Vista again, sorry (and hackpology)

Welcome to today's IT Blogwatch, in which we round up the later reactions to the Vista slippage and ponder the effect of blogging on the MS culture. Not to mention a really, really nasty piece of code (at least the developer had the decency to apologize)...

Yes, we covered it yesterday, but it seems like bloggers have more to say. Take ex-Microsoftie Tim Jarrett, for example: "In the software industry, it's predictable that major releases slip ... So the announcement that Vista, which was at one time to have shipped last year, is slipping ... into 2007 is unsurprising ... What is a little more interesting is the level of public griping that is coming from Microsoft bloggers ... What is astounding is the level of bitterness and dissatisfaction expressed by various anonymous Microsoft employees in the comment thread. One says that accountability will be seen 'this August when reviews are handed out to junior employees.' Another complains about problems on the Vista application compatibility test team: 'Cut the number of testers (several times) from approx 50 to now much less than a dozen' and notes that application compatibility measures are hovering at '< 40 percent.' ... This is the downside of blogging ... Of course it is an upside, too. The anonymous comment thread is actually shedding some light on real management problems at Microsoft that otherwise would continue to be swept under the rug."

» Mary Jo concurs: "'Fire the leadership now!' exclaimed the Mini-Microsoft blog ... Microsoft may be set to do just that. The [Wall St.] Journal reported that Microsoft is planning to replace current Windows boss Jim Allchin with the head of Microsoft Office development, Steven Sinofsky ... the move will have far-reaching impact on the way the team operates. Sinofsky has the reputation of a strict, schedule-bound manager who keeps the trains running on time. The Office division is reflective of his discipline: Betas of Office releases are delivered like clockwork. Community Technology Preview (CTP) interim test releases are shunned in the current Office organization. And the Office teams ships a new version of its namesake product every two to three years, without fail."

» Slashdotters (mostly) jeer, as is to be expected: "That sound that you're hearing ... It's the rustling of Jim Allchin's pink slip." // "Microsoft is making a fundamental mistake here: they are sticking to the same release strategies and timelines they used when software was released on stacks of floppy disks ... Meanwhile, we have the 'release early, release often' philosophy of the Free Software Movement as well as the 'release often enough to keep things interesting' tactic from Apple ... As more and more users grow used to and satisfied with these accelerated release timetables, these multi-year release schedules used by Microsoft (and Adobe, while we're at it) look more and more comical." // "whereas when Apple releases yet another yearly release, I'm excited to try it and see all the nifty little gadgets they've put in there this year, when Microsoft waits three, four, even five YEARS to release another version of Windows, I'm thinking I'd better be blown-away. This rarely happens. In fact, all of the features that would have blown me away (*cough*WinFS*cough*) are steadily removed from the shipping OS every time the release date slips."

» James Little: "I don’t understand why Microsoft couldn't have waited until after Mix06 to announce the Vista [slip]. I really thought that Mix06 was going to be an opportunity for them to help improve their image. I think that what these events show is that Microsoft is so large and fragmented that certain areas (Xbox, Live.com, Office, MacBU) can really get out there and kick ass while Windows lags behind. I don’t buy into monopoly conspiracy theories, but everywhere that Microsoft is generating excellence they have powerful competitors."

» Scott Rosenberg spots the meta-news: "Every new edition of Windows has been late, so, you know, this is predictable news ... What I found interesting was the 2006-model way in which I discovered this news today. I first found out on Digg ... It took a couple more hours for the story to show up on Slashdot, which has its own editors picking stories, unlike Digg, which puts all its users to work. And now, a couple more hours later, around 9 p.m. in California, we can read the canonical big-media piece in the New York Times. It's fine, and it provides a broader perspective than the trades, as it should. But once you've got the outline of the event clear, it's far less interesting ... it's illuminating. As tech news goes today, so ultimately will go the rest of the news. It's not the death of newspapers or pro journalism, but it's further evidence that the pros face an extremely tough challenge."

» Dan Moren: "Frankly, if you still have quality issues at this point, MS, an extra two months is probably not going to be sufficient to iron out the kinks."

» Adam Will's advice to Microsoft? "Give it up. Anyone who's worked in a PR-related capacity anywhere has probably at one point or another crossed their fingers and told a little white lie (or possibly a big whopper), but using in one short paragraph both the phrases 'on track' and 'on target' to announce that Vista is in fact nothing of the sort constitutes a raising of this fine art form to a hitherto unheard of level…"

Buffer overflow:

• Eric Bangeman: Apple lashes out at French DRM legislation
• Nate Anderson: AT&T and the FCC on the "tiered Internet"
• Techdirt: Voter Group Sues To Block Diebold's Latest Miraculous Recovery
• John Cox: Time to update those wireless "Solar Storm Disaster Recovery" plans
• Kent Newsome: Plaxo to Throttle Back the Emails
• Mike McBride: OneNote in the news
• Pete Finnigan: iSQL*Plus will be desupported
• Groklaw: Microsoft Shows Up Where You Least Expect It - Joins INCITS V1
• Michael Arrington: VOIP Yahoo Messenger Launches Tomorrow
• James Governor: Log Management and Analysis as a market in its own right
• Bea, IT Toolbox: Who cares if some kid hacks your wireless
• Rahul Anand: Multithreaded Windows Applications
• Tim, Stranger, Yet: Reporting bugs to Microsoft
• Dave Tong: Death to PDF!
• Marianne Kolbasuk McGee: Would You Move To India To Move Up the Career Ladder?
• Jon Toigo: I am a Real Person, Microsoft asked for me by Name
• Alex Eckelberry: Seen in the wild: eBay accounts for sale
• Douglas Schweitzer: Jim and I aren’t concerned about Vista delay
• Alex Scoble: Yes, we do need dual core
• Martin MC Brown: Commoditizing the grid
• CJ Kelly: Name and Shame?
• Rod Hamilton: Dual core desktops, do we need that much power?
• Bert Latamore: The PDA Guerrilla: Introduction
• Martin McKeay: Would you let your accountant sell your tax information?
• Douglas Schweitzer: Mum's the word and Microsoft is happy

And finally... The Apologetic Coder

Richi Jennings is an independent technology and marketing consultant, specializing in email, blogging, Linux, and computer security. A 20 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. Contact Richi at blogwatch@richi.co.uk.