Posts Tagged ‘Microsoft’

« Older Entries

Microsoft 1, Google 0

Monday, January 23rd, 2012

Microsoft 1, Google 0

It was no accident that Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) earnings were good and Google’s bad (NASDAQ: GOOG). The assumption that search is one of the best businesses in the world has proved inaccurate. The notion that paid operating software and hardware sales are bad businesses has turned out to be wrong. The tide of tech has turned in Redmond’s favor.

Microsoft’s sales in the past quarter did not improve much — from $20 billion to $20.9 billion. Earnings were down very slightly to $6.6 billion. But the world’s largest software company is nearing the end of its Windows 7 product cycle, and Windows 8 is on the horizon. The strength of its earnings were in its Servers & Tools division and Business division. These signal the health of corporate and enterprise IT spending. Google has tried to enter this field with its apps products and failed. Microsoft’s products have the appeal of completeness and are fully finished. The power of its numbers in these areas was confirmed by IBM’s (NYSE: IBM) strength in the same sector

Google’s earnings were impressive on their face. Sales rose 25% to $10.6 billion. Earnings were up very modestly from $2.54 billion to $2.71 billion. The margins were unimpressive. Wall St. reacted by dropping shares by 10%. The strangest thing about the company’s numbers was that the employee count at Google rose from 31,353 at the end of September to 32,467. This happened as Google dropped out of a number of is faltering businesses. It would seem the size of its workforce ought to decline. Google has decided to invest in a future that may be severely limited.

Google’s figures were hurt by the movement of search to mobile devices from the PC. Yield per click on its text ads dropped 8% from the same period a year ago. Some analysts believe that click activity on mobile devices is poor. Google may be the leader by far in mobile search. The victory appears to have caused damage to its margins.

Google’s other major push into mobile is its Android operating system. Its adoption has been extraordinary. Android growth has outpaced the increase in the use of Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) OS, and Microsoft barely has as foothold in the market. Google has not found a way to make money on Android, and the software is under patent attacks, mostly from Microsoft. An open source operating system that was supposed to be free has turned out to be expensive for its adopters. Most have agreed to pay license fees to Microsoft for its intellectual property. Microsoft may have found the mobile OS business more profitable than Google, even though Windows mobile OS growth has been nonexistent.

(more…)

Tags:
Posted in Google Operating System, internet, Microsoft, softwares - news | No Comments »

Microsoft keeps it old-school with a pricey text adventure game, Visual Studio 2010

Saturday, January 21st, 2012

Microsoft keeps it old-school with a pricey text adventure game, Visual Studio 2010

Microsoft has jumped onto the free-to-play bandwagon with its latest game, a text-driven adventure called Visual Studio 2010. The innovative new game marries the traditional interactive fiction text adventure with its arcane commands and exploration with the free-form, open-ended gaming pioneered by the likes of SimCity.

There are two major modes to the game, a textual spell-casting game, and a more complex interactive puzzle mode.

Play starts with the spell game. The game has three difficulty modes. In the two easiest modes Visual Studio questers must cast spells to appease a malevolent gatekeeper known only as “the compiler,” combining the text adventuring of Zork with the wizardy and magic of Loom. If the player’s spell contains even a single faulty incantation, the compiler will respond with a torrent of abuse and spells of its own; the player must piece together clues contained within compiler’s response to determine how they went wrong.

In the hardest mode, a second gatekeeper, the even more cantankerous “linker,” must also be satisfied. In this mode, even more complex magic is required. The player must mix multiple, interrelated spells and potions, ensuring they operate in perfect concert to persuade both compiler and linker to allow them to pass.

Spells are used to quell the compiler and create dungeons. Once a suitable spell has been created, the second phase of the game takes place. This mode borrows heavily from NetHack and other roguelikes; a complex, dynamic dungeon is created, and the player must hunt down the vicious creatures, “bugs,” that inhabit this world.

Visual Studio 2010 breaks from the traditional roguelike, giving the player rich tools to examine and even modify his environment. But there is a trade-off; his navigation is often beyond his direct control, with his route through the different rooms of the dungeon governed by the spell he cast previously. These bugs often construct ornate traps that the player can trigger accidentally. If the player stumbles headlong into a bug then the ensuing attack will often destroy the entire dungeon, bringing the whole thing crashing down on the player’s head.

To re-enter the dungeon, another spell must be cast. In this way, play switches between the two game modes; creating spells to enter the dungeons, and then hunting the bugs contained within the dungeon.

Visual Studio 2010 offers a free-form gaming experience. Nothing in the game prescribes a particular layout for the dungeons; they’re left entirely to the taste and discretion of the player. They can be large, baroque, sprawling monstrosities, or small, clean, tasteful affairs. The results are as varied as players are; no two experiences will be the same.

The gameplay can be very uneven. Some play sessions are an exercise in frustration. It can be difficult to even create a dungeon in the first place, and the game gives few indications of what you’re doing wrong. When it comes to hunting down the monsters within the dungeon, you’re really on your own. But the experience can also be rich and rewarding. The spell-casting system is enormously flexible and varied, and the resulting constructions can be exquisite.

If it all gets a bit much, Visual Studio 2010 does include a pleasing beginners’ mode where, instead of typing spells, they can be drawn using a convenient drag-and-drop interface. This GUI gameplay eschews much of the complexity of the full game—the compiler gatekeeper is almost always happy, and few bugs will lurk in the resulting dungeons—but works well as a way of learning how to craft spells.

The game includes a complex multiplayer mode, allowing many different players to develop a coordinated array of spells and dungeons together. Each player can enter the other player’s dungeons, examine their spells, and even modify them. The open-ended environment allows players to create their own goals and objectives, and the multiplayer mode allows these objectives to be tracked and monitored.

Visual Studio 2010 is a free-to-play game, but here is where some of the biggest problems lie. There is a large system of unlocks and additional features that must be purchased—mere in-game accomplishment is not sufficient to gain access to them. The most expensive of these—the “Ultimate” edition—costs a whopping $11,899. This version does include some exciting additions to gameplay, such as the ability to look back in time to see just how a bug ensnared you in its trap, giving the game something of the character of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

(more…)

Tags:
Posted in internet, Microsoft, softwares - news | No Comments »

Will Windows 8 Win? Microsoft’s Uphill Battle Against Apple, Android

Saturday, January 21st, 2012

Will Windows 8 Win? Microsoft’s Uphill Battle Against Apple, Android

2012 is shaping up to be a make-or-break year in the crucial mobile operating system market and, for perhaps the first time in its distinguished history, Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT) will be looking up at incumbent market leaders.

Windows 8, Microsoft’s next-generation operating system, is scheduled to launch this year, with a beta release slated for February. Unlike its many predecessors, the new OS is slated to deliver an entirely new user interface optimized for both desktop and touch-screen-enabled mobile devices. As more details emerge about the new release, reactions are being stirred up among OEMs, developers and solution providers — many of which view Windows 8 as a pivotal, do-or-die move for the software giant.

While Microsoft made a sizable splash at CES 2012 with Windows 8 (the OS was featured on numerous Ultrabook and tablet demos), the spotlight shifted when Intel unveiled a major mobile alliance with Motorola Mobility around the chip maker’s new Atom chip, code-named Medfield, for tablets and smartphones. The move displayed Intel (NSDQ:INTC)’s support for Android (Motorola (NYSE:MOT) Mobility is in the process of being acquired by Google (NSDQ:GOOG)) and left questions looming about how Microsoft and its operating systems will fit into Intel’s plan for mobile dominance.

A lot of the uncertainty surrounding Windows 8 stems from the fact that, historically, Microsoft hasn’t had much of a foothold in the mobile space. While Apple and Google have managed to capture a significant chunk of mobile market share, Microsoft has stuck, more or less, to its PC-centric roots. According to recent statistics published by Web analytics firm Net Applications, 43.1 percent of U.S. mobile devices run on Google’s Android OS, while 16.7 run on Apple’s iOS. Microsoft, however, wasn’t among the top five, as Windows Phone 7 has lagged behind.

It’s with these statistics in mind that many are questioning whether Microsoft is joining the mobility game too late — and whether Windows 8 will ever gain the traction it needs to compete. Developers and solution providers told CRN that, while a new touch interface and an app store may pique the industry’s interest, they won’t necessarily mean a quick win for Microsoft’s new OS.

Bill Lucchini, COO of OnForce, an on-site services marketplace that matches service buyers with service providers, believes only a game-changing device or OS could successfully enter today’s already saturated mobile market.

Take Apple (NSDQ:AAPL), for instance. It was able to enter the mobility space four years ago and succeed — even among mobile giants Nokia (NYSE:NOK) and Samsung, which already had staked their claims — simply because the iPhone was different. That same innovation is required to compete (at least seriously) in the marketplace today, Lucchini explained. “Apple changed what it meant to be a phone, and therefore took such a strong position, as Android did afterward,” he said. “So I think there is still room for that, but somebody needs to come up with that market-changing idea in order to get in at this point.”

While it’s too early to tell whether that “somebody” is Microsoft, Windows 8 does tout several new features that distinguish it from both competitors and previous Windows releases. The new Metro user interface, for instance, is fully touch-capable and replaces the traditional desktop Start menu with a tile layout similar to that of the Windows Phone 7.

NEXT: Breaking Down Windows 8

What’s more, the new OS features a log-in method called Picture Password, allowing users to define and enter a password by making select movements over a photo rather than typing one. Windows 8 also will deliver the most recent installment of Internet Explorer, version 10, and is expected to spark a more robust app selection in the Windows Store.

Perhaps one of the most innovative features seen with the new OS, however, is Windows to Go. The new feature allows IT administrators to create USB drives containing fully managed Windows 8 systems for users to take with them outside the office. As the name suggests, it’s essentially a portable and secured version of the new OS, apps and all (for more, check out the CRN Test Center review of the Windows 8 developer preview ).

Shahin Pirooz, executive vice president, engineering operations, and CTO of CenterBeam, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based solution provider, views Windows to Go as one of the most exciting new features to be delivered with Windows 8. Its appeal, however, is enterprise-focused, meaning that it may not necessarily draw a wider consumer audience. “In typical Microsoft fashion, they are speaking to the IT industry rather than the consumer,” Shahin explained. “Even though that’s who they are trying to get to.”

In addition to positioning itself as a true mobile innovator, Microsoft faces another challenge when it comes to Windows 8: the consumerization of IT. The phrase, referring to the increasingly blurry line between what is considered a “corporate” vs. a “consumer” device, could suggest that as more and more Apple and Android devices make their way into the corporate world, Microsoft’s grip on the enterprise market will start to slip.

Chad Osgood, CEO and managing partner at Premier Logic, an Alpharetta, Ga.-based software developer and solution provider, has seen declining interest in the Windows OS ever since the iPhone and other consumer-centric devices landed in enterprise users’ hands.

“I think what we started to see with the release of the iPhone was a lot more consumer-oriented mobile devices,” Osgood told CRN. “And what that did … we started to see a lack of demand from a consumer and an enterprise standpoint for Windows mobile.”

The decline of Research In Motion proves just how hefty a blow the consumerization of IT can deal enterprise-focused vendors. The BlackBerry maker lost a hefty chunk of its enterprise customer base to the iPhone and Android-run devices this year and saw a major blow to its third-quarter revenue, reporting $265 million compared to the $911 million the company reported in the same quarter the year before. If Windows 8 isn’t a game-changer, Microsoft also may find itself living in Apple’s ever-expanding shadow.

(more…)

Tags:
Posted in Google Android, Google Operating System, internet, Microsoft | No Comments »

Microsoft, Google Incorporate Gamification in Unusual Places

Friday, January 20th, 2012

Microsoft, Google Incorporate Gamification in Unusual Places

Microsoft and Google are incorporating gamification into two un-game like products—the Visual Studio development programs and maps, respectively–illustrating the growing trend of using such technology to increase adoption.

Microsoft introduced a new plug-in for its Visual Studio development program that lets software developers unlock achievements, receive badges and work their way up a leaderboard based on the code they write, Geekwire reports. There are 32 achievements. Badges fall into a wide range of categories including “Lonely”–for coding on a Friday or Saturday night and the “Scroll Bar Wizard” badge–for writing a single line of code at least 300 characters long.

Google Gamifies Maps

Next month Google will be delivering a gamified maps app, according to MSNBC. The game, as yet unnamed, is being driven by Google Maps, for its Google+ Games platform. It will likely be provided via an Android-powered device, and navigated by motion control capabilities.

(more…)

Tags:
Posted in Google Chrome, internet, Microsoft, softwares - news | No Comments »

Microsoft takes aim at rootkits, misses

Friday, January 20th, 2012

Microsoft takes aim at rootkits, misses

Red Hat, Canonical raise objections at Linux.conf.au.

Open Source companies Red Hat and Canonical have highlighted serious concerns about a Microsoft plan to rid the world of rootkits, arguing that Redmond’s UEFI technology is “buggy”.

Microsoft’s UEFI is an attempt to address the recent explosion in the number of viruses and other malware targeting low-level system services. Known as rootkits, these attacks are capable of infecting systems at a level that’s difficult or impossible to detect with traditional anti-virus software, and often require complete system rebuilds to fix.

One particular weak point has been the PC’s BIOS – the basic code that executes when the computer starts. The BIOS is stored on a separate chip rather than a hard disk, so an infected BIOS will stay infected even if everything else on the system is wiped clean. BIOS rootkits have been spotted in the wild as recently as September 2011, prompting Microsoft and Intel to work on a solution.

That solution is UEFI, a complete rewrite of BIOS to make it faster, better, more secure, and standardised across different PCs, tablets and smartphones. The key security feature within it is called Secure Boot, which uses cryptographic signatures to prevent untrusted code from running at the BIOS level.

Microsoft has announced that all Windows 8 certified systems will be required to implement UEFI.

In a presentation to Linux.conf.au, Red Hat mobile Linux developer Matthew Garrett called UEFI “infuriating”, “poorly tested” and full of “an incredible number of bugs”.

UEFI has ten times more code than BIOS, he noted, none of which has enjoyed the benefit of decades of testing and real-world use.

(more…)

Tags:
Posted in internet, Linux, Red Hat, softwares - news | No Comments »

« Older Entries