Microsoft extends XP's availability to June 2007...

If you look at Windows Vista compared to XP, it's hard, in my opinion, to imagine it in the enterprise. There's just too much of a coat of paint on it to see it as a legitimate, enterprise level, business oriented operating system.  Apparently, a lot of OEM's also see it the same way. Microsoft has heard their cries and has tacked on an extra 5 months of XP availability to retail and other partners.  They can still purchase the operating system as late as June 2008.  System builders will still have access to it until January 2009.

Apparently, this is just a simple business decision.  According to Mike Nash, Corporate VP for Windows Product Management, Microsoft didn't do this because they are nice.  This was all about the bling-bling.

I've been saying this for months...XP's been around for nearly 7 years...longer than any other major OS (other than DOS...in ALL its various versions and flavors). Its currently engrained into Corporate America in a way that no other OS has been in the history of computers. Corporate America isn't going to let go of it simply because Microsoft released a new operating system.  Honestly, Vista is ok; but it's so COMPLETELY different from XP, that I had a really hard time getting used to it; and I've been a part of every MS technical beta team for Windows and Office from Windows95 to XP and Office 95 to 2003. Trust me, Vista is NOT XP with a fresh coat of paint.

As such, Dell has been pestering the daylights out of Microsoft, saying they would support and continue to offer XP to its customers as long as it could. From what I've been able to read around the Internet, the continued demand for XP after Vista's availability is cramping Microsoft's so called, sense of innovation.  In articles I've read, it's been perceived that Nash is annoyed with the public's continued desire and love of XP. In a press conference, he "mildly" chastised MS' customers for continuing to demand XP over Vista.

As I said before, it's going to take a lot to take the desire for something that's been working well in the enterprise away from IT managers. If it ain't broke, don't fix it...

Big names coming and going out of the iTunes Music Store...Should I stay or should I go now?

There has been a lot of press recently around the new Apple Nanos, the iPod Touch, and the iPhone. Apple, as always is out to out innovate and out design everyone.  They pretty much do it every time, too.  I can't tell you how much I love my MacBook Pro. It’s a really awesome computer.

Recently, NBC Universal decided to pull its programming from the iTunes Music Store. Apparently, they wanted double the wholesale cost.  To comply, Apple would have had to charge $4.99 (instead of the standard $1.99) for all of their videos; and NBC appears to be the lone hold out here.  No one else was demanding as much.

NBC still thinks they can come to some sort of arrangement; but Apple was disappointed by the decision.  50 other networks currently agree with Apple's current pricing structures. Some are speculating that

On Tuesday, CBS became the second network behind Fox to indicate that it will likely be staying on iTunes. In comments to the Merrill Lynch Media and Entertainment conference, CEO Les Moonves said the company will be staying out of the battle and that the network "likes our relationship with iTunes." Moonves' comments follow that of News Corp, which owns the Fox network.

Shortly after NBC Universal pulled its own programming, News Corp's president Peter Cherin told Reuters that they planned to stay on the network and had "a perfectly good relationship with Apple." Later, the company said they expected the negotiations to be contentious, however it is still expected that the two sides will eventually come to a deal.

What do you do when your business plan is all about suing other companies..? Hmmm... Let me see...

I caught wind of this the other day, and as I sit here in the hospital while my wife is in labor with our 3^rd child, I can't help but think about NTP. My AT&T Blackjack continues to go off, at least 2-4 times an hour.

You may recall that NTP is the company that sued RIM a few years back alleging that RIM infringed on the patents they hold for transmitting e-mail to a wireless handset. While at least 2 of the 5 patents that NTP holds were invalidated, RIM still paid NTP $612.5M dollars to settle the case.

As reported by The Wall Street Journal, NTP contends that AT&T Wireless, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, and Sprint-Nextel - are selling e-mail services to customers that utilize "push" technologies whose basic concepts are protected by their patents. Again, while 2 of the 5 were declared invalid, a year and a half later, the patent re-examination process continues.

Another NTP infringement case against Palm was stayed in March, pending the outcome of the patent review. By law, patent filers are given grace periods in which to respond to official inquiries; and NTP has managed to eat up as much of that time as possible; so the delays cannot be attributed just to the Patent Office.

The basic dispute in this new case centers around whether the idea for wireless devices receiving messages directed at their users when those devices don't directly request them, was novel at the time its patent was applied for. Although evidence in prior cases suggested that the principle was put in practice as early as 1970, NTP has been successful in quashing that evidence.

Since NTP won their settlement with RIM, they've been using it as leverage to obtain license agreements with other companies. So far, it's worked with Nokia, Good and Visto. NTP has been waiving that stick at just about any and everyone, except Microsoft...at least I think. Why they haven't gone after MS and DirectPush, I don't know...unless it doesn't violate their patents. I would like to hear from MS on this issue and see what they have to say. It might be interesting to hear from them and see if they are planning any changes to DirectPush to stem any action from NTP.

I know that I will be watching this case to see what happens with it. I don't use any of the mail services from my wireless carrier. It's also unlikely that I ever will, as long as I have an MS Exchange server to connect to. DirectPush gives me what I need...and it's free.

Sometimes it just pays to leave things as they are...

I've been in the mobile phone biz for a while now. Actually, I've been in mobile devices since 1997...10 years and small change. I've been concentrating on converged devices, like Apple's iPhone for about 5 years...give or take 6 months or so. I'm fascinated by gadgets and combining functionality to make them smaller, allowing me to carry less and do more, just makes my toes curl.

Doing more with less... that's been the mantra of corporate America for years...less is more. Sometimes yes and sometimes no. I've been a little detached lately because my wife is 9 months pregnant, and due to deliver our 3^rd child this coming Thursday, 13-Sep-07. I apologize for this week's column being a little late.

Anyway, Apple's iPhone has been the darling of the mobile devices community for a month or so. In "Internet time," that's almost an eternity. I learned a few days ago, that while someone was trying to unlock their iPhone so they could use it on a different GSM carrier and/or overseas, that it exploded on them.

iPhone explodes...story at 11! So WAY not good.

Many users trying to unlock their iPhone have reported a loss of BT or Wi-Fi connectivity. In some cases, the device simply won't power on after the unlock attempt. In one of the most serious cases that I saw on MacFixIt, the device shorted out and blew some of the electronics.

I don't know that there's a good solution to the unlock problem. Honestly, I wouldn't try it, given all of the issues I've heard about users trying to manually unlock their devices... I understand the need to have this happen; but I also thought that the carrier HAD to do it, if you requested it, due to some ruling/lawsuit. You may have to wait a bit to do it, but ATT should do it if you ask them and you jump through the right hoops...