The famous Microsoft blogger Robert Scoble has a book out with co-author Shel Israel called Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers. Although I haven’t read the book yet, Chris Pirillo has a very short and humorous review of it over on his site. Head on over to his blog and check it out…
View: Naked Conversations (Chris Pirillo)
[tags]scoble, naked conversations, microsoft, pirillo, review[/tags]
Today, Microsoft released the December Customer Technology Preview (CTP) of their next operating system, Windows Vista. This new CTP is tagged build 5270.
Greetings Windows Beta Testers! The Windows beta team is pleased to announce the availability of Windows Vista and Longhorn Server build 5270. This release is the December Customer Technology Preview (CTP). This build is not beta quality but is offered as a preview or our progress towards Beta 2. It will allow you to confirm bugs that have been fixed and begin testing features that have been added since build 5231. Please obtain a new product key for build 5270 from the Microsoft Connect website (http://connect.microsoft.com) and download this release as soon as possible. No media will be sent; this release is available as a download only. You will need a new version of the Microsoft Beta Client to report issues. Release notes are available which call attention to some of the issues we are already aware of. Please take a moment to read them then join us in the newsgroups to discuss your experience with Windows Vista. Important notes: Please use the link above to obtain a new product key This build must be clean installed. Upgrades are not supported but will be enabled in later builds. Download images are DVD only. No CD images will be made available for this build. Both Vista and Longhorn Server are available in the same image you only need a separate image if you wish to test Longhorn Server Core. The initial release is English only, German and Japanese are planned to follow within 2 weeks The following are available with this release: Windows Vista (x86 and x64) Windows Longhorn Server (x86 and x64) Windows Longhorn Server Core (x86 and x64) Windows Platform SDK (Available Shortly) Windows Driver Development Kit We look forward to your feedback on this new build!
Related Link: Microsoft Windows Vista Build 5270 (December CTP) Feature List
I hate them. 
Why, you may ask? First, Microsoft. I’m sorry, but I still believe that Microsoft purposely limited quantities of Xbox 360′s available at launch. To tell everyone that there will be over a million at launch and then cut it back more than half! According to this article, Microsoft denies arranging shortages. Well, I understand that it helps promote the item if it’s a rare at launch, but for me as a consumer, it sucks. I guess it could’ve been worse, I could have preordered and been told I would have one on the first day and then get the call that the quantities were cut and I didn’t make the list.
Second, Retailers. So, for those of us who didn’t preorder, we were told that if you show up at midnight for the launch, you may have a chance. Well, that’s partially true. Apparently every retailer decided to take it upon themselves to randomly hand out letters/fliers guaranteeing you a box at midnight. How stupid. Why is that stupid? Because people will bounce from store to store grabbing letters/fliers to get multiple boxes. I watched this happen. I mean, they don’t even have to stay around at that point. They can leave and go to another store and do the same. I think that they should just let people camp out, or do whatever and at midnight/opening, let them get it. Maybe it creates chaos, but to hand out letters at random…..sucks. I went to the local Wal-Mart last night at like 5:00pm, and they said they already handed out the “seats.” What!?!? I don’t see anyone in line.
So, that was my personal rant. Did I get an Xbox 360? No. Am I bitter? Yes. Will I get over it? Of course. I do know why they do these kinds of things, but it sucks for those who didn’t get one. That’s why I should have pre-ordered earlier, huh?
UPDATE: So, I overexaggerated about Microsoft. I’m sure they were trying to get as many out as possible…I forgot that IBM just recently released the Cell processors a few weeks back. I’m sure it’s difficult to throw 1 million of them in a box and have them on the shelves in a few weeks. Now I’m seeing articles about crashes, so maybe it’s a good idea to wait anyway. 
I subscribe to the executive emails from Microsoft, and yesterday, Steve Ballmer sent out a note regarding their vision and strategy for midsize companies:
Midsize companies face many of the same demands as large corporations. Globalization has opened up new market opportunities, and to take advantage of them it is essential for businesses to maximize efficiency and collaborate with partners and suppliers around the world. Business success increasingly comes from delivering more personalized, just-in-time service to customers. The regulatory environment requires greater attention to compliance and record-keeping. Yet companies with less than 1,000 employees often struggle to find the resources to tackle these challenges.
Read More: Executive E-Mail: Current Edition
The next version of the popular Microsoft operating system has just reached the Beta 1 milestone. For those of you who don’t know, this new OS recently lost it’s codename (“Longhorn”) and got the name of Windows Vista. I am pretty excited about this new operating system, there are a number of great new features coming out, and I’m anxious to see what they’ve included. Through IBM, I have an MSDN subscription, so I’m in the process of downloading this massive 2.5GB download.
Paul Thurrott, a Microsoft MVP has a site dedicated to Windows Vista. It’s called the Windows Vista Activity Center.
Beta 2 is not anticipated until November-March 2006.
As I tend to do on most days, I was browsing through the various news and blog sites and came across Steve Ballmer‘s recent Channel 9 interview. I think he’s a great CEO; he has a lot of energy and is very passionate about his job and Microsoft in general. One thing really bothered me about this interview though. Here is one of his quotes from the interview:
“But, I look out at the world and I say ‘who is doing the innovative stuff over the last few years?’ Did IBM out innovate us? I don’t think so. I don’t think they’ve done much interesting at all.”
How could Steve say such a thing? Don’t think we’ve done much interesting at all? That’s a harsh thing to say for the #1 patent producer. I see a lot of innovation every day at IBM, but it’s not home entertainment or home productivity. We are a business-oriented company, focusing on what seems to me like B2B type stuff, instead of B2C like Microsoft. What do you think?
Paul Thurrott from the SuperSite for Windows has some good information regarding the next version of Windows, codename “Longhorn.” This showcase features: Longhorn roadmap, the various release milestones, the Longhorn investments and selling points, hardware requirements, screenshots, and more.
Source: Paul Thurrott’s SuperSite for Windows: The Road to Windows Longhorn 2005