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(Via ZDNet) At the Windows Live OneCare Team Blog, Yoav Schwartz describes the features of the refresh of the OneCare beta that is automatically rolling out today:
The most frequent request we’ve heard from our beta testers is “add anti-spyware!” We listened and are excited to share that we’ve added anti-spyware functionality, powered by Windows Defender beta. If you have used Defender before, you know how effective it can be at limiting the unwanted spyware that can hog system resources and slow your PC to a crawl. We recognize that there is an opportunity to further integrate antispyware functionality more seamlessly into OneCare from a usability and ease of management perspective, and as Windows Defender comes out of beta, you’ll see the level of integration improve.
It’s a natural match except that Defender is intended to be a free offering while OneCare is subscription based so that the integration can’t get too tight.
Also the branding police caught up with OneCare whose latest name was “Windows OneCare Live.” That was “out of order” compared to the rest of the Windows Live offerings, so it has now been renamed as Windows Live OneCare. Now that that’s settled, it’s still my least suitable candidate for the Live moniker.
Finally, the OneCare beta logo is disappearing with this refresh to signify that that it is going to prime time shortly. Don’t forget that beta testers can sign up in April for a year of service for 3 PCs for $19.95 as opposed to the normal $50.
Viral marketing would certainly be easier to digest than the P.T. Barnum huckstering in their tease for next week’s issue which features a photo of a determined-looking Bill Gates and this blurb:
Q&A: Bill Gates Spills About What’s Next for Microsoft
…
Visit Time.com tomorrow, when Gates divulges how he plans to revolutionize video-conferencing, internet television and the battle to knock off Google.
There are some sample Q&A’s by following the link, if you want to see how big and fluffy the full interview will be.
OK, the title is a bit of snarking since Microsoft’s Office Live so far has very little to do with Office, while Writely is one of those pesky Web 2.0 startups which offers a Web-based word processor similar to Microsoft Office Word plus collaboration features. The announcement is on the Google and Writely blogs, which is as Web 2.0 as you can get, but the larger question is just what Google is up to. Michael Arrington expresses the most common theory:
This signals two things: a confirmation of Google’s desire to hit Microsoft hard and attack their largest revenue product, and that they will do this at least partially through acquisition rather than building the office suite entirely in-house. When, if ever, will Microsoft respond with their own online versions of the Office products?
Easier said than done, of course, but the real difficulty is in defining a new business without upsetting the Office cash cow. On a technical basis, Writely is built with Microsoft’s .NET as all thos little “.apx” extensions on the web pages indicate.
But whether it’s love remains to be seen. There’s a lengthy video on Channel 9 and a Press Q&A, but here’s a summary:
- Microsoft calls them Ultra-Mobile Personal Computers (UMPCs) which is a hyphen more than Intel.
- Runs Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 with the addition of the Microsoft Touch Pack for Windows XP which optimizes the touch screen user interface and also includes a thumb-based, on-screen keyboard that’s touch-optimized for easy text input. Will run Vista eventually.
- “Touch Pack software also helps keep you entertained with the introduction of Microsoft Sudoku, a highly entertaining touch and ink enabled game. ”
- As usual with Microsoft specifications for hardware, the exact designs offered by vendor partners will vary, but here are the ground rules:
- Pricing is determined by the manufacturers, but is expected to be in the range of US$599-$999.
- Availability also is determined by the manufacturers and that looks like:
- There’s a hint that some Independent Software Vendors are already on board to deliver specialized software, but if others want to play, they should check out the Ultra-Mobile section of the Mobile Developer Center.
- As for who’s running the wagon train:
Microsoft developed the concept for this type of UMPC based on our own research, combined with key new developments by industry partners. These developments include new low-power, high-performance processors, extended battery life and enhancements to Tablet PC software such as the Touch Pack interface tools. While Microsoft will continue to provide leadership in the development of this category, the creation and continued evolution of UMPCs will happen through a broad collaboration between Microsoft, Intel and a wide range of OEMs, ODMs, IHVs and ISVs.
OK, those are the mundane details, but what is the gadget good for? I may be suffering from a paucity of imagination, but I just can’t figure out how or why I would use an UMPC, especially the initial versions.
It isn’t a phone, it’s too big for a PDA (which is a dead category anyhow), and the battery life seems to be way too short to be very portable. I’m sure not going to plug it in, attach a keyboard and mouse, and prop it up on my desk to do ordinary PC work either, so what’s left? At a guess, it’s an oversized portable video player or gaming device if you don’t mind the short battery life. Frankly there’s not a heap of excitement there.
For a laugh, head over to the Intel Ultra Mobile (without a hyphen) PC web site and watch the video for a 1930’s Popular Mechanics Flying Car view of some future version. Just don’t expect to buy one in April.
Brier Dudley at the Seattle Times:
Hoping to capitalize on Microsoft employees’ angst over compensation issues, a Seattle labor group is making another attempt at unionizing the software company.
Marcus Courtney, president of the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers, or WashTech, acknowledged it may take a long time, given unions’ lack of traction in the software industry as a whole.
The new focus on Microsoft follows WashTech’s success organizing a group of Cingular Wireless employees in November. That was its first victory in eight years of trying to unionize employees at Microsoft and other Seattle-area tech companies.
This time around, Courtney believes he has new ammunition:
Someone inside Microsoft anonymously mailed him several pages of confidential pay information, including details about pay scales, merit raises and stock awards.
Hit the link for the juicy details (also see the WashTech site), but the punchline is that since the Microsoft stock options tanked, Microsoft’s employee compensation doesn’t seem overly lucrative. Microsoft responds that they do offer competitive compensation,
But Courtney hopes to tap into employee frustration revealed on blogs such as Mini-Microsoft, where employees vent about topics such as the company’s performance-review system.
Mini-Microsoft is here, although I suspect Mr. Courtney will find only cold comfort there despite the grievances that are often expressed.
“But there increasingly is clear frustration around the company right now with management, and the way employees address that is with a union. At some point there will be a union at Microsoft, obviously.”
Everyone is entitled to his personal fantasy, but given the caliber of Microsoft employees, I would suggest that unhappiness is demonstrated by heading for the exits rather than by pining for the union label. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to outsource the less technical jobs.
Update: Mini-Microsoft responds and links Todd Bishop at the Seattle P-I, and Todd’s blog.
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