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Here's the latest chapter of my Linux experiments for SmallBizResource.com, in which I try to install something other than Microsoft Office on an old PC. Also, I reveal my reviewer bias towards the Redmond team.

Links:
My Microsoft-Free Office Experiment, Part 1
Disclosure: Open-Source Review Written by Microsoft Partisan

Labels: linux, Microsoft

Here's a companion piece to my earlier post (Battle of the Clouds), in which I predict the direction of Microsoft's server business. Hint: it's in the same direction as Amazon's server business.

Link:
The Next Big Thing at Microsoft, posted at SmallBizResource.com

Labels: Amazon, Microsoft, softdev, Web Standards

Eric Gales from Microsoft Canada spoke yesterday to the BCTIA and the IAMCP. During the Q&A, I asked him what the Microsoft answer would be to EC2. He coolly mentioned that they're building out huge server farms which aren't all meant for Hotmail users.

Let's flash back to the Vancouver PHP conference in February, where I asked Amazon Web Services evangelist Jeff Barr whether the Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) could run Windows server instances.

Explanation of EC2

(You can skip to the next section if you already know what EC2 does)

You see, organizations need servers. Servers to serve up web pages, e-mail, video, you name it. The hard part is figuring out how many servers you require. In the old world, the safe bet has been to buy at least one server more than your expected peak capacity.

Think of a supermarket with 12 lanes at the checkout. Most times, only a few lanes are open. But the supermarket still has to own 12 cash registers, and maintain 12 conveyor belts and 12 inventory racks of chewing gum and gossip rags at each lane. If it's a high-traffic day and all of the lanes are backed up, the market doesn't have any options left but to keep things moving.

With "elastic" computing, it's much different. First, you figure out what kind of server you need, and then configure one of each. You save the "image" of each kind of server, and then just spawn instances as needed.

To continue the supermarket analogy, "elastic" checkout would mean that the market could add as many lanes as was necessary to get people through as quickly as possible, to meet whatever quality of service they wanted to meet. The market could have a separate lane for each customer. And then, after that person was finished, the lane would simply disappear.

On the Internet, this concept can be used to manage anything where the server is the bottleneck: serving up video, 3-D, data, you name it. With elasticity, small players can swing for the fences with new applications, with the knowledge that their ideas will scale globally using the cloud.

The Amazon/Microsoft Question

So back to my question: Can you put a Windows server on Amazon EC2? Sure, answered Jeff, and people have done it. However, the Microsoft server licenses weren't built for the cloud. When you buy a license for, say, Microsoft Small Business Server 2003, you can install it on any processor you like. And if you want to put it on a virtual processor in the cloud, that's fine too. But if you want to create an image of SBS2003 and spawn multiple instances at will, you're out of bounds.

OK, if you can't put Microsoft servers in the cloud, what can you put in the cloud? The answer: Linux servers. The default Amazon Machine Instance (AMI) is a Linux server, which you're welcome to modify or replace with your own Linux instance, using whatever distribution you please.

How long do you think Microsoft will let open-source stand as the default option for cloud computing?

Get ready for the battle of the clouds.

Disclosure: I'm a member of the IAMCP doing business with Microsoft partners and customers. I'm also an Amazon affiliate.

Labels: Amazon, linux, Microsoft, virtualization

What's Web 2.0? Simply stated, it's the combination of community, mashups and rich-media interfaces that characterizes the latest wave of web sites. Applications that once only operated on standalone PCs are now ripe for adoption to the Internet, thanks to faster connections and better browsers.

The Web 2.0 Expo conference track had impressive depth, with an unmistakable O'Reilly influence. On the show floor, the involvement of CMP, with its enterprise/channel expertise, really paid off in terms of getting major business-technology companies involved in what otherwise could have been an echo chamber of futurists talking to futurists.

Speaking of the future direction of the Web, it'll come not from the predictions of pundits, the bluster of bloggers, or the mechanizations of marketers, but rather the aggregate choices of millions of developers. The battle for Web 2.0 will be fought in the IDE. Where should an independent developer invest his or her energies? Which platforms will support the most successful applications, and the most profitable businesses?

The Sexy Stuff: Presentation Layers

Adobe Apollo - Adobe hopes to build a development platform bridging online and desktop applications, and they're off to a good start. Their presentation during the Web 2.0 Expo keynote highlighted several examples of Apollo in action: Buzzword, an Apollo-based word processor to be released this summer; an eBay application; Finetune, a music player; a time-tracking and calendaring application code-named gTimer; and Adobe Media Player. I have also been impressed by the Adobe presence at the majority of the events I've attended this year (see my events page).

Microsoft Silverlight – Last week, Microsoft anointed its own rich-media application development platform, previously named WPF/E. I predict that Adobe will have the cooler applications out of the gate, but Microsoft will ink enough deals with someone you do business with (e.g. your bank), or somehow tie it into the Vista experience. There'll be a compelling reason for you to download the Silverlight plug-in at some point, and the historical record backs me up. Thus, most of us will probably end up with both the Apollo and Silverlight plug-ins running side-by-side, with developers having to choose where to invest their time and energy.

It Ain't Over Yet: Operating Systems

Linux is the wild-card in the Apollo v. Silverlight showdown. Adobe plans to launch an Apollo version eventually, and I wouldn't expect Microsoft to follow down that path. While Linux comprises only a sliver of the PC market now, if and when the big vendors such as Dell and HP start to ship Linux boxes, that will certainly change. The Mac is now a PC; Linux is the new Mac.

From Enterprise to SMB: Partner Ecosystems

By partnering with a technology company that's already gained traction in enterprise and small-business settings, you can use a known name and partner network to get customers. For example, if you have an idea for sales-centered companies, you can build applications on top of Salesforce.com by learning the Apex platform and programming language. Or, if you envision applications built around web conferencing and online meetings, join the WebEx Connect developer program. Or, you can follow SAP's lead into the small market by learning their Business One platform. Are you more aligned with the online auction market? Join the eBay Developers Program. Or, use Amazon Web Services to create a business or service from customizable components. Even the venerable AOL has reinvented itself as a development platform with dev.aol.com, offering APIs for authentication, photos, videos, maps and more. It all depends on what you want to build, I suppose, and for whom.

Stop Programming: Zero-Code Development

Intalio has an intriguing open-source business-process management system (BPMS) that promises "zero code" development. Similarly, Coghead has easily-customizable templates for project management, HR and inventory applications, and the flexibility to develop whatever else makes sense for your application.

Or, if you want to build a simple database, Dabble DB lets you build databases on the Web, with relational capabilities accessed through a simple yet powerful interface. Swivel wants to be (and apologies for the formulaic construction, but it works in this case) the "YouTube for data sets", and makes customizable graphs available for inclusion in blogs, collaborative commenting and more.

Design and Development Resources

RobotReplay - Add a script to your web pages to record every mouse motion and click that users take on your website. It's like what Steve Krug says, to design a better experience, just watch your users in action. All RobotReplay needs is a way to surreptitiously turn on the user's webcam and microphone for the complete picture.

LuckyOliver - Inexpensive stock photos.

oDesk - Inexpensive development resources. And just to make sure that you're getting your money's worth, they'll take a screenshot of your contractor's screen at random intervals.

Labels: Adobe, Microsoft, Web 2.0, web design, web2expo

Yesterday, Forbes.com picked up my Microsoft Outlook article (originally published last week at SmallBizResource and mentioned in this blog post) for their Entrepreneurs page. The last time Forbes picked up one of my SmallBizResource articles (about Rocky Balboa), I was interviewed for an article in the leading business daily newspaper in Portugal.

What opportunities will arise this time? We'll see!

Labels: Microsoft, small biz

Check out my latest SmallBizResource blog entry on what's wrong with Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager for e-mail marketing.

The fundamental flaw: Outlook 2007 doesn't let you customize the HTML in an e-mail message.

In other Microsoft small-business news, from March 19-23 the company will host a Small Business Summit featuring keynotes by Guy "No Longer an Apple Evangelist" Kawasaki , Julie "Baby Einstein" Clark and others. Sessions throughout the week focus on various aspects of running a small business, plus demos of Office 2007, Vista, and other upcoming products.

You can register for the event in Redmond, view the sessions through the Web, or show up at selected Regal cinemas or CompUSA stores to network with other small-business owners. Sign up by Wednesday for the chance to win a copy of Office 2007 Small Business or 10 hours on a private jet.

In keeping with the Outlook 2007 design strategy, it's a really special private jet. There are no windows in the cockpit, and the pilot and co-pilot can't actually see where they're going (at least not with their unreliable, non-standard eyes). But who needs eyes when you have user-friendly instrumentation panels designed for easier usage, and various controls and knobs covering virtually everything you'd ever need to fly a jet?

Labels: Microsoft, small biz