MS Software Ass. upgrades, spy-wary of Vonage (and cook egg on Mac)

Hello... Is it me you're looking for? Or is it IT Blogwatch, in which Microsoft's Software Assurance gets "better" and people point spyware fingers at Vonage. Not to mention how to cook breakfast on a Macbook...

Eric Lai reports that the new, upgraded Software Assurance maintenance plan is getting the cold shoulder from IT execs:

Microsoft Corp. last week unveiled a group of new and upgraded offerings for companies subscribing to its controversial Software Assurance maintenance plan. But even with the additions, SA continues to get very mixed reviews ... Some Microsoft customers said the new perks sweeten the SA pot. But others are still less than thrilled about putting their money down on the maintenance program ... In March, Microsoft added another 18 benefits to SA, including exclusive access to the enterprise version of the upcoming Windows Vista, home-use rights for licensed software, and round-the-clock telephone and Web support. In this round, Microsoft is promoting benefits such as access to Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs, a stripped-down operating system aimed at users who want to bring the security features of Windows XP SP 2 to their older Pentium PCs.

Microsoftie Kurt Shintaku notes an additional benefit:

You now receive the rights to four additional copies of the operating system per workstation so that you can leverage up to four virtual machines in Virtual PC. This enables you to use the product to its full potential to address application compatibility issues, run a helpdesk, run a training class, and perform software application testing. These additional operating system licensing rights are exclusive to Software Assurance customers.

CyberTech Rambler sees this as a clever move:

This is where I see potential Antitrust concerns coming in ... At present, Microsoft can, with a stroke of a pen, give away free licenses to run Windows Operating Systems on virtual machines for its virtualization product. The good news is, Microsoft is not, I repeat, not doing that. It is giving Volume Licensees the rights to create Windows virtual machine. However, this is not tied to its own virtualization product. Rather, the rights to create and run Windows Virtual machine is cleverly marketed by Microsoft as a benefit of its loathed “Software Assurance” licensing scheme. This move is a recognition that virtualization has so far either been a geek or IT-literate person playground or something that only corporation is interested in deploying.

J. Angelo Racoma, forever a geek, spotted another benefit:

Microsoft has released its new stripped-down operating systems for legacy (read: old!) computers that are unable to support today's cutting-edge software due to hardware limitations (read: "get ready to upgrade your hardware when Vista comes!"). It's called Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs ... it basically converts your computer into a thin-client, wherein most actual applications are run from a remote server, which is a bit like running a remote-desktop session. This was announced last September 2005, and it looks like the basic OS is ready to ship to enterprise clients ... could be a viable option for businesses that would rather not upgrade their vast fleet of computers right now. And it is certainly easier to manage security-wise than having each of your 200 or so employees running Windows XP with various levels of security.

harishpillay waves his hands excitedly:

Ah, ha! Software Assurance lock in! If this report is to be believed, MS putting out a crippled "Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PC" has to be an ideal platform for even more system headaches, compromised and 0wn3d machines. Does this "new" OS have any form of lock down built-in? Has it been reviewed? Only organizations who signed up to the "Software Assurance" can legally get it.

Meanwhile, Ben Edelman is worried about Vonage:

I ought to be a Vonage enthusiast ... But instead of praising Vonage, I have to criticize them ... for their reckless advertising practices. Vonage spends huge amounts on advertising ... among this spending is widespread and substantial spyware-delivered advertising ... raises serious legal concerns ... As best I can tell, Vonage does not specifically intend to have its ads shown in spyware ... Yet by failing to take appropriate precautions and failing to diligently supervising its ads, Vonage makes payments to spyware vendors -- funding spyware that is known to harm users' PCs ... When Vonage pays spyware vendors, even indirectly, Vonage helps make spyware more profitable, and helps make the spyware problem worse ... There's plenty more Vonage could do ... Vonage could refuse to work with partners like Vendare ... could refuse to work with Traffic Marketplace and Yield Manager ... could specifically review all its advertising partners ... could prevent those partners from subcontracting with further unverified subpartners of their own.

Jane "MissM" Roberts reminds us why we should care:

We can't only blame the spyware companies, but also the companies who support spyware, with their advertising dollars ... see the chart and the rest of the report, its disturbing. And makes me grateful for firefox blocking popups!!

TechDirt's Mike calls it another bad PR day for Vonage:

And you wondered why the customer acquisition costs were so high? Now you know that a large chunk of that money was going directly into the bank accounts of some awfully questionable companies.

Buffer overflow:

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And finally... Cooking breakfast on a Macbook [don't try this at home]

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.