buy a PC he was told that the ones they had left had all had this service done to them. When i told them that it was extra work for me to rebuild the machine, as I can't trust their tech to be honest and demanded that they not only strip the price of their un requested service, but that they give me a discount on the computer for making me have to start the computer from scratch. They knocked another 50 off the price of the computer for my friend. Its a shame that the average consumer should have to suffer this used car salesman BS. If my friend wasn't in a time crunch I would have driven the hour away to MicroCenter. BestBuy you're just making yourselves look bad.
So in a matter of two weeks the entire tech world as we knew it, was shifted on it's axis. The untouchable TouchPad became the un-buyable tablet du jour, as HP exits a hasty retreat from Hardware and tablets into services to parrot IBM. Steve Jobs resigns from Apple before the iPhone 5 and next version of iOS. Google buys Motorola and shifts the landscape of Android. Rob the fact that you're leaving is the only one of these shifts that really matters to me. You built a community here that is firmly entrenched in the past, as they predicted, despised, trumpeted and bickered about the nerd things of Today Tomorrow and Yesterday: Because it matters. Sure you've been imitated, by sites with more funding and slash2.0 ideas. But the quality of the user base here makes the difference. Good luck and Thank You for all the hard work.
I was able to buy two HP TouchPad 16gb for $99 apiece today. Direct from HP. They seem to be out of stock now however. It is a shame to see webOS so neglected, it was a great OS which has been failed by Palm and now HP. I think i would rather leave webOS running on this than currently hack Cyanogen Mod 7 on the device. That will change if I could get Android Ice Cream Sandwich or HoneyComb ported onto the tablet... The second one is a gift for my mother to browse the web check her gmail and read books on. The Nook seems to be confusing to her to buy books on.
Whether they ever find life there or not, I think Mars should be considered an enemy planet. --JH
I would be very impressed if you could explain to me how exactly IE 6 saved time and money and made life easier for IT staffs and Enterprises as whole? Arguably it had one of the longest shelf lives of any browser. Please be certain to include the (time | money | man hours) spent cleaning the ravages of malware | trojans | rootkits and other exploits in your calculated response. Making money by offering a service to repair and clean the infected computers might have kept you fed, but it doesn't mean that it was good for or saved the enterprise money, nor did it make the life of IT Staff easier.
I simply do not trust anything from Microsoft to be in the best interest of consumers. They haven't proven historically that they are capable of standards based benevolence (IE 6 anyone?). The MS setup of HTML5 will have to mandate that the html 5 apps are locked into the Windows ecosystem or Microsoft won't let this happen. It completely debases their platform with no chance for the up-sell. Maybe this is why they are debasing the security of WebGL? So they can come in with a proprietary platform that is full of great patents to protect the developers and end user from frivolous lawsuits.... Maybe it seems like this is a gross exaggeration, and most likely it is. However it is an honest gut instinct based off prior history, and I really do hope that I am wrong.
This could help to limit the issues seen with Androids "fragmentation" by consolidating on a single hardware platform... However they will alos let others make alternate devices (Are manufacturers vying to build tablets for Win8?), and they will still be running fully bloated Windows 95-Win8 underneath the the tacked on layer of TouchUI (metro). So when the touch interface fails you can Alt+Tab into task manager find out which services is crushing your system etc. On a positive note, it can run all the native Windows goodness (malware included). So you can have an impossibly difficult interface to touch through three levels deep to find out where your networking issues started. (hint: its spelled malware). It is sadly true. Microsoft's stance of only one OS for all your needs is here to stay. Except they don't have one OS, they have WinCe, Windows Embedded, Windows 7 phone OS, and Windows 7. Microsoft you don't have to listen to the marketing team when they show you the extrapolation of all the ways you can gouge money from the masses. Try making something people want. If this fails, then they will try to strong arm the manufacturers, and shift the marketplace and if that fails then it is FUD to the rescue. I've been wrong before, very wrong ( I said the Beastie Boys would be one-hit-wonders). Microsoft is not the Beastie Boys. Hopefully they turn out something respectable and usable, and prove me wrong again.
Microsoft yet again has proven they don't get it. It is all Windows to them. This is a UI that could easily have been an app. Underneath it is still Microsoft Windows. Same bloat of legacy code. Same vulnerabilities that will make me want to puke when my friends and families and co-workers are infested with malware. Yes the same malware that already cripples MS Windows on a regular basis, for the average user. The same difficulties for the end user to maintain a system. I already dread the day when someone calls me about a tablet that cannot get online and they cannot understand how they have malware because they run Norton 360 on their tablet along with Windows AntiVirus 2011 that they just gave their credit card information to. Then there will be the licensing difficulties when people try to integrate a Windows 8 tablet with their Sharepoint implementation. Sample dialog below. Tech support: I cannot set up your Win8 personal tablet on our network. You are running Win8 tablet home supreme, and it needs to be Win 8 tablet professional enterprise edition with MDOP for that to work. All of the things that Microsoft could do to fix these issues. Create a new OS from the ground up and have Windows run as a VM till apps can be ported over appropriately. This challenges their economic viability, so they won't do it. The new hardware on a tablet form factor could run this as well. Quad Core Tegras are due out end of the 2011. If you wonder why I am focusing on tablets so much in my rant, it is that this UI demo is what Microsoft was selling in the Video. Six different versions of Win8 tablet UI to ensue. Microsoft knows they need to change and change radically. This Win 8 that was the most radical chance Microsoft was ever going to take is just a touch UI skin over their same product. Too Little Too Late. Now all they can do is hope to strong arm the supply chains and manufacturers who are already making products of their own.
If it is anything like the beta mode of +1 for Google, then it does (modify read:change) the search rankings. When i am logged into a Gmail account and I search for anything. Things, i have +1'd appear on the first page interlaced with the other search rankings as do sites others in my contacts have +1'd. I have to keep logging out to see actual search rankings (without social modifiers). As far as I can tell Bing flat out carbon copies Google's efforts and they will be doing the same. On another note, I heard people are now naming their children "Like". It is only a matter of time before someone names their child +1. That is at least cooler than "Like".
There are a lot of variables so some answers may or may not be relevant, but take what you can use and discard the rest. I had exactly the same task set before me excepting the lack of network knowledge. I did have a lack of knowledge of their network however. 1. Look at the current points of failure. Often if you inherit something in dire need of an overhaul if you touch change or modify or fix one thing, you will break something else. It could be roaming profiles in the Novell network failing due to bandwidth bottlenecks. It could be the m0n0wall BSD that was incorrectly implemented and allowing SQL queries from the outside. It could be the fact that they are running Small business servers licenses and already have over 100 machines and employees. These are some painful memories.... 2. Take a serious look at licensing. Do you have Open Value? Are you running pirated versions of Windows 2000 and Adobe Acrobat 6 standard on every machine? Make certain you factor the costs of actual compliance in when you make a ledger of what the complete costs are going to be during the overhaul. If the company has never spent money on licensing in the past expect a shock and horror response when you tell them about how the BSA works. 3. What are the possible upgrade paths with current servers? Are they running outdated GroupWise, and they want Exchange? Good luck migrating to Outlook 2010. Are the backups working? Are they backing up the relevant pieces? Are they backing up to tape? to the cloud!? To a desktop in the corner of the Accounting cubicle? 4. If you decide to implement new servers: What is the current state of AD? 2000 2003 native? 2008 etc? You might have trouble upgrading the AD level depending on the desktop OS versions. You may need to have a contingency plan for mass desktop upgrades. If you are doing a complete ground up overhaul, be aware that you may be a good candidate for VMWare servers, and Citrix VDI/desktop solutions. Make a list of the Apps you use that will not work over a virtual desktop. Auto CAD, Photoshop, AVID. Any lag in the system and they will hate you. Don't screw it up. Make certain the SAN you buy in that scenario has enough i/o to work effectively. 5. As for the core network upgrade. Rerun the entire network with Cat 6 dual runs. Double them up so there is a lot of room to move, and be prepared for growth. Gig switches absolutely. They don't need to be Cisco, Juniper is great too. Perimeter security: leave that to an expert. outsource to a reputable a responsive company. You are not a cisco expert. nor will you become one over night. You can learn how to support them and do minor configurations but CYA. If you are investing in all new telephones, VOIP and POE be careful Cisco to be supported will need an entire core of all Cisco. (Hidden tax) Don't go go low end don't go high end, don't get a system that has a million features you won't ever use. 6. I'd suggest not reinventing the wheel. Get a powerful mail server with lots of room for growth. Make certain you cover your ass with a solid and effective back up system. Standardize hardware. 25% a year get a refresh . Full cycles every 4 years. Look at inboxes and email usage. Employees want to use it as a filing system now. Be careful who you piss off. In my scenario, there were no email inbox cap sizes or message size limitations. Try to transfer a 8GB GroupWise inbox into Exchange or anywhere, you'll see how corrupt the files really are. You might learn people get really upset when you tell them they can't run as local admins any more, Watch their indignation when you explain to them they can't install pirated software or the version of Photoshop their cousins friend gave them. They will be mad at you when you explain to them that just because you bought a new mail server that they can no longer email 600mb videos of them skydiving to the their friends in the company. When they hear they are getting a complete system overhaul they think it will mean that they can send bigger files, store their itunes collection
Actually that Acronym goes back to Elvis. He had a gold pendant with a lighting bolt that said TCB. It might predate the king but I'm pretty certain he took ownership once he had the gold pendant made.