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August 20, 2004
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http://eletters.eweek.com/zd1/cts?d=79-1013-20-37-22237-115396-1
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In This Edition
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David Coursey: XP in the News
1. Tracking Down an SP2 "Internet Legend"
2. Sell Globally, Support Locally
3. Reader Letter: Google Feedback
4. Two Dead Machines--But Why?
5. Product of the Week
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David Coursey
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XP in the News
This was a mixed week for Microsoft, at least as far as I
was concerned. On one hand, I stood up for the company when
Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols criticized it for not offering a
dumbed down version of XP here in the states as it's doing
in some overseas counties (as a Linux competitor).
Opinion: Why Cheap Windows is Wrong for the U.S.
http://eletters.eweek.com/zd1/cts?d=79-1013-20-37-22237-115399-1
Opinion: Why Can't We Get a Slimmer Windows XP?
http://eletters.eweek.com/zd1/cts?d=79-1013-20-37-22237-115402-1
Later, however, I suggested that many companies would be
better off if they dumped Microsoft Office for something
less expensive and then vigorously chided the company for
not doing more to earn its premium pricing.
Opinion: Life Without MS Office Isn't So Tough
http://eletters.eweek.com/zd1/cts?d=79-1013-20-37-22237-115405-1
Opinion: Microsoft: Want My Money? Make My Day!
http://eletters.eweek.com/zd1/cts?d=79-1013-20-37-22237-115408-1
Of course, I'm still using Word even though WordPerfect is
also installed on the Dell Latitude X300 I've been using
lately--including right now. The Dell is a great machine and
as for WP, it's a very nice word processor but I'm paid to
watch what Microsoft does much more closely than what Corel
does.
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The Report
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1. Tracking Down an SP2 "Internet Legend"
On Monday, I hosted one of our eSeminars, something I do
about twice a month. This was about desktop security and one
of the things that came up was why Microsoft isn't allowing
bootlegged copies of Windows XP to upgrade to SP2.
The reason this was cause for concern is the fear that any
unprotected machine is an important threat, regardless of
legal status. An unpatched machine endangers everyone, not
just its owner. So if Microsoft isn't letting any machine
get upgraded to SP2 security, it's a problem.
The good news is I investigated and found this is a
non-problem, an Internet legend that Microsoft sprung on
itself and hasn't managed to educate people well enough to
reel back in.
This story got started because Microsoft prevented certain
bootlegged volume license codes from upgrading to SP1 and
early versions of SP2 (the pre-release releases) increased
the number of non-upgradeable machines to include even more
bootlegged authentication codes.
This caused some consternation for reasons already
explained. Microsoft subsequently removed the added
bootlegged codes but left in the codes from SP1, basically
as a convenience for programmers. Microsoft says the old
codes are no longer in use, so they believe all copies of XP
can be updated to SP2. While I am not for stealing, making
bootlegged XP machines as secure as possible is in
everyone's best interest.
My next eSeminar takes place this coming Monday at 2pm
Eastern/11am Pacific. The topic is "Locking Down Your
Customer Data" and I hope you'll join us. Admission is free
for the hour-long online event.
Locking Down Your Customer Data
http://eletters.eweek.com/zd1/cts?d=79-1013-20-37-22237-115411-1
If you are interested in the desktop security event you can
watch and listen to the recorded presentation.
Corporate Desktop Security
http://eletters.eweek.com/zd1/cts?d=79-1013-20-37-22237-115414-1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2. Sell Globally, Support Locally
That's what Lance Ulanoff recommends for vendors based on
feedback in PC Magazine's 17th Annual Service and
Reliability Survey. The good news is hardware is getting
better. The bad news is tech support is getting worse--and
those overseas support reps are to blame.
Making Tech Support Local, Simple
http://eletters.eweek.com/zd1/cts?d=79-1013-20-37-22237-115417-1
17th Annual Satisfaction and Support Survey
http://eletters.eweek.com/zd1/cts?d=79-1013-20-37-22237-115420-1
Something else: It is so great to be able to link to PC
Magazine content, which remains the clear leader in the
field. I used to try to sneak PC Mag links in when I worked
someplace else, but they were always found and removed.
Nobody knows this stuff the way PC Magazine does.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3. Reader Letter: Google Feedback
Here's a reader letter I received concerning my anti-Google
IPO remarks:
Opinion: Just Say No to Google IPO
http://eletters.eweek.com/zd1/cts?d=79-1013-20-37-22237-115423-1
"David--love your writing, but you've obviously never been
through an IPO on the inside.
"Google is blazing trails, and I give them serious points
for outright bravery. Wall Street will give them a hard
time over this for years to come precisely because they went
around 'the system' Wall Street will use their clout to
drive down the price, as payback.
"This is the system that usually flips stocks within days so
that high-rollers can make millions. The little guy never
got access to stock until it had been flipped a couple of
times. An IPO is supposed to be a financing event--the
proceeds are supposed to go the company to fund future
growth.
"Sure, a lot of things went wrong. But this is an order of
magnitude bigger than any auction ever conducted. Somebody's
got to make the first mistakes.
"And about the value of workers' options on IPO day: doesn't
matter, never did. They are forbidden from trading those
options for 180 days. What matters to them is 'how will the
shares be valued 6 months from now?'
"I wish them the best. Over 80% of IPO shares do crash
before the 180 day period happens."
My response: If I'd ever been through a successful IPO from
the inside, I'd probably be doing something else right now.
I've made people a lot more money than I have ever come
close to seeing. I shouldn't have talked about employee
options losing a third of their value for the reason
mentioned, but my comment that idiot mistakes drove the
value down really should cause some wondering if not by
employees than by people who will buy their shares six
months from now.
My bet is those shares will sell in the $20-$30 range, still
good money but also a price more in line with Google's
value. This is, after all, a media company. Nothing more and
nothing less. Its technology seems to be growing less useful
over time, when it should be getting better.
News: Google Cuts Its IPO Price Range
http://eletters.eweek.com/zd1/cts?d=79-1013-20-37-22237-115426-1
News: Google Shares Hit $100.34 in Market Debut
http://eletters.eweek.com/zd1/cts?d=79-1013-20-37-22237-115429-1
As for the auction, I am not sure that letting "the little
guys" in really matters when we are talking about "little
guys" with $500,000 stock portfolios. As for bravery, for
all the folksy BS, what Google sold were shares that give
their owners little say in how the company is managed. Not
just because they didn't sell many but because each share as
1/10th the voting rights of the shares the company kept.
The purpose of an IPO is supposed to be funding the company,
but venture capital has turned it into a get-rich-quick
scheme for the founders and their friends--a way of
separating folks from their money, previously propped up by
some now-disgraced stock touts.
The Google IPO is the kind of event that got us into trouble
in the first place and from which we have yet to recover.
Though if it's really the first of many inflated offerings
from over-hyped companies, maybe I should just shut up and
go find a job at the right start-up.
If you post a comment and would like a response please
include an e-mail address (which isn't forwarded to me with
the posting) or e-mail me a copy of the post and I'll do my
best to respond. My address is mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Also, be aware that you don't have to agree with me but if I
find your post insulting (to me or anybody) I will delete it
and may turn off posting all together and just respond to
reader mail here in the newsletter or as blog postings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4. Two Dead Machines--But Why?
A number of people responded to the saga of my two dead
computers, just the latest in a series of dead machines I've
had to reimage since the beginning of the year.
I had previously tried the VX fix to no avail. I've tried
ipconfig /release and that did not work. A virus scan shows
the machine to be clean, as does a spyware/adware scan.
Removing the machine from the Windows domain and removing
its account on my Small Business Server doesn't help. I
still have two machines that become useless because
winlogon.exe is grabbing all the processor cycles. My last
hope will be hauling one of the boxes to a friend down in
Fresno for some intense examination. After that I will
probably wipe the drives and start fresh, loading all my
usual software onto one of the boxes and a lighter load onto
the other to see if it makes any difference.
I still wonder if antivirus software isn't playing some sort
of a role in this or maybe there is something about the user
profiles that's gotten fried. Oh well...
http://eletters.eweek.com/zd1/cts?d=79-1013-20-37-22237-115435-1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5. Product of the Week
This Dell Latitude X300 is perfect--well almost. The
keyboard size isn't an issue for me, but the fact that its
serial port (actually the dock's serial port) won't power a
programming cable for one of my radios really irks me. It's
a known bug, though not by me until after the cable didn't
work. Probably only ham radio operators will ever notice.
As for the rest of the machine, with the dock the X300 will
do anything you'd want a notebook to do. Without the dock
it's as small as any notebook I'd want to use. With the
extended life battery and the supplied battery installed in
the dock I've never run out of juice. We're talking more
than 8 hours here.
I've gotten good use from the dual AC/DC power adapter,
capable of powering and charging the X300 from my Explorer.
My only real gripe--and this isn't Dell's fault--is that the
LCD panels used on machines in this price (and battery life)
range aren't daylight readable.
I like this machine very much and recommend it to friends.
http://eletters.eweek.com/zd1/cts?d=79-1013-20-37-22237-115438-1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's it for this week. I stay up on Thursday night writing
this weekly missive. Please feel free to share it with
friends. In between issues, the columns post first on
eWEEK.com and blog postings (less frequent than I'd like)
are at http://eletters.eweek.com/zd1/cts?d=79-1013-20-37-22237-115489-1 . If you have
questions or
something you'd like me to write about, feel free to send
e-mail.
See you next Friday.
eWEEK.com Contributing Editor David Coursey has been writing
about personal computing for more than two decades, but
thinks he looks younger. Though not as young as Jim
Louderback looks. David's e-mail is
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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