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Ed Bott breaks the news that the Sysinternals utilities which Microsoft acquired with the Winternals Software company back in 2006 and continued to make available for free are now available as a beta in "Live" form. This means that you can execute them directly from the Internet without going through a download and installation:
Simply enter a tool’s Sysinternals Live path into Windows Explorer or a command prompt as \\live.sysinternals.com\tools\<toolname> or view the entire Sysinternals Live tools directory in a browser at http://live.sysinternals.com [and click on the link for the utility you want].
I’m glad Microsoft finally found something new and useful to put under the Live brand, and while these utilities are likely to only appeal to hardcore techies, it’s the thought that counts.
Back in October, 2007 Microsoft established a new branding policy for its online offerings and in keeping with that has announced that henceforth its hosted CRM Live application would henceforth be named CRM Online. No changes in the expected 2Q2008 general availability - just a name change from Microsoft Dynamics Live CRM to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online.
The distinction is that hosted versions of Microsoft’s ordinary server software applications are now supposed to get the “Online” moniker while real Web applications for individuals and small businesses get the “Live” appellation. In the first rush of Microsoft’s “Live” enthusiasm, the hosted version of CRM ended up being named “CRM Live” and this was merely a realignment.
Microsoft’s MIX08 conference has come and gone, but despite the rumors of a massive Web apps push, the actuality was much more pedestrian:
While the last bullet isn’t a Web app, SQL Server Data Services is obviously a building block for constructing Web apps and could fill up some of the data centers that were also part of the rumors. The beta will be available in 3 to 4 weeks with a launch by the end of the year. Note that SSDS isn’t a full fledged hosted SQL Server or just a raw data store like Amazon’s S3. It fits in between as a simplified structured database service with the closest analog being Amazon’s simpleDB. It is early days yet, but one can’t help but wonder whether other major database vendors have the will (and the wherewithal) to join the party.
Finally, while they aren’t Web apps either, earlier last week Microsoft announced some more data center filler with the extension of their Microsoft Online Services offering of hosted versions of Exchange and SharePoint to small and mid-sized businesses.
Predictably, the press release is effusive in describing the opportunities for Microsoft partners, even those whose Exchange hosting services have been neatly undercut. The theory is that they can now sell Microsoft’s hosted service with a bunch of their own embellishments. Less happy are ISV’s who sell SharePoint add-ons that won’t appear in the Microsoft offering. There’s surely a pony in Microsoft hosting their own server applications, but it’s a low margin, capital intensive business compared to selling software.
Nicholas Carr is providing this weekend’s Microsoft buzz with a rumor that Microsoft is getting ready to roll out a Web apps strategy if not necessarily any actual apps:
Put your ears to the ground, my friends, for the Beast of Redmond may be stirring. I’ve heard that Microsoft has begun briefing its large enterprise clients on an expansive and detailed strategy for moving its software business into the cloud. If the report proves correct - and I make no guarantees - the company will unveil the strategy to the public either next week or the week after.
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The new strategy will, I’m told, lay out a roadmap of moves across three major areas: the transformation of the company’s portfolio of enterprise applications to a web-services architecture, the launch of web versions of its major PC applications, and the continued expansion of its data center network.
And in the latter regard, Carr has a double header - Rumor: Microsoft set for vast data-center push:
I’ve received a few more hints about the big cloud-computing initiative Microsoft may be about to announce, perhaps during the company’s Mix08 conference in Las Vegas this coming week. One of the cornerstones of the strategy, I’ve heard, will be an aggressive acceleration of the company’s investment in its data center network. The construction program will be “totally over the top,” said a person briefed on the plan. The first phase of the buildout, said the source, will include the construction of about two dozen data centers around the world, each covering about 500,000 square feet or more. The timing of the construction is unclear.
You can’t have a good cloud strategy without plenty of capex, of course, but what with the Yahoo acquisition this seems like a fairly stressful time to be raiding the piggy bank. It’s a good thing Microsoft has all those old-fashioned operating systems and offline applications to foot all these bills.
Less snarkily, if these rumors pan out, it will be interesting indeed to see how Microsoft manages to finesse “software plus services” to avoid killing the cash cows while simultaneously avoiding owning some large buildings stuffed with unused computers. And no, I won’t complain about all the times Microsoft disparaged Web apps.
Related: Michael Arrington reports a rumor that Microsoft may also be announcing at Mix08 an offline version of Silverlight to compete with Adobe Air for the Rich (and occasionally offline) Internet Application business.
Overnight, Google has disabled the Gmail accounts of numerous users leaving them out of touch with friends and relatives on Christmas Eve. Here are a few excerpts from the user feedback in the Gmail Help Discussion group (with email addresses deleted):
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