bdpnetworks
newsletter - issue #3: October, 2001bdpnetworks
newsletter - issue #3: October, 2001Microsoft
News [All]
• Windows XP has been released...
• Microsoft responds to security problems with new tools
• Update on Microsoft licensing program
• New Internet Explorers 5.5 SP2 & 6.0 break
Netscape-style plugins
Other
Newsbites
• Recall:
Compaq power supplies on Armada & ProSignia laptops
can overheat
& cause fire
• HP
& Compaq merger
• Mozilla & StarOffice - almost ready for prime time?
Information
about my services
[All]
• Who is this guy?
• What is this all about?
Fun
& Cool
[All]
• Best Paper Airplane in the World
• Institute of Official Cheer (Gallery of Regrettable Food & much,
much more)
• Halloween Online
• Punkin' Chunkin'
• Poke the
Bunny
Key: [NT, 2000] affects users of Windows NT or Windows 2000, [Administrators] is primarily of interest to LAN administrators, [All] is of interest to everyone, etc.
Welcome once again to the bdpnetworks monthly newsletter. I started this newsletter to raise awareness about the services I can provide for companies of any size by giving away useful information in a condensed format that you may not normally encounter.
I'm excited about this issue
because I will not be covering viruses or worms on the Windows platform.
I have already published tons of useful links in the last newsletter that will
help you get up to speed on these problems. You can view it here:
http://www.bdpnetworks.com/nl/nl02.html
As always, if you have any questions or comments about anything at all, please don't hesitate to contact me at info@bdpnetworks.com. For more information on bdpnetworks, please see the section below entitled Information about bdpnetworks.
Thanks again for reading!
Microsoft's newest desktop operating system, Windows XP, is now available in stores. Windows XP is meant to be the successor to Windows ME at home and Windows 2000 Professional in the workplace. It is built on the Windows NT code base for more security & reliability. Included are many user interface enhancements that should help make things easier & increase productivity.
Windows XP is not without lots of controversy though. Many opponents point out that Microsoft has bundled lots of functionality into their OS that was originally handled by third-party programs, effectively trying to shut those software publishers out of the market as they did with Internet Explorer. I briefly covered this in issue #1 along with some links (still applicable) to early reviews of the product. Additionally, here are some more reviews:
Windows XP review (C-Net)
http://home.cnet.com/software/0-6688749-8-7007240-2.html?tag=st.sw.806340-1205-6534881.txt.sw_ce
50 things you didn't know about Windows XP... (Chris Pirillo, TechTV)
http://www.techtv.com/callforhelp/projects/story/0,23008,3355460,00.html
Should you upgrade?
Unless you really want to play with it and think you'll derive great benefits from it, don't upgrade yet. As with any new operating system, I recommend you wait a minimum of six months (or until the first service pack) before upgrading. If you buy a new computer, it may be useful to get it preinstalled with Windows XP, but if you are already settled in on another OS, just wait until the kinks have been worked out before upgrading. Let someone else work out the problems with it.
Once some time has passed, the people who will benefit most from an upgrade are home users running Windows 95, 98 or Windows Me. Windows XP is a completely different system & is much more stable than those operating systems, which still rely on a DOS foundation. The combination of stability mixed with huge improvements in the interface (and ease-of-use) may make this a "must have," but keep in mind that system requirements are very steep for this operating system. I would recommend 256MB of RAM & at least a 600MHz Pentium II-class CPU to make it useful. Additionally, some existing games and older programs may not work with Windows XP at all.
Business users already using Windows NT or Windows 2000 may not have a clear reason to bother upgrading to Windows XP Professional, and Microsoft has downplayed the professional version because of this. In my opinion, the benefits of moving from Windows NT to Windows 2000 outweigh the benefits gained from upgrading Windows 2000 to Windows XP. Again, err on the side of caution and wait it out until there are clear reasons to upgrade.
Microsoft has been under the gun recently to improve the security of their products, especially Internet Information Server. The Gartner Group has formally recommended that companies move away from IIS entirely, citing its potential to spread worms based on security flaws that are often left unpatched. (See Issue #2 for more information on this.)
To combat the public's perception that IIS & Windows are insecure products, Microsoft has created the Strategic Security Protection Program. This program is to include a free CD that contains all current security patches, and automatic installation of new security patches via the Internet among other things. It all sounds good, but whether or not the program will be effective remains to be seen.
For information about the
program itself, you can go directly to the source:
http://www.microsoft.com/security
For some discussion of this
program, check out this article at Wired:
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,47299,00.html
Good news: Microsoft has extended the transition deadline for their new Licensing Program v6.0 to July 31, 2002.
Many customers were frustrated with Microsoft's new licensing terms, often forecasting drastically increased costs as a result of the new program. Microsoft has backed off a bit, which should give companies more time to plan for the new licensing terms.
You can read more about this at the source:
http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/extended.asp
Or you can read all about Microsoft licensing, including FAQs (Frequently Asked
Questions) at this location:
http://www.microsoft.com/licensing
Note that the Microsoft Licensing programs do not apply to the majority of home users who buy their products off the shelf or preinstalled on their computers.
It has recently come to light that Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 SP2 and Internet Explorer 6.0 break "Netscape-style" plugins. This includes QuickTime and Acrobat, which means that you won't be able to easily view streaming QuickTime (.MOV) movies or Acrobat (.PDF) documents within your web browser window. You'll need to update your plugins to the latest version to fix this.
Alternately, Microsoft has provided a way to roll back your installation to the previous version of Internet Explorer:
Go to Start->Settings->Control Panels->Add/Remove Programs
Select "Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 Service Pack 2 and click "Remove"
A menu will appear asking if you want to remove the entire program or merely revert to the most recently installed version. Click "Revert to previous version".
You will have to restart Windows after you revert.
There are several theories as to why Microsoft has decided to do this. Now that Microsoft Internet Explorer is far and away the most popular web browser on the planet, it looks like a simple strategic move to help put Netscape's browser completely out of commission. But Microsoft often has more complex reasons as to why it does things--and this is no exception. There is a company that owns a patent on the embedded plugin technology that may be gearing up to challenge Microsoft's implementation of this in relation to Java applets. So Microsoft can claim that they want to stay away from that litigation, while further helping to decrease Netscape's market share. It really is a win-win situation for them, but the customers are getting the short end of the stick once again.
To download the latest
Apple QuickTime plug-in that works with IE 5.5SP2 and above, go here:
http://www.quicktime.com
To update to the latest version
of the Adobe Acrobat reader, compatible with IE 5.5SP2 & up, go here:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html
Compaq has announced a voluntary AC adapter replacement program for Armada
& ProSignia laptops. This recall affects approximately 1.4 million units.
To see if yours is on the list and for information on how to replace the defective
unit, visit this link:
http://www.compaq.com/products/notebooks/adapterrecall/
Wow - I must admit I didn't see this one coming, and I don't think many other people in the computer industry did, either. Investors on Wall Street seem to be pretty unimpressed with the idea as both stock prices have tumbled over the past few months. The deal (HP buying Compaq) was originally valued at $25 billion. After it was announced, the price dropped to less than $20 billion as the stocks plummeted.
I've used Compaq & HP products extensively for years. I've admired HP for their good lineup of printers and other peripherals, while Compaq has shined in the areas of server management and scalability. But there is so much overlap in their product offerings (for instance: HP also makes good servers; both make desktops and laptops; both offer software & services that target relatively similar needs) that the merger doesn't seem to make much sense. Since there is so much belt-tightening going on, centralization and elimination of redundant services will be their first priority. Some people expect around 15,000 jobs to be lost in the first year at the new company.
What does this mean to you?
Unless you have a lot of stock in either company (or in Dell, their main competitor)
you'll probably be unaffected by the merger for quite some time. Service and
support for existing computer lines will probably be untouched for a while,
and the companies will probably continue to offer separate lines across the
board until they can figure out a graceful way to combine them.
The nice thing about all of this chaos is that computer prices will continue to drop. Right now, competition is incredibly intense between companies like Dell, Compaq, HP, IBM and Sony. This will just make it even better for the consumer.
Dell could be the big winner in the long run. HP-Compaq will be spending lots of time retooling itself which will give Dell a definite advantage in the market. (I'm not crazy about Dell servers, but they do make reasonably good desktop & laptop computers, so this isn't as bad as one might think.)
Still, the CEOs of both Compaq and HP seem to have good intentions in mind. Both companies are well-respected throughout the industry, so predictions of failure could be immature.
Here's Compaq's "Merger
Info" site, which gives their point of view:
http://www.compaq.com/inside/merger/index.html
This is HP's take on the story:
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/hp-compaq/index.htm
Do you think the name of the new company will be Hewlett-Paqard?
Mozilla & StarOffice are two free products targeted as replacements
for Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office. Mozilla is a project that
was spearheaded by Netscape several years back that proposes to deliver a cross-platform,
open-source browser that supports all current HTML standards "to the letter."
The development of the Mozilla browser has been a very long process, fraught
with technical and political problems. Netscape borrowed some unfinished code
from the Mozilla project about a year ago and released Netscape 6 (which many
people despised because it was so slow), further tarnishing Mozilla's image.
But Mozilla v0.9.5 was just a few weeks ago, and it shows lots of promise. It
renders complex web pages easily. It hasn't crashed once on my computer since
I started playing with it, and is loaded with cool features. You can download
it (for almost any operating system!) from this link:
http://www.mozilla.org
StarOffice is a very ambitious office suite now owned by Sun Microsystems. StarOffice 5.2 wasn't bad, but many felt it was sluggish and monolithic. With the new beta version of StarOffice 6.0, Sun has taken steps to make StarOffice work more like Microsoft Office. It is more friendly and runs much faster. It is now very adept at reading & writing Microsoft Office files with very little lost in the translation. It runs on many different operating systems, and once again it is FREE!
The base package includes a spreadsheet, word processor, presentation program
and can publish web pages. It is available at this location:
http://www.sun.com/staroffice/6.0beta/
I have been using the new StarOffice 6.0 beta over the past few weeks and really like it. It is a great alternative to Microsoft Office, and you can save hundreds of dollars by using it instead!
I'll put some more detailed reviews in a future newsletter when either of these
products is finished.
Build a paper airplane that soars past the competition.
http://www.zurqui.com/crinfocus/paper/airplane.html
There is a lot of very funny "vintage" stuff here, buried amongst
some not-so-funny stuff. Your patience will be rewarded (and it's a great way
to kill an afternoon!)
http://www.lileks.com/institute/instsplash/index.html
Okay, so it isn't Halloween-related, but it's still a diversion. Try repeatedly
poking the bunny very quickly.
http://www.platinumgrit.com/poke.html
Everything you could possibly want, organized into a giant Halloween Portal.
http://www.halloween-online.com/
a.k.a. Pumpkin Tossing
http://www.clubmedia.com/punkin/
If you have read this far, THANK YOU! This newsletter is the culmination of an idea I had a long time ago and now finally have the time (and drive) to implement.
bdpnetworks (located in Seattle, WA) is owned and managed by myself, and I maintain a network of contacts with other independent computer consultants and support firms for subcontracting purposes. I've been doing this consulting thing for quite a while as an employee of other computer service companies. While my experiences were very enriching, I've generally been frustrated by the lack of consistency or innovation at those companies & the overhead a lot of them carry. I think I can do a better job by myself at a lower cost, so I formed bdpnetworks in June.
I intend to start by simply doing what I'm best at: helping people to get their networks to run more smoothly so they can concentrate on other things. Unfortunately, I've seen way too many companies that simply don't have adequate network support. A lot of companies are pouring vast sums of money into their infrastructure just to keep it stable, let alone add value or features to it. This doesn't have to be the case; I have the experience necessary to help get these networks running well again & know how to add innovative features onto them that will benefit everyone.
My focus now is primarily on small businesses in and around the Seattle area. I enjoy working with small companies and am looking forward to forming new relationships, especially with organizations near my Capitol Hill office.
I offer a free one-hour onsite consultation to new clients, so you have NO RISK! If you would like to set up an appointment, give me a call at (206)351-7964 or e-mail me at bdp@bdpnetworks.com
For more information, please visit my website at http://www.bdpnetworks.com
(c)2001 Brian Place for bdp networks. All Rights Reserved.
Feel free to forward a copy of this to whomever you wish; please leave the contents intact.
If you would like to subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter, please send e-mail to subscribe@bdpnetworks.com or unsubscribe@bdpnetworks.com - don't worry about the format of your message because the requests are read by a real, live human being.
Questions, comments, concerns or flames may be directed to newsletter@bdpnetworks.com
Thank you for reading!
INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND FREEDOM FROM INFRINGEMENT. NEITHER BRIAN PLACE NOR BDPNETWORKS TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES RESULTING FROM THE USE OF ANY OF THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS DOCUMENT. BRIAN PLACE WILL GLADLY TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY POSITIVE OUTCOMES INFLUENCED BY THIS INFORMATION--PLEASE E-MAIL HIM IF THIS IS THE CASE.