FT.com / Technology - Google ditches Windows on security concerns. I do hope this turns out to be true. If so, it's about time some IT folks wised up about Windows. The myth that Windows security problems are all due to the OS' large market share continues to dominate mindshare, but it's just that… a myth. Microsoft is singlehandedly responsible for the Antivirus/Anti-malware growth industry, and all of the security patches needed to keep Windows secure is keeping a lot of IT guys employed. This doesn't mean that Windows insecurity is a good thing, folks.

Government going Apple? - Security Systems News. I guess I missed this little tidbit from last fall, courtesy of Security Systems News. If true, it sounds like there at least a few Federal IT execs who are beginning to listen to reason, rather than being always feeling like they're on the defensive about Macs.

Microsoft rebukes exec for Mac inspiration comment. They can run, but they just can't hide.

Smackdown: Windows 7 takes on Apples Snow Leopard. Now, this is more like it! Whereas the earlier ComputerWorld reviewer basically called the OS's an even match (while exposing a lot of his own ignorance about Mac OS X), this fellow understands completely. In his closing remarks, he concludes:

As an IT professional, I support both operating systems at work. But I have Macs at home; after all, who wants to troubleshoot computer problems on their own time? My final verdict in this smackdown? It's not even close: Snow Leopard is the better OS.

I couldn't have put it better myself.

Performance showdown: Windows 7 vs. Snow Leopard | Windows 7 Insider - CNET Reviews. I think Windows 7 is supposed to be faster than Vista, but even so, Snow Leopard is so much faster than any previous Mac OS X system that I suspected it would come out on top in a test with Windows 7. And the test doesn't even measure such mundane tasks as application launch, let alone the time it takes to perform simple tasks like finding a file or application in the morass that is Window's file system and its pathetic Explorer app.

Microsoft's 'Apple tax' claims are 'stupid,' counters analyst. Microsoft is still trying to convince the world that Macs are too expensive and not worth the price. This article makes a good argument why, even when Macs actually are more expensive, they are a significantly better value. Remember, price alone does not determine the value of a product. If it did, we'd all be buying no-name-brand TVs, home entertainment equipment, and other household appliances. There's a huge difference in using Mac OS X versus Windows, and that--along with the entire suite of Apple software that comes with it--is the key differentiator that Microsoft would like you to forget (or remain ignorant about).

PC World - Gartner Explains Why Windows Is Broken

Although hedged in a cushion of blather about the need for companies to upgrade to Vista anyway, it’s impossible to read Gartner’s latest predictions about Microsoft without either glee or anguish, depending on how closely your fate is tied to the Windows platform. Obviously, Martians view this possibility with glee, since it would strike a blow to the foul stench of lawbreaking, cheating, and imitation that has infected global commerce since Microsoft’s success became a model for others. This kind of behavior is not only bad for Microsoft’s competitors and consumers, it’s bad for humans as a whole, since they tend to emulate “winning” behavior and automatically assume that “winners” are doing something right.

Any study of human history informs readers that this is not the case, yet it seems to be a genetic failing that we Martians observe with a great deal of sadness and anguish. We recall not so long ago, in Earth’s “Middle Ages,” when humans believed that physical beauty reflected beauty of the soul and some sort of sanctification by God. The corollary was the ugly people were evil. This is precisely the same thought impulse that so many humans are afflicted with in modern times when taking stock of the actions of their business and political leaders.

But I digress…

This Gartner report is spreading like wildfire through the web and into corporate boardrooms, and hopefully someone will eventually make the terrified-of-change monkeys in their IT department begin to consider alternatives to Windows before it’s too late. Certainly, I’ve been banging my head against that brick wall for too many years now, with no results other than major brain damage. (Nothing permanent, I hope. )

Even if Microsoft hangs on for awhile with the help of its warlike action against Yahoo, the company is doomed so long as it’s led by people like Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. They truly believe their success is due to some genius on their part, rather than to bad business behavior combined with extraordinary luck in timing. And ever since, their modus operandi has been to acquire innovative products from others rather than build their own. When that strategy has failed, they’ve taken steps to make sure the product itself fails.

From Mars, it’s clear that this is precisely the behavior humans are emulating, and it’s essential that the behavior be condemned—if by no other means than by the final downfall of its most accomplished practitioners—or humans face a long, deadly Darwinian struggle that will end up stifling cultural, spiritual, and intellectual growth for centuries.

Of course, it’s also possible that failure to act to reverse their damage to the Earth’s climate will destroy human civilization before their own behavior towards one another does the job.

Apple - Safari 3 Public Beta - Download I'm still going through all the news from today's blockbuster announcements at the Apple developer's conference, but this one has blown me away the most so far: Apple has made available a beta release of Safari 3.0 (which is awesome, let me tell you, as a Leopard developer), which contains all the amazing advances I've been reporting on since last fall. Not only that, but when I went to the download page, I couldn't believe my eyes... there are Windows downloads as well! Yep, that's right! One of web developers' biggest complaints about Safari is that it's not available for Windows... now, it is! This is incredible.

Dell responds to customer feedback by bringing back Windows XP I love that "Microsoft is shrugging off Dell's decision to expand its Windows XP options"... Sure it is! What else can it do? It already has said it won't allow XP to be installed on new PCs starting 7 1/2 months from now. What's a few months? Eventually they gotta get Vista whether they want it or not. But outside of Microsoft's spin control, you know this can't be good news for Windows boosters.

Slashdot | Microsoft Sued Over Vista Marketing

I wondered if someone would get angry at Microsoft over this. I’m still waiting for the FTC to sock it to Dell some time over the same sort of issue. These guys are absolute crooks, swindling home and business buyers alike with their fraudulent sales tactics. Don’t we have laws against selling snake oil and claiming it’s medicine, or love potion? To those of us watching from Mars, it’s amazing that they get away with so much. With Windows Vista, Microsoft divided the one product line into four “editions”, not counting the “Enterprise” edition and a special “Starter” edition for third world countries. (WTF?) Each comes in a different color box (Woah!) and are named “Home Basic,” “Home Premium,” “Business,” and “Ultimate.” No word on whether “Ultimate” is for Home or Business use, and the matrix doesn’t include the Enterprise edition, so I wonder if it’s the same as “Ultimate”? Who knows? Who cares?

Well, actually, a lot of consumers care once they realize they forgot to read the Vista footnotes on that new computer they just bought. The computer says it’s “Vista Ready,” but that’s only if you think an operating system that looks and talks like Windows XP but has a Vista label is really Windows Vista. The low end of the OEM market—all those cheap computers that some tech writers claim are evidence that Windows PCs are cheaper than Macs—is dominated by machines that only run “Home Basic,” which, as the footnotes so clearly state, does not support Windows Aero and Windows Flip 3D navigation, the Mac OS X copycat eye-candy that’s one of the main distinguishing features of the product. Oh, you also don’t get the new Windows DVD Maker, HD support for Windows Movie Maker, or the cool new Windows games (Chess Titans and Mahjong Titans). But that’s not all! You also don’t get Windows Media Center software, backup and restore tools, fax and scan tools, scheduled backup, and so on.

Did I mention that all of these features are standard parts of Mac OS X in the one non-server edition of that product? And that Mac users can run Mac OS X 10.4 on the same hardware they’ve been using for years? The only thing you might absolutely have to upgrade is your video card and RAM. It’s ridiculous that Microsoft is trying to establish a new class system based on which version of Windows you can afford. Geez. When will they learn?

What is it Puck says to Oberon at the end of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream?

Lord, what fools these mortals be!

Why Microsoft Should Fear Apple This was an excellent story from the last week, which I can't let go by without adding to the news library here on Mars. Unlike most writeups by former Windows techies who now "get" the Mac, Scot Finnie is actually quite perceptive about what's going on in the market today. He also is in a good place to observe some important trends in the industry... among the most important is one that finds a groundswell of interest in and adoption of the Mac by IT folks in position of influence. He confirms my own anecdotal experience, which is led by my wife's company, Avaya. There, she's reported in recent months that they have a new CTO who is an Apple user himself and has been talking it up on conference calls. Avaya has another top executive from Sun Microsystems who's a big Apple/Google fan and who calls Steve Jobs his "idol." You know this has got to be affecting mindshare down the ranks. Eventually, the dolts who insist on clinging to old views and prejudices about the Mac and who see Microsoft and its product line through rose-colored--often stockholder-bought--glasses, will begin to have second thoughts about their convictions. What's happening today as well is that more and more Mac users are "coming out of the closet," so to speak. As a longtime Mac user, I can attest to the blatant prejudice and scorn heaped on anyone who makes positive remarks about the Mac in meetings or other gatherings of old-line IT staff who either lived through or led the Macintosh "cleansings" of the late 1990's. It's a relief to think that may finally be going away.

User Interface Friction Benchmarks: Windows Vista vs. XP and Mac OS X This is a fascinating analysis of what Pfeiffer refers to as "User Interface Friction" in Microsoft's new version of Windows. UIF basically is a measure of how quickly a user can accomplish a given set of tasks using a mouse in the operating system interface. Pfeiffer measured the same basic tasks in Vista, XP, and OS X, and validated the subjective impressions that Mac users have had regarding Windows all along: Its interface throws up significantly more "friction" as users attempt to complete tasks than Mac OS X does. What's really surprising--and obviously will not be welcome news to Microsoft--is that Vista actually degrades user productivity compared with Windows XP. It may be sexier looking, but Microsoft's interface designers still don't get what you need to do to optimize user productivity. Like many ignorant PC users, Microsoft seems to assume that the only difference between OS X and XP is "sexiness" or "eye candy." Absolutely not... Just because eye candy exists doesn't mean it has no purpose. The eye candy in Mac OS X is there for a reason, in most cases. Microsoft--and, hopefully, its users--will be frustrated to learn that merely adding eye candy to an interface does not make for a more productive computing experience. It's great to see data like these from Pfeiffer that validate one of those intangibles that you can never really explain to a Windows user about why Mac OS X is superior to Windows.

Daring Fireball: Lies, Damned Lies, and Bill Gates If anybody is confused about whether this guy is honest or not, or thinks he might have turned over a new leaf since his wife is giving lots of money to charity, get a load of what he told Newsweek in a Vista-promo interview:

Nowadays, security guys break the Mac every single day. Every single day, they come out with a total exploit, your machine can be taken over totally. I dare anybody to do that once a month on the Windows machine.

As John Gruber at Daring Fireball points out, "Gates’s claim about Mac OS X security is simply false. Flabbergastingly false." And that's just the latest example. This guy will say anything to win. Is that OK nowadays? Is "unscrupulous" an OK personality trait in today's world? Let's remember what "unscrupulous" means: "having or showing no moral principles; not honest or fair." In my book, that's a bad thing, which is why I continue to boycott Microsoft products and encourage others to do the same.

Just like Hit--you know who--ler, Bill Gates and his buddy Steve Ballmer are masters of telling the Big Lie to get their way. Heck, it's worked for them in the past, so now they're convinced no one will ever call them on it. Just like the Newsweek interviewer, who let the statement roll right on by without question! As Hitler discovered, people will believe Big Lies before they believe small ones. Too bad humanity has advanced so little since that experience that people are still willing to be misled like this.

AppleInsider | Vista dawns, world yawns Here's a good summary of the typical reactions I've read about to Microsoft's much-ballyhooed launch of its equally over-ballyhooed Vista operating system. On a related note, Apple has a link on their news page to a delightful article in Monday's Pioneer Press (TwinCities.com) summarizing Vista, which does an excellent job explaining how Vista's best features are simply ripoffs of Mac OS X. The only thing that St. Paul newspaper writer gets wrong is the impression that you can't effectively use a Mac as a DVR "media center" like Vista can. I'm here to tell you this is plain ignorance. Of course you can... you just can't get a built-in TV tuner. (But who wants that anyway... seriously?)

Slashdot | Why South Korea Is Shackled To Windows Good grief. Clearly, South Korea sees no disincentive to being an IT fiefdom of Microsoft, but I certainly won't buy anything made solely with Microsoft software. I haven't bought Microsoft products in years as a personal boycott of the company. If everything imported from South Korea has been built by the Microsoft Monopoly machine, it simply won't be coming into my household. Obviously, one little guy boycotting Korean products isn't going to make a difference. But the same is true of my Microsoft boycott, yet I continue to hope that one day more of my peers will realize that we have a government-sponsored monopoly running our computers, and all the money for the monopoly is going to that monopoly company. Is this right? Can anybody still say, "free enterprise" with a straight face? IT, computers, and software now touch everything we touch, and it's just not right to let it be controlled by a single private entity that has no accountability. I do hope others will join me in letting South Korea realize there are consequences to its IT decisions.

$60 to keep crapware off of a Windows PC? I just happened to notice this ArsTechnica report on the troubles of Windows users who have to put up with all sorts of attention-grabbing "crapware" that gets installed on their machines by the vendors who put them together. Gee, there's one more reason I'm glad I don't bother with Windows. Imagine if my Mac came with all sorts of not only bad software, but software that popped up periodically to ask me to buy something, or software that insisted that it be the prime image-viewing application, or whatever. Good grief... the only thing we get on Macs is high-quality software and higher-quality software.

Review: Mac OS X Shines In Comparison With Windows Vista - News by InformationWeek It's very gratifying to see a review like this in the "mainstream" IT press. Not that it will make any difference to the idiots who continue to keep their heads in the Windows sand. Some people simply have too much invested, both personally and professionally, to acknowledge that computing life beyond Windows is actually an improvement. Maybe someday... and at least, I think the rebellion is making some progress against the Empire these days. Articles like this are evidence that more tech writers are willing to speak their minds without fear that advertising dollars will dry up.

Strange new worlds, and programming languages...: Good bye Microsoft; Pete has now left the building! I somehow missed this blog post a few months back, but it's worth bookmarking it now. Be sure to also check out the comments. Notice all the weird anti-Apple comments from guys who have no idea what they're talking about. Oh, and the guy who wants to give Microsoft the credit for putting PCs on everyone's desks. That's a good one indeed. Everybody has to have heros, of course, but how do you convince a hero worshipper like that that their Emperor has no clothes?

A Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection This is a very disturbing analysis of the underlying---and largely hidden from discussion thus far---content protection system for "premium content" from Blu-Ray and HD-DVD sources. The author argues that Microsoft's scheme will end up raising costs for everyone, even those who use Linux and Mac OS X, because it will drive up costs for HD content and players. Not only that, but it will effectively grant Microsoft a monopoly on HD content distribution since the HD content providers will be forced to adhere to Vista's system.

The "executive executive summary" of the study is "The Vista Content Protection specification could very well constitute the longest suicide note in history." My only question is, who will be killed in the end? I don't get the impression that the author thinks it will be Microsoft. Nor does he think this future is avoidable if Microsoft's desktop monopoly were reduced, either as a whole, or for just the Vista portion if Windows users refuse to upgrade.

It's also a shame that he thinks there's a parallel between Apple's success with iTunes/iPod and Microsoft's desktop monopoly. I totally reject any such comparison, since Apple's success was achieved against all odds and on the merit of its products and services, whereas Microsoft's monopoly was achieved largely by the fortunate accident of riding on IBM's coattails, as IBM's mainframe and typewriter monopoly was essentially transferred to Microsoft on corporate desktops. The merits of Microsoft's products had virtually nothing to do with it... nor were consumers ever really given a choice, since their employers ended up dictating their choice of a home computer.

Vista Wins on Looks. As for Lacks ... - New York Times This is a must-watch for Apple fans: Pogue "proves" that Vista is not a rip-off of Mac OS X.

Hands On: A Hard Look at Windows Vista A "Hard Look"? My *ss! Admittedly, I haven't read the whole thing yet, but the first half is decidedly spin, spin, spin. Giving Microsoft credit for adding things like live thumbnail icons, transparency, window layering, 3D interface features, systemwide search, navigation controls in Explorer, and much more, these writers never once mention the fact that all of these have been part of Mac OS X for the last 5 years! Now, don't you think Computerworld's readers deserve to be told the truth here? This kind of glossing over Microsoft's user-interface ineptitude and tendency to take credit for the ideas of other companies is worse than dishonest. Have you ever heard of the Sin of Omission, Scot Finnie and Preston Gralla?

Windows development chief: 'I would buy a Mac if I didn't work for Microsoft' OK, this says it all, doesn't it? Allchin backpeddled today when his 2004 email came to light, but what do you expect? He does still work at Microsoft.

Powerpoint, Obedience and Conformity: Why do smart people feel compelled to use Powerpoint when it's no longer "best practice"? If it ever was... Great subject... thoughtfully explored. I do hope some people who are willing to think for themselves occasionally take the time to read it.

Slashdot | Time For Anti-Trust 2.0? This question is spot-on. Microsoft remains totally out of control, apparently believing it can crush whatever competitor it likes and being intolerant of any competition whatsoever. No standards are good enough for Microsoft, which must always invent its own as a way of controlling the standard. They're still going at this whole-hog, and except for Apple and its iPod/iTunes combo, nothing has beaten Microsoft when it enters a market. Google may yet win the web search/online apps game, but that still leaves Microsoft with huge shares of critical pieces of IT infrastructure, as well as a monopoly on corporate desktops. Yes, please! Let's resume the antitrust trial once the Republicans go away.

From the Mac Observer - Apple, Microsoft and the War Mentality Here's a thought-provoking essay that makes a number of good points and asks a number of good questions about the IT world's continued reliance on Microsoft Windows despite clear evidence that it's a losing battle. In one of the author's most astute moments, he compares IT's war to shore up Microsoft Windows to the Bush Administration's war against terror. That's actually quite a good analogy. The author's perspective is the same as the one from which I wrote "Protecting Windows: How PC Malware Became A Way of Life" a couple of months ago.

Tom Yager, InfoWorld: Is Windows inherently more vulnerable to malware attacks than OS X? I was on vacation when Yager wrote this terrific article in late August... It's the best attempt I've seen to document in detail the many vulnerabilities in Windows that simply don't exist in Mac OS X. It also lists the built-in security features of Mac OS X that are missing from Windows. Absolutely essential to anyone who wants to have a serious talk with their Windows IT guys about letting Macs in the office door.

Rob Pegoraro - If Only We Knew Then What We Know Now About Windows XP - washingtonpost.com Rob Pegoraro, who covers technology for the Washington Post, does a good job looking back at all the things that were wrong about Windows XP, but which didn't become obvious until too late. He wonders out loud whether there are similar problems lurking in Windows Vista...

Slashdot | Microsoft's Masterpiece of FUD? Microsoft's boys are at it again, turning their sites on Linux this time with a "study" about how horrible it will be for Europe if they interfere with the rightful launch of Windows Vista. Be afraid, Europeans, be very afraid. Just remember who you need to be afraid of.

Hands on: Running Vista on a MacBook Pro This is an interesting tale of the writer's experience using Boot Camp to install the latest Vista beta release on his 17" MacBook Pro.  He reports that Vista runs much better on the MacBook than on his year-old Sony Vaio laptop.

Tom Yager, Infoworld: Linux will get buried After a sensational headline like that, I expected more from the actual article, but in this segment, at least, Yager is more worried about backpedalling to avoid incensing the Linux crowd than explaining how Apple's UNIX platform will "bury" Linux. He doesn't mean Linux is going away... instead, he predicts it will go "underground." Basically, he predicts that Linux is dead as a client platform but will live on in embedded solutions and on servers. He doesn't really talk much about how or why Mac OS X will make headway against Windows, though. Perhaps in a future article in the series...

Swift: a web browser for Windows Here's a first stab at building a Windows web browser based on the open-source WebKit code that's the basis for Apple's Safari browser. Haven't tried it yet myself, but I certainly wish the developers the best! They indicate the download that's available is still in "alpha" stage.

AppleInsider: Windows Vista Beta 2 features bugs and blue screens Great article from AppleInsider... be sure to check out the TopTechNews article they reference, for more from the Jupiter Research analyst's opinion of the latest Vista release from Microsoft.

Macworld: Game Room: What virtualization means for gaming This is a nice summary of the news related to gaming, from the perspective of the new Intel Macs and their ability to run Windows. Further, the author analyzes each of the options and speculates on what it all means for Mac gaming.

Macworld: News: WWDC: VMware brings virtual machines to Mac OS X As Macworld points out, VMware is a bit late to the game, but the game is adding players every day lately, it seems. Parallels Desktop, CrossOver from CodeWeavers, and TransGaming's newly announced Cider tool. It's certainly great to not have to rely on one vendor (Microsoft) for virtual Windows any more.

Ars Technica: Microsoft unveils Vista upgrade matrix

How many people really think more dots is better? Obviously, Microsoft thinks there are a lot of them. Keep in mind that the dots in this chart only cover upgrades from Windows XP and Windows 2000. As others have pointed out, this makes Mac OS X’s “upgrade matrix” almost invisible by comparison.

YouTube - Vista Oops

You’ve just gotta take a minute to watch this… I guarantee you’ll be smiling when it’s over:

ZDNet: Microsoft Vows To Play Fair This is all over the news today... a fresh Microsoft public affairs strategy they hope will change people's opinions of "the Beast." Even if they really do change tactics and "play fair," isn't it a little late to make amends? Is it a believable sign when a fighter who bit and groin-kicked his way to victory suddenly declares to the world: "I promise not to do it again." Or in MS' case, once you've sewed up your monopoly by trampling possible competitors, to claim "Now I will play fair." If you believe it, I have the proverbial piece of swamp in Louisiana to sell you. And if you think it's OK to have played unfair until now, you need to have a fresh talk with your ethics counsellor.

Switching from Windows to OS X caused five "Argh" moments This is an interesting and candid look at five differences that make Windows switchers uncomfortable when they first encounter them on Mac OS X.

Functioning Form - SxSW: OSX and Longhorn Development Designers who were in on the process of developing OS X and Longhorn talked at a recent SxSW conference about why these operating systems look the way they do. I haven't read the whole transcript yet, but from what I've seen this appears to be refreshingly honest and straightforward from both camps. (SxSW=South by Southwest Conference) Of course, it's odd that "Longhorn" is discussed as having been completed in the same way that the 5-year-old Mac OS X is.

BBC News: Web perils advise switch to Macs This advice comes despite the fact that Windows Vista, with its enhanced security features, is still expected to be released within 12 months or so: "It seems likely that Macs will continue to be the safer place for computer users for some time to come." The report says that viruses and worms have become less of a threat to Windows, but Trojans have increased dramatically. Sophos is one of the world's leading security consulting firms. Gee, I wonder if anyone will pay attention now?