the j. botter weblog

Parallels is great. Simply great. Flawless, easy install (easier than installing Windows XP by itself, in fact) and easy to configure and work with. I’ve now got a Windows XP virtual machine running on my little black MacBook, and it runs XP in a window better than my old non-Apple laptops ever did.

I don’t have too many apps I need to run in Windows (most of them are Grey Dog Software sports sims), but it’s comforting to know that I can start an instance of Windows in mere seconds and then switch back to OSX when I’m done with XP.

Just when Microsoft was winning points with me for sending out free Vista-loaded laptops to bloggers, they go and screw it up. According to Marshall Kirpatrick, the Vista laptops are coming with strings attached, after all: if you give a positive review of the operating system, they’ll let you keep it, but if they see you talking trash about it, you’ll either have to give it away on your site or send it back.

I don’t know if Edelman is behind this, or if this is someone inside Microsoft, but it’s extremely bad form either way. The way to build trust and respect from bloggers is to give them free stuff and then allow them to express their opinions, and then go back and FIX the things they’re complaining about. Giving them a free laptop is a great way to build trust and intrigue for Vista, but taking those laptops back when people give them a bad review can do awful, horrible damage to your already shady reputation.

Imagine this: what if you’d done the same thing for the Zune? Given them out to music bloggers in the hopes of getting good reviews, and then yanking them back when everyone (unsurprisingly) crapped all over them? You’d have killed the Zune dead before it even got a chance to kill itself on the market, which it (unsurprisingly) did anyway.

Technorati Tags: vista, free laptops, bloggers, edelman, microsoft, zune

For all the love I have for everything Apple, I still wish Microsoft had sent me a free laptop with Vista pre-loaded.

Why? Mostly because I’m interested in seeing what all the hype (both positive and negative) is all about. Vista could be either the biggest thing Microsoft has ever done or it could be the biggest failure in the history of the company, and I’d like to see first-hand why (without spending the money required to actually do this).

There’s also a few programs I still have to run in Windows, and while my Macbook is a perfect XP machine if there ever was one, I’d still love to see what Vista brings to the table.

Technorati Tags: microsoft, robert scoble, edelman

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Okay, Microsoft.  If you REALLY do come out with a wi-fi enabled portable media player this November, it’s going to be hard not to love you. It’ll be even harder if all the stuff Engadget says about the new player ends up being correct, and knowing Peter Rojas like I do, his information is most likely dead-on.

Here’s what Peter says is in store for Microsoft’s new baby:

• Will have a screen that’s larger than the current iPod Video. That’s not tough to beat, because that is a pretty small screen for watching movies or television on.
• Built-in Wi-Fi connection for downloading music without having to connect to your computer.
• With the wi-fi, you can also connect to a new social network for music fans. This right here is a huge selling point for me.  I hate MySpace and love last.fm, so if it’s closer to the latter, count me in.
• To attract current iPod users, Microsoft will also allow you to download (from Urge) any songs you have purchased from the iTunes Music Store.  This is a huge, HUGE deal, and if it ends up happening, it’ll be the biggest shot I’ve ever seen anyone take at Apple’s dominance in the digital music medium. They will actually scan your iTunes folder for purchased tracks and automatically download those from Urge.  Microsoft will still have to pay the fees to the rights-holders of the music, but they believe that taking that financial hit will be good in the long run for getting users to switch over to them.

If it’s well-designed and easy to use, I’m going to buy one. Here are a few things you need to keep in mind when designing and manufacturing this thing, however:

• It must be a fine-looking piece of machinery.  The iPod is popular because it’s simple and it freaking looks great. Get somebody to design this thing that has a radically different point of view on design from everyone else in your company. I realize that there’s already an internal design making the rounds, and from what I can tell it seems like you’re on the right track in this area, but make SURE that the final product you release is sexy.
• The internal software must be simple to use. Radically simple. Don’t copy Apple directly, but use the iPod software as a starting point. Every PlaysForSure player I’ve ever tried out (with the exception of the Toshiba Gigabeat S) has been incredibly difficult to navigate. Make it easy on us to get to our music and video and to make playlists, and you’ll have a dedicated userbase.
• Open it up. Don’t make me use Windows Media Player to put my music on it. If I want to use WinAmp, let me do that. I know you can’t get it to connect with iTunes, but at least give us other options besides WMP. I’m not a big fan of WMP, even the new version that everyone seems to love, but that might be because I’m so used to iTunes after all these years.
• This one is obvious, but make it easy to use with Windows Media Center. I have a WMC laptop and I’d love to be able to easily record TV and radio shows and then have them wirelessly sent to my Microsoft media player while I’m sleeping.
• On the wi-fi end, it would be nice if you could set it up so that I could subscribe to podcasts on my laptop, but even if I’m not around my laptop I could still get them sent to my player via wi-fi. This would be a HUGE deal, especially for those of us who love to listen to podcasts. You could have a central server with my podcast subscriptions on it, and if I’m in a wi-fi area I could automatically download new shows.  Man, I would LOVE this option.
• If I were able to wirelessly send my photos from my camera to my Microsoft player, and then have the choice of uploading them to Flickr or other photo albums, then I’d be hooked.  Even if I couldn’t put them on Flickr but could just use the player as a backup drive for those times when I want to take a ton of photographs but didn’t have a way to back them up, again, I’d be sold.

I realize I started rambling here, but I’m actually excited about this player. I’ve held off buying another iPod because I wanted to see what hits the market in the later parts of this year, and if this thing is for real, Microsoft might have another customer.

Does anyone else get the feeling that Microsoft is starting to become a really freaking cool company?

Hugh says that Microsoft has lost a big asset in Robert Scoble, who left the company to join startup Podtech.net.

To me it says, Microsoft finally has reached the crossroads indicated in the cartoon above, and have opted to take the non-Cluetrain route. They opted to take that route because they have run out of ideas. They're at a time in their corporate life when they need a big idea. And you what? They. Simply. Don't. Have. One.

That's a bit harsh.

Yes, Scoble was a big asset to Microsoft because he's been able to add a human face to the company over the past few years that just didn't exist. But really, unless you're a Techmeme reader and participate actively in the blogging/tech community, the chances are pretty great that you don't know who Robert Scoble is. I know that I'm the only person in my entire family who would know who Robert Scoble is, and you know what?  The rest of my family still thinks Microsoft is evil.  They used to think Bill Gates was the devil, but now that he's been deemed one of the most charitable people on earth, he's suddenly a benevolent, giving billionaire.

It's good that Robert has been able to help the tech community see past the hard edges of Microsoft, and I hope someone steps up to fill Robert's shoes. Microsoft needs that human face within the tech community. But saying that they're headed down the path of evil just because they didn't pony up enough cash to keep Robert on board is a bit of a stretch.

Bill Gates is retiring from Microsoft in 2008.

You know, I actually like seeing the new rep Microsoft is getting lately.  A large majority of the good publicity they're recieving is due to Robert Scoble, the man who announced to the world last weekend that he was leaving Microsoft for a position with PodTech.  Microsoft has always had this reputation as the big Evil Empire, but now that Google seems intent on taking that throne (and quickly, I might add), Microsoft is starting to be seen as the underdog.  I have no idea how a company that has jillions of dollars in marketshare could be feasibly called an underdog, but Scoble was able to add a human face to the company that didn't really exist before.  

Bill Gates might be the richest dude in the world, but the fact that he's retiring from Microsoft at a pretty early age to focus on his charity work (in which he's invested half of his fortune) is highly commendable. 

Microsoft came out swinging at its press conference today. For a complete recap, check out Joystiq’s liveblog of the event. The boys from Weblogs Inc. prove once again why they are the standard bearers for blog networks.

1. Halo 3 was officially announced, and the trailer is available on Live as well as via Gamespot and several other places. The trailer is short, devoid of any gameplay elements, but still manages to be majestic. The meat of the story this time around will apparently take place on Earth, and it seems like this version of Halo could be the final chapter in the trilogy that started with the original Halo on the regular XBox. That doesn’t mean that Halo is coming to an end; Bungie is planning a massive multiplayer online shooter set in the world of Master Chief, and it’s too much of a cash cow to just end the franchise. Nobody wants it to end, anyway. Bungie has a good post about it being a “surprise announcement”, but it was no surprise: Peter Moore confirmed early last week that Halo 3 would be unveiled at E3. There is nobody in that room (or watching it via the live feed from Gamespot) that was shocked when it was announced.

2. Grand Theft Auto IV is coming to the Xbox on the day of its release, so it won’t be an exclusive Sony property anymore. Folks, the importance of this announcement cannot be underestimated. GTA has been the only reason a lot of people buy a PS2; it was the reason that I originally bought my PS2 back in the day, and now that Microsoft will get the game at the same time as Sony, most people won’t have a reason to go out and drop half a grand on a system just to play GTA when they can get a great 360 with the game and several others and STILL come out cheaper than you would if you’d bought a PS3. Major kudos to Microsoft for securing this deal.

3. Live Anywhere is a new extension for Live. It allows you to access your XBL stuff anywhere, be it web, cell phone, IM, or others. You can play certain games on your cell using Live Anywhere; start a game on the 360, switch over to the cell when you have to go somewhere. A killer idea, to be sure, but I’m wondering how it’s going to work out in the real world. If it means I can get Geometry Wars on my Blackberry, then more power to them.

4. They also scored the next version of Lumines for Arcade, which was also an exclusive Sony property. I don’t know much about Lumines, but the trailer video looks pretty slick.

All in all, a great showing from the big M. They pulled out the big guns and proved to a lot of people that they will probably be the frontrunner in the upcoming console wars.

I’ll probably be posting all day tomorrow, seeing as how I have staff duty and have to stay awake from 9am tomorrow until 9am Monday morning. I wasn’t scheduled to do it, but you get the entire day off after you are finished with duty, and there’s something about not having to work on Monday that makes the rest of the week go down much easier.

– Looks like Apple is releasing a new MacBook to replace the iBook. Oh, and it’s available in black or white. I’m thinking that a black MacBook would look awfully sweet.

– Someone unearthed a 2004 patent filing from Microsoft for a piece of software that will automagically censor curse words on live television. See, that’s a cool invention. They could go back to having the Oscars and other awards shows totally live, because the software would bleep out any undesirable language.

This is all fine and good, but can they tweak the software to have it automatically turn off the sound whenever one of the Simpson sisters starts singing or talking?

- I must admit, Battlefield 2 for the XBox 360 is actually quite fun and addicting. I’ve been hearing about the Battlefield series for years but never had a computer powerful enough to play them, but Schoon has a 360, so we picked it up and haven’t really stopped playing it very much since then. My XBox Live Gamertag is rockstarsoldier, if anyone wants to play Battlefield, Ghost Recon, or Fight Night. I’m warning you, though — you’ll never know what you’re up against if you decide to jump into a Fight Night match with me. I’m undefeated, and I’m good.

- What could be better than Lego Star Wars? The original trilogy done with Legos, of course.

- Google’s being accused of profiting from child pornography. I don’t think the lawsuit has any merit whatsoever, and I’m not sure what grounds that the accusers think they have to stand on. And of course, they just have to mix in references to Google’s deal with the Chinese government as proof that they’ll stoop to any level imagineable in order to make money.

- Robert Scoble continues to prove why he’s a major force behind Microsoft’s recent resurgence as a “cool company” that understands tech and seems to be pushing towards customer care rather than shabby products. Robert says he won’t link to any Windows Live services that don’t support Firefox, and I think that’s a great first step. If Microsoft is to survive the Google onslaught and still be existing in ten years, they’re gonna have to totally change the game again. They have to rewrite the rules and make sure people understand that the old schemes and dreams just won’t cut it today.

I use Google for 90% of my online productivity. Why? Because the programs are great. Gmail is Gmail, of course, and it’ll always be my choice for email solutions. Google Calendar’s only been out a few weeks, and it’s already indispensable (something I never thought would happen with 30boxes, but it did). In order for Live to truly make headway, they need to make the tools they release as cool as Google’s stuff. It needs to work with a simplicity that makes people sit back and wonder where Microsoft has been all their lives.

It’s a new game. Microsoft has every intention of winning the game. But they have to learn to play differently.

The news that Google is now doing domain names for Gmail didn’t catch anybody by surprise. They’ve started with a community college in San Jose, CA, but are accepting other applications from businesses and individuals who would like their own hosted domain version of Gmail as well.

The reaction to the news, of course, has been favorable. Gmail is the absolute best email application that has been released thus far (web-based or otherwise), and the idea that you can now get your own domain name email running the Gmail app has understandably gotten the blogosphere in a tizzy.

Scoble, however, jumps into the mix with a post talking about how MSN has been doing this same thing for months and questions why bloggers never got excited about MSN’s project. He also implies that bloggers have no ethics because they’re dishing out favorable reports about Google while being sponsored by Google AdSense. One of the more laughable things I’ve ever heard a blogger say is Robert’s claim that “once you put Google ads on your blog, you are an employee of Google”. So anyone that puts an advertisement on an entertainment medium retains control of that medium? What you’re saying, Robert, is that ABC is an employee of GoDaddy.com? GoDaddy placed advertisement during the Super Bowl, and by your reasoning, CBS then becomes an employee of GoDaddy.

Can you see where this isn’t making sense?

We’re excited about the Gmail domain announcement because we love Gmail. Gmail is the best email application out there, bar none. I will use it forever, and that’s coming from a guy who habitually switched email providers just because he thought the interfaces sucked. We didn’t get excited about MSN doing the same thing because, well, MSN sucks. Hotmail sucks. It’s hard to get excited about something when the application in question isn’t very good. I was one of the first 5,000 Hotmail users back in the day, and I used it for a long time, but it’s currently nowhere NEAR as good as Gmail, and I don’t foresee it ever becoming as good as Gmail.

Google hasn’t bought our loyalty, Robert. I’ve posted entry after entry lately about Google doing bad things, so I think I’ve proven that I’m not in Google’s back pocket. They provide the advertising for my blog network, but it hasn’t stopped me from calling a spade a spade when I feel something is out of place. Gmail is a good application, so naturally we’re excited about the prospect of using it on our own domain names. MSN is not a good application, so we didn’t give it the same amount of coverage. It’s actually quite simple.