Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Back from Hiatus

A lot has been happening in the tech world over the last few months that are worthy of note, and I have been considering them -- and some of these need digesting. Hence, the gap in entries since August. I did not just want to put entries in that are news items, but rather give some context to these activities -- why are they important to note? What are the ramifications? How do they affect the world of computing for individuals and for businesses?

For example, in June, Bill Gates announced that he was stepping down from his day-to-day involvement at Microsoft, ceding the job of Chief Software Architect to Ray Ozzie, of Lotus Notes fame, and becoming a "part time" employee in July of 2008. This begs comment -- this is a monumental event, and requires some analysis, rather than the usual "passing of the torch," "end of an era" rhetoric.

My take on this at the time, which has been strengthened in the last few months is: This announcement is the end of Microsoft as we know it, and removes Microsoft from its special status of what might be called the "Beatles" of the software industry (as in they are in a class by themselves) to being just another player in a tough industry. In five years or less, Microsoft will no longer be dominant, and will no longer have the choke-hold on the PC world that it has now. Bill Gates is Microsoft, and he is leaving. I have more to say about this -- and you can see that more needs to be said about it, and that it is not just another interesting event in the industry.

Two other items that need comment and analysis are Microsoft's deal with Novell, and Oracle's announcement that they are supporting enterprise Linux. These are both industry changing events. Oracle's announcement is brilliant. I'm not so sure about the Novell/Microsoft announcement.

Of course, Microsoft Vista, their successor to Windows XP, is another subject that begs analysis. Should you move, or not? Should you just chuck it and either stay with XP as long as you can, or move to Apple?

In addition, I have been having fun with some time management tools from David Seah, a graphic designer based in New Hampshire. Time Management and goal setting (and achieving!) is a subject with many, many opinions and methods, and following David's journey to time management nirvana has been interesting. Plus, the forms he has put together are just gorgeous!

So, I just wanted to post this and let you know that I will be posting some analysis on these and other items over the next week or two.