On Feb. 26, the Federal Communications Commission voted, along strict party lines, to <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/article/2889261/fcc-approves-net-neutrality-rules-reclassifies-broadband-as-utility.html">approve new net neutrality rules</a> by reclassifying broadband as a regulated public utility. So does that save the Internet or lock it up in a bureaucratic, censored, expensive prison?
Oh my gosh! The world's first <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/article/2873379/uh-oh-google-here-comes-microsofts-hololens.html">holographic computing platform</a>! Is this or is this not the best thing ever?
Last summer Microsoft talked its partners into trying to stop the growing popularity of Chromebooks in its tracks by making a big push during the holiday season. While full retail results won't be in for a while, we do know the laptop sales results from the most important retailer of them all, Amazon. Guess what. With that retailer at least, Microsoft and its buddies failed. Miserably.
An Internet joke that goes back at least to the early 1980s consists entirely of the phrase: "<a href="http://catb.org/jargon/html/I/Imminent-Death-Of-The-Net-Predicted-.html">Imminent Death of the Net Predicted</a>!" Every year, even more often than you'd hear "This will be the year of the Linux desktop!" someone would predict that the Internet was going to go to hell in a handbasket -- and nothing happened. This year it's my turn, but I fear I'm going to be proved right.
You may have noticed that I take a rather cynical view of Microsoft. But I think I am able to recognize when it does good things. As a matter of fact, I think the company made some smart moves in 2014, and it's going to benefit from them in 2015.
I actually had been feeling <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/article/2845313/say-hi-to-windows-8-2-er-10.html">optimistic about Windows 10</a>. No, really. You can look it up. I mean, I didn't think Windows 10 was the greatest thing since the advent of the Internet, but it did strike me as a solid replacement for the lamentable Windows 8.
<a href="http://www.computerworld.com/article/2476464/microsoft-windows/did-microsoft-just-admit-windows-8-is-its-worst-operating-system-ever-.html">Windows 8 is quite possibly the worst</a> desktop operating system that Microsoft ever released. Since Windows 8 is going up against such all-time flop-a-doodles as Vista and Windows ME, that's saying something.
When I first heard what Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella had said at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, I assumed it had been misreported.
Microsoft has flopped on smartphones and tablets. At the same time, its Windows 8.x has continued to be such an abject failure, with a mere <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/article/2600775/windows-pcs-windows-8s-uptake-climbs-but-still-trails-vistas.html">13.4% share of the PC market</a>, that it's trailing even legendary fiasco Vista in market acceptance.
The patent wars keep going and going and we keep paying and paying.
Nokia, once a great company and the pride of Finland, is shuffling to its grave under Microsoft's leadership.
So Apple and IBM are hooking up. It's a match made in enterprise heaven, bringing together BYOD favorites the iPhone and the iPad with enterprise apps and cloud services from IBM. It's a win for Apple, which finally gets some serious business software chops, and for IBM, which gets device sex appeal.
HP claims that its light-based, next-generation Machine will do everything except scrub the kitchen sink. But given HP's recent innovation track record, why should we believe any of it?
It's looking like Microsoft won't be bringing back the Start menu until 2015. Way to put the customer first, Microsoft!
After trying Update 1 for the last few weeks, the best I can say for it is that it sucks less.