The VAR Guy

Google is sending a message to the world. The search giant is pushing its own employees toward Mac OS X or Linux, according to a published report. In fact, Google allegedly is dropping internal use of Microsoft Windows because of security concerns. What’s the deal? Read on…

It’s official: Ubuntu 10.04 Long Term Support arrives April 29, and this particular blogger was privy to the press conference about it. Canonical Chairman Mark Shuttleworth and CEO Jane Silber discussed the plans and progress of new operating system, and then fielded some Q and A. The key news:  More than 80 ISVs are supporting Ubuntu. But here’s what it means for the desktop users and Canonical as a whole…

Earlier this week I spoke with Byron Attridge of ClubDrive. The backbone of their business involves Citrix. I’ll share more details on April 26. In the meantime, ClubDrive was kind enough to give me a virtualized demo account to play around with, and I’m running the using the Citrix client on Apple’s iPad. Here’s a few details on what I’ve seen, and some implications…

When you think SAN you might think expensive hardware solutions to expensive storage problems. But CORAID has a few technological tricks up their sleeve. They claim to leverage existing technology, and turn it into a storage solutions for pennies on the dollar. And they’re doing it all through the channel. Storage VARs might want to perk up…

Canada’s security conference, CanSecWest, starts this week. Word on ‘net from security expert Charlie Miller is that he’ll be exposing serious Apple Mac OS X security flaws at the conference . Should Mac fans be nervous? Well, maybe. Here’s the scoop…

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…

Parallels, the company you may know for their virtualization muscle, is bolstering their server virtualization by supporting Apple environments.That’s right, they’re introducing a ‘world first’ — the bare metal hypervisor for Apple Xserve. Any takers…?

It’s finally here, Windows Mobile 7, or as it more colloquially wants to be known: Windows Phone 7 Series. It doesn’t really roll off the tongue and it’s not exactly the seventh series of any kind of Windows Phone, but that’s what they’re sticking with. So what’s the scoop on the new dialer from Redmond? Well, it all started at the Mobile World Congress 2010 in Barcelona…

Oh, ye of little faith. Those who mocked the iPad and called it a foolish endeavor; a gadget that would never see the light of enterprise adoption. But now, thanks to Citrix, you can have your Windows 7 experience right at your fingertips. For those who don’t know, Citrix has developed receiver software for the iPhone that’s been in the loop for quite a while. Now it’s coming to Apple’s iPad. Interested, now?

Is Microsoft ready to hedge its smart phone bets? As Windows Mobile struggles to match the iPhone, Blackberry and Android hype, there are signs Microsoft may take a new direction in the smart phone market. The chatter involves a potential Zune smart phone. The question: Would Zune smart phones really strengthen Microsoft’s position in the consumer and/or corporate markets? Hmmm…

I just finished configuring a Vista laptop for my brother, who needs to run some Windows-only applications for college. Whenever I find myself compelled to deal with proprietary operating systems, I’m reminded why I use Ubuntu. Here’s a short list of some of those reasons.

So long Microsoft Works. Say hello to Office 2010 Starter Edition. Heading in a new direction, selected PC makers will likely bundle the new Office starter offering with new PCs later this year. Office 2010 Starter Edition is a stripped down and ad-supported — but totally free — version of Office 2010, the forthcoming upgrade to Microsoft’s ubiquitous productivity suite.

The VAR Guy didn’t have a chance to attend Microsoft’s Professional Developers conference (PDC) this week. But much of the PDC chatter landing in his inbox involved Microsoft’s Windows Azure. Here’s the latest on Microsoft’s cloud operating system.

As Windows Azure nears its official launch in early 2010, we’re starting to hear from more companies taking the plunge into developing for Microsoft’s cloud platform. True believers include Acumatica, a channel-centric ERP and CRM provider that’s embracing Azure. Here’s why.

Microsoft’s has disclosed the official timeline for the launch of Windows Azure, their cloud-based operating system, over at one of their official blogs. The software giant hopes VARs and managed services providers will transition customer applications into the Azure cloud. Here’s what you need to know.

As Microsoft prepares to officially launch Windows Azure — its cloud-based Windows platform — the software giant has introduced key perks for those within the Microsoft Developers Network (MSDN). Here are the details.

Now that Windows 7 is here, it begs the following question: What type of Windows 7 desktops, notebooks and netbooks are hitting the street? The answer: There’s no shortage of hardware from which to choose. Here’s a sampling of options we spotted…

Don’t tell Stephen Hall there’s no money in Windows 7 deployments. The CEO of District Computers LLC, a Microsoft Gold Partner, says his team is booked solid with Windows 7 deployments every weekend (except holidays) through January 2010. Why is Hall seeing so much demand for Microsoft’s new operating system — even before Windows 7 ships on Oct. 22? Here’s the scoop.

Most people like to fix their mistakes, especially the big ones. Anyone who has had even a casual point-and-click encounter with Vista would know that, indeed, Microsoft made a blunder. But my experience with Windows 7 suggests Microsoft is back on track. Here’s what’s right with the new operating system.

Many writers, including WorksWithU’s Joe Panttieri, have suggested that Google’s recently announced Chrome OS is bad news for Ubuntu and other Linux distributions struggling to establish a foothold on the desktop, especially in the netbook market.  While only time will tell how this development will really pan out, I’m not so convinced it will be to Canonical’s disadvantage.  Here’s why.

Like many multinational corporations, Microsoft has embraced social networking as a means of making customers feel like participants, not just end users, in a Microsoft community.  When it comes to community-building, however, Microsoft is fighting an uphill battle against the open-source world, which was built around social networking before it was called social networking.

Mark Shuttleworth made some interesting comments recently about the role of the Wine compatibility layer in fostering the migration of Windows users to Ubuntu.  Shuttleworth views Wine, and binary compatibility with Windows applications in general, as a distraction from the real goal of making the free-software world “thrive on its own rules,” not those borrowed from the proprietary ecosystem.  I disagree.  Here’s why.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer brought up some interesting points last week when he displayed data showing that Linux, according to Microsoft’s research, enjoys higher desktop market share than Apple.  This observation not only contradicts claims that Linux use remains stagnant, but has the potential to redefine the tired “Mac vs. PC” discourse that has obscured Microsoft’s real challenge–open source–for a decade.