Well just as predicted, Information Week certainly helped open the logjam on candidness regarding Microsoft software. Oliver Rist in his coverage of the Vista RC1 candidate in Infoworld is borderline sarcastic as he asks rhetorically:
“Are anticipatory chills running down your spine ? They shouldnt be.”
And then Oliver describes the serious Installation (still not sure a bug free install will be available), Graphical interface (Vistas Aero UI demands 128MB of dedicated video RAM on a DirectX 9 capable 3D accelerator card) and Audio problems (more persistent bugs just before RC1). So it was not surprising to see the following phenomenon.
Microsoft full page ads=0, IBM full page ads=4 in this issue of InfoWorld.
And over at eWeek in the September 11th issue, Ryan Naraine does another look at Monoculture Myopia. The basic argument is that the security risks of standardizing on Microsofts Windows remain 3 years after a report flagged them. But many pundits pooh-poohed these results. However, 3 years later and a despite Microsoft avowed dedication to security and reliability, problems continue to abound in IE, Office and the OS. This article is well worth reading because Ryan take a difficult subject and explores all the issues throughly.
Meanwhile, Microsoft ads=0, IBM full page ads in that issue of eWeek= 8.
And as promised, I am following Microsoft ads in Information Week since the get-tough story on Vista. Here is what happened in the recent weeks September 18th 2006 issue:
Microsoft ads=1, IBM full page ads= 7.
Now remember, during the course of the Spring and Summer, Microsoft has been averaging 2-3 full page ads in all of these publications. Now some would argue there is no correlation; however this party remains skeptical.
(c)JBSurveyer 2006