The VAR Guy

Amid all the hustle and bustle of the iPad, Apple’s homepage today is plain with one news story. There are no ads or links to fancy pre-orders or special deals. Apple’s front page today serves as a memorial to Jerome B. York, one of Apple’s (and many other companies) most influential directors. He passed away on March 18th 2010 at 71 years old…

ZyXEL, the networking solutions company we’ve been tracking for some time now, has announced they’ve done a little spring cleaning with their ZyWALL series. A little polishing, a little upgrading, and some new features. Read on to find out…

VMWare is launching ThinApp 4.5 for your customers’ Windows 7 migration virtualization needs. Here are the potential implications for VARs or MSPs who are dealing with migration issues or legacy application.

It’s not the final nail in the coffin, but it’s yet another sign of Windows XP’s decline. Microsoft is officially dumping Windows XP support in the next iteration of Internet Explorer. Here’s the why and how and what’s next from Microsoft…

Paragon Software, whose expertise is in data management and security, is launching  Virtualization Manager 2010 Corporate Edition. The software could help VARs and solutions providers with Windows environment software migrations. Here’s a quick look at the potential benefits.

Not too long ago we chatted about SpringSource. Now they’re back in the news again. SpringSource, a division of VMware and Java app evangelist, has unveiled a new site to help the Apache Tomcat community. Here’s the deal…

Wanova is a software virtualization company that’s making some ripples in the big virtualization pool. Launching today comes some new Distributed Desktop Virtualization software and it’s designed to cut costs and be future proof. Does that sound too good to be true? Here’s the deal on the new offering…

The folks over at PC World Business Center are running an article titled, “Five Features the iPad Needs For Business” by Tony Bradley. Bradley raises some interesting points as to why the iPad isn’t quite ready for the prime-time suit and tie type. Naturally, I disagree. If you want to learn why the iPad is already business ready, read on…

In some pockets of IT, thin clients coupled with virtualization are all the rage. The latest example involves Devone IT, an “alternative desktop computing” company that has launched a thin client leveraging XenDesktop and Citrix technology. Here are the potential implications for VARs.

The next sexy industrially designed thing to come out of Apple might not be something you put in your pocket. It could be something you wear. News is that Apple has hired wearable-computing guru Richard DeVaul to work on some new prototyping for Apple. Here’s the scoop…

VMWare, one of the most prominent names in virtualization, is launching Workstation Version 7.1 as a public beta release. The best part is, it’s free ’till May. What are the new features? Read on…

It’s official, the iPad is coming. Pre-orders have started. With that comes several factoids worth noting. Here’s the wrap-up from the weekend and how Apple plans on getting these ‘magical devices’ into the hands of consumers ASAP…

Lenovo was kind enough to send me a loaner unit for the ThinkPad Edge — which fits somewhere between the netbook and notebook family. I’ve had it for about a month now. Here’s some thoughts and impressions on the 3-month-old member of the Lenovo mobile computer family…

Citrix Systems continues to bolster its virtualization story. Sometime later this month, the company expects to ship XenApp 6, a virtualization and application “delivery product” that lets users connect to corporate applications. You can also host apps with XenApp, or stream them direct to the local user. Here are some more details.

What’s cookin’ at LogLogic? I caught up with Guy Churchward, president and CEO, and Bill Roth, chief marketing officer, to discuss LogLogic’s channel strategy, their market, and why a partner ecosystem works so well in bad (or good) economic times. Here’s a recap.

We’ve always got to hand it to Engadget; they have the most interesting sources. A new report is coming in that the attached picture is indeed an internal Verizon memo about upselling the Verizon MiFi for use with the iPad…but is that such a good idea?

It’s one of the oddest stories to sweep across the Internet this week. After nearly plunking down $300 dollars for a new shiny Intel Core i7 CPU, NewEgg customers were greeted with a fake. The box may have fooled people on the outside, but a close inspection of the “product” revealed the CPU to be a fraud. Distributors and VARs might want to perk up in case you receive any dubious ‘demo units’ of CPUs…

Oh the Tablet buzz never ends. As we all know Apple’s iPad won’t support Flash anytime soon, but the HP Tablet (or Slate) will support Flash, naturally, because it’s running Windows 7. HP and Adobe intend to capitalize on that fact. In fact, Adobe showcased Flash on the HP tablet with it running AIR applications as well, and that got people thinking…

With spring around the corner in North America, it seemed like the right time for SpringSource to ’spring’ into action make their big announcement. SpringSource is unleashing SpringSource Server Spring Edition as “the best place to build and run Spring applications.” There’s a free promotion involved. Plus, this is the first time SpringSource will be offered through the VMware channel. Here’s the skinny…

ZyXEL Communications, the ‘complete solution’ guys we’ve been talking about for a while now, have another notch to put in their belt. They’ve joined the Panasonic Solution Developer Network (PSDN). The move signals networking and video surveillance further converging. Intrigued…?

Wireless mobile giant Motorola has launched their PartnerEmpower Channel Program. Officially, the Motorola PartnerEmpower Program (PEP)  brings together all of Motorola Enterprise Mobility Solutions (EMS) partners “under a single channel program framework.” Here are additional perspectives from Motorola Channel Chief Janet Schijns (pictured).

Parallels, the virtualization and cloud enabler, has officially announced they’re supporting Chrome OS, Google’s mobile Linux distribution. What does that mean for VARs out there? Maybe nothing, superficially, but…

Isilon Systems, which specializes in scalable storage, network-attached storage, archiving solutions and storage virtualization, is making some channel partner moves. I spoke with Leonard Iventosch, the channel VP who is building Isilon’s partner program. Here’s his strategy.