The old rule
"Wait for at least one Service Pack" still applies, I reckon.
Microsoft has dangled fresh licences for Office 365 - its subscription-based software suite - and beefed up its data-analysis tools to woo more business customers. Opening its Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) in Houston, Texas, Microsoft announced something it's called “upgrade SKUs” that will let IT bosses running on- …
If its making enough money it will be available, but once your <choice of tender parts> are in the vice, they can screw you for ever more money because you can't migrate away with any ease.
More likely the issue will be them dicking around with the user interface and what features are available, all without any consideration to what you want.
This post has been deleted by its author
Not SAFE?
They may be tidying up their reputation (vis avis?/WRT/along the lines of Open Source and Linux, etc.), but even a fully articulated Real Doll with pirhanna teeth would be a risky prop position, hehehe.
What ALL data-generating and data-crunching companies need to learn is that they need an emergency slide chute, whether it's is MS, Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, etc., and need to learn (some by a virtual hammer across the back of the head) to structure their data so it is exportable at the drop of a hat.
As mentioned above, dicking around with the UI/GUI will be the hard part to contend with. So, these companies afraid to fly in the clouds need to make their own sharable/distributable GUIs and keep them and their rolling update clones fresh.
Keep the terrestrial, wirey analogs on hot standby.
Sorry, but having all of my sensitive documents accessible on someone else's' machine, under different legal jurisdiction, and subject to secret data requests by another gov - NO THANKS!
If it is on my machine(s) then at least I have a decent idea if access is requested.
"If it is on my machine(s) then at least I have a decent idea if access is requested."
Well, that's the irony of it all because although Microsoft is now spouting off idiocy about "saving money" guess what one of the "advanced" features of Office 365 is?
The ability to download the desktop applications which can then run on your own computer, I kid you not.
Of course the big difference now is that while you still ended up with the desktop applications you're now also paying Microsoft a monthly fee for it.
Katching!
Office 365 is very little cloud to be honest. I hate it, I don 't sell it and we regularly help people move away from it once they realize.
It is in a nutshell hosted exchange (plenty of choice already for that), a copy of office on loan as part of the sub (that yes you do install - although you can have a few installs - very generous of them), and access to Skydrive with "more storage than the free version").
There are other bells and whistles but frankly they aren't worth it or matter to most people.
It isn't what I define as "Cloud" in any great sense of the word.
Different legal jurisdiction is a real problem. Some of the anti-fraud laws in the US are completely different to those in, say, the UK or most of Europe. Nothing wrong with different laws of course, but it does mean that a technical decision "Lets use the Cloud" should be double checked with an expensive lawyer with US experience and deep knowledge of your own operation and staff habits.
Wire Fraud is of particular concern. Write an email along the lines of "lets rip of the customer like this, ha ha!" followed immediately by another "no seriously, lets not do that" would likely be dismissed as nothing other than office banter in Europe. However, under the US Wire Fraud Act the first email would technically be enough to put you in jail. Using any kind of electronic medium that passes through or is hosted in the US means being subject to the Wire Fraud act regardless of whether you've ever been there or not.
Of course, there's nothing wrong with that in itself. They're used to that law in the US, they know the limits of what can be communicated, and so it's not a problem unless you really are plotting to defraud someone. However, we in Europe are not used to it at all.
But if you're in a European/UK company that decides to Gmail you Email, 365 your Office, Cloud your files then they are potentially exposing you personally to US legal jurisdiction, especially if your company does business with the US.
Is everyone entirely happy with that? And is that the sort of decision that should be in the hands of the company bean counters / IT admin?
"But if you're in a European/UK company that decides to Gmail you Email, 365 your Office, Cloud your files then they are potentially exposing you personally to US legal jurisdiction, especially if your company does business with the US.
Is everyone entirely happy with that?"
I'm entirely happy with that. The US attempt to export its laws to the rest of the world (not to mention spy on everyone) has to have a down side for the US. The down side is that people keep their business dealings out of the US and that means loss of $$$$ for them.
Happy that's a fair deal? Yep, I am.
I'm entirely happy with that. The US attempt to export its laws to the rest of the world (not to mention spy on everyone) has to have a down side for the US. The down side is that people keep their business dealings out of the US and that means loss of $$$$ for them.
It's worse that that. Globally, people with US passports have been more or less declared persona non grata with banks and companies because of all the obligations that imposes on organisations - it's cheaper just to terminate contracts and throw the US citizens out. The reason the US is pursuing all the foreign banks is because that's the last bit of income they'll ever seen from them - most banks have already closed shop and moved to less totalitarian regimes such as China...
AC 21:37, it's not just US citizens, it's also US "persons" which is defined by anything that whatever US sub-czar says it is. If you came to work in the US a couple of decades ago and applied for resident status, a "green card", you can be considered a US person for tax purposes even if you have long since moved to a different country. How obnoxious is that?
Actually, you can let jurisdiction work FOR you as well - that's what we do all the time. Not everyone seems to realise that stopping warrant free intercept is NOT identical to permitting fraud and crime (IMHO that would be a VERY stupid idea), all you do is force due process. This means a proper, documented and warrant-approved investigation is still possible because that runs via normal cross-judicial support agreements, but it stops dead and creative "let's have a go" fishing expeditions which have zero to do with fighting crime (or they wouldn't be so shy of supervision).
As for any EU company using Gmail or other Google services to process your personal details, THEY ARE ACTUALLY BREAKING THE LAW unless they have told you they're shipping your personal information to the US: If there is one benefit of all this NSA noise, it's that it has exposed the Safe Harbor for the marketing exercise it is. Whatever it is, "safe" isn't a word that applies. Oh, BTW, any EU company using Gmail for client email is *always* breaking EU law because a received email is also scanned - for which the user has not given permission. Feel free to ask your local Information Commissioner yourself - I checked with them in a variety of countries and the opinion is unanimous. The reason the company gets blamed rather than Gmail is because the responsibility is with the Data Registrar..
In short, do check. If you find any of the companies you deal with either uses Google or another US resource without telling you about it you have grounds to file a formal complaint, and the ICO is finally growing teeth (the sheer volume has evidently told politicians that it represents a lot of votes)..
Even before the recent headlines, it was hard sell. I can't see (m)any businesses taking up storing all their documents, many of which undoubtedly company sensitive, with third party and no real control over its security and access. AC's point about longevity of the service and what to do when (not if) it is canned.
I can't see (m)any businesses taking up storing all their documents, many of which undoubtedly company sensitive, with third party and no real control over its security and access
Ah, that'll be the same businessmen who will use a hotel, conference or cybercafe PC to check their business email and proceed to open attachments, which leaves a pristine copy on the machine in use.
[Windows-R] "cmd" "explorer %temp%" - on a not locked down 3rd party machine that will give you plenty interesting stuff to read. On a locked down machine that pleasure is reserved for the people with admin rights which may limit the uncontrolled 3rd party audience, but doesn't eliminate it.
In every version of Windows I've used since Win95, all the way up to 7, the standard File Open dialog box contained a full file manager, including the ability to right-click on a folder and select Explore to get a free-floating Explorer window. Then type %temp% in the address bar, and away you go. No Win+R privilege needed.
"Re: A text editor would be more attractive than Microsoft Office
No, not emacs and definitely not under any circumstances vi.
Anyway, vi is for the pathetic softies who can't use edlin.
"
Isn't the other way around - softies used edlin , *ix use vi
Or hav times changed?
Real coders use butterflies
"A text editor would be more attractive than Microsoft Office"
Not Notepad. Having your eyes gouged out with a rusty spoon is more attractive than Notepad. Perhaps this is why it is the only text edtor that comes by default on Windows - so it doesn't compete with Office.
However, a *proper* text editor with LaTeX. Yes, that is certainly more attractive than MS Office. :-)
This post has been deleted by its author
I'm sure the Reg gets a fee for all these subliminal MS adverts. There's always a theme, whether its hyper-v week, or virtualise your desktop week or get on the cloud (week 1 - server 2012 , week 2 - 365, week 3 - W8).
I forecast clear skies around here, not a cloud in sight