Category Archives: microsoft

internet, microsoft, security

Unanswered question: how’s Vista’s real-world security compared to XP?

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Reading Bruce Eckel’s disappointing I’m not even trying Vista post (I think he should give it a go rather than swallow all the anti-hype) prompts me to ask: how’s Vista’s security shaping up, after 12 months of real-world use?

I could call the anti-virus companies, but I doubt I’ll get a straight answer. The only story the AV guys want to see is how we still need their products.

I’d like some stats. What proportion of Vista boxes has been successfully infected by malware? How does that compare to XP SP2? And has anyone analysed those infections to see whether User Account Control (Vista’s big new security feature) was on or off, and whether the infection required the user’s cooperation, such as clicking OK when an unsigned malware app asked for admin rights? What about IE’s protected mode – has it reduced the number of infections from compromised or malicious web sites?

Has anyone got hard facts on this?

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blogging, microsoft, windows

2007: the most commented posts, and a bit of blog introspection

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Here are the posts that received the most comments on ITWriting.com this year:

Vista display driver takes a break (220 comments)

Outlook 2007 is slow, RSS broken (173 comments)

Annoying Word 2007 problem- can’t select text (101 comments)

Why Outlook 2007 is slow- Microsoft’s official answer (95 comments)

Adobe CS3 won’t install (35 comments)

Delphi for PHP first impressions (33 comments)

Irony: Outlook Web Access more usable than Outlook (29 comments)

Audio in Vista- more hell than heaven (25 comments)

How to speed up Vista- disable the slow slow search (24 comments)

Adobe AIR- 10 reasons to love it, 10 reasons to hate it (24 comments)

Ubuntu Desktop not used in business (21 comments)

Miguel de Icaza on ODF vs OOXML (19 comments)

Visual Studio 6 on Vista (16 comments)

Microsoft Silverlight vs Adobe Flex (16 comments)

Vista vs XP performance- some informal tests (14 comments)

Slow Outlook 2007- the comments keep coming (14 comments)

This is mostly down to Google, everyone’s favourite source of tech support. The most commented posts are about problems with Windows and Office, and reflect the number of people searching for a solution who land up on this blog. Only a tiny proportion of readers actually post a comment, so the top few posts above are evidence of a large amount of frustration.

I highly value the comments, especially when they form a reply or clarification from the organization which is the subject of the post – like this one from Zoho.

A few more stats

FireFox usage has increased from 14% in 2006 to 20% in 2007.

The biggest source of incoming links is programming.reddit.com.

The five top search keywords are: 2007, Outlook, Vista, Slow and .NET.

A bit of introspection

I enjoy doing this blog and web site, though there are a couple of frustrations. One is that I have more material than I get time to write up. Another is that while the ads on the site pay for the hosting, they don’t do much more than that, and I would like to find a way to make web self-publishing viable.

I also muse over whether the range of subjects here is too broad. I post in three broad categories:

  • Software development
  • Problem solving
  • Anything that interests me in the tech world

Most of the subscribers to the blog probably want what is in the first category, especially as it is in this area that I can supply the most original content, sourced from interviews or conferences. The problem solving posts find a different readership via Google. My good intentions to narrow the focus more towards programming fall away when I have some other topic I want to write about, though I do keep it strictly to tech-related topics.

Update: fixed the list (missed a few)

microsoft, software

Windows Mobile sync pain

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I use a Samsung i600, similar to the Blackjack, which I’ve upgraded to Windows Mobile 6.0. Nice mobile, but for a while now it hasn’t been syncing properly. It hadn’t bothered me too much, because the main thing I care about is email, which I retrieve via IMAP, and that always works fine.

Then something else went wrong. I noticed that some documents which I had on the storage card in the i600 had disappeared. No error message; they just were no longer there. That prompted me to fix it.

I started with sync. On Vista it is no longer ActiveSync, but two new things. One is called the Sync center, the other called Windows Mobile Device Center. Probably a lot of the same old stuff underneath. What’s the difference?

The new Sync Center is a convenient central location in Windows Vista from which you can manage data synchronization between PCs, between PCs and servers, and between PCs and devices.

Got that? Now this:

Though it unifies your various sync activities, please note that Sync Center does not replace third-party sync tools or functionality. For example, a Windows Mobile device will still use its own infrastructure—Windows Mobile Device Center—to perform the actual synchronization of data with a Windows Vista computer. If you want to change the granular sync settings for any specific relationship, Sync Center directs you to the Windows Mobile Device Center or, in the case of another company’s device, to the data management settings for that device.

I wish I’d read that sooner. Since it is the Sync Center that fires up automatically (or is meant to) when you connect via USB, I had wasted some time fiddling with it. I was trying to delete the partnership. Right-click, Delete. Nothing happened. File – Delete. Nothing happened. No error, nothing in the event log, but the partnership remained.

I Googled. Dear me. I hit the Windows Sync Center Blog. An archetypal example of how not to blog. Here’s the blurb:

With the advent of the new Sync Center folder in Windows Vista and a brand new programming model, the team felt that it was important to provide a way for those using these interfaces to interact with us and provide feedback.

Just what I wanted. Thing is, there are just two posts, the most recent in September 2005. And lots of comments, like this:

Please, oh please help me remove this thing from my machine. I just got Vista and an external drive. Created a sync partnership which didn’t work. Cannot delete the sync.Cannot remove systray application.

or this:

does anyone who can fix this mess read our blog? PURGATORY!!!!!

or this:

HELLO…….. BILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL RU listening to us?

You guys call this a blog?! You’ve answered NONE of your customer’s questions! And you’ve had, what, two posts in two years??

Not the best place for help apparently. Fortunately I realized that what I really wanted was the Windows Mobile Device Center, and hit this post instead. Downloaded and installed version 6.1, and everything worked. Easy. Though the comments to that post are almost equally depressing.

I’m also puzzled. I use Microsoft Update. Why hadn’t my Mobile Device Center been updated automatically?

Never mind. Time to look at the other problem. I looked at the storage card in the device explorer, which now worked. It was almost empty, yet had very little free space. I removed it and put it in a card reader. Right click – Properties – Tools – Check for Errors. As I’d guessed, it was corrupt. The error check restored my missing documents. It also revealed the likely cause of the problem. Live Search had created around 1200 temporary files on the card. I deleted them all. Replaced the card in the device, upgraded Live Search to the latest version. All seems to be well.

Was I just unlucky? I’m not sure. Windows Mobile devices do seem prone to this kind of runaround. Then again, my older Qtek 8100, running Windows Mobile 2003 2nd Edition, worked reliably for a couple of years. Oddly enough, it is not the errors themselves that are frustrating, but the lack of helpful error messages or troubleshooting tips that actually work.

It strikes me that Windows Mobile and the whatever-you-call-it sync software still has some way to go before it is truly user-friendly.

microsoft, software development

Visual Studio 2008 review, and the WPF business apps debate

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Review just posted on RegDeveloper.

In it I quote Peter Lindsey of component vendor Infragistics, who says that:

Microsoft, in trying to capture credibility within the media market, has poorly represented the value of WPF to business application developers.

The problem is that Microsoft decided to tell its customers not to use WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) for line-of-business applications, which is a strange way to launch your next-generation GUI API, and tough on vendors such as Infragistics who have been busy providing business-oriented components like xamDataGrid.

Not everyone agrees that WPF is a no-hoper for business apps. See this post from software architect Ivan Towlson:

For me, the killer application of WPF is not bouncing buttons with dancing elves trapped inside them.  The killer application is information visualisation, the kind of things you get from Tufte and the periodic table.  And that’s something that even forms-style, line-of-business applications will find worthwhile.

When Microsoft introduced .NET it made great efforts to get VB 6 developers to upgrade and migrate their projects, even though there were sound technical reasons for caution. Why is it that with WPF those reasons for caution, valid though they are, have been allowed to dominate the messaging to the extent that most developers probably have the impression that WPF is irrelevant?

Curious.

microsoft, multimedia

An Office Ribbon macro to control audio in Word

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I wrote a macro to control audio via keystrokes in Word. Its main use is for transcribing interviews, but you could use it for music as well – easy to pause a song when the phone rings. The idea is that you can pause, play and rewind an audio file from keystrokes in Word, which saves switching applications or reaching for the mouse.

It’s work in progress, hence the smiley faces. Even so, I found it interesting to do. The ribbon is great for macro developers, but could do with a visual editor. I used the Office 2007 Custom UI Editor.

There is a little more info and a download link here.

microsoft, multimedia

Another pro musician gives up on Vista audio

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I occasionally highlight interesting comments to this blog, because they are less visible than new posts. This one for example:

After months of struggling with Vista, I have now completely removed it from my quad-core, purpose-built audio recording PC. With all the same hardware, XP 64 bit edition is working as I had hoped Vista 64 would. The machine now records and plays back flawlessly.

The question I originally posed was whether Vista audio problems are primarily to do with poor drivers, or indicate more fundamental problems. Initially I was inclined to blame the drivers, especially as Microsoft put a lot of effort into improving Vista’s audio. However, read this post by Larry Osterman. He mentions three problems with audio in XP, and says:

Back in 2002, we decided to make a big bet on Audio for Vista and we committed to fixing all three of the problems listed above.

However, only one of his three problems is unequivocally about improving audio. The first is actually about Windows reliability:

The amount of code that runs in the kernel (coupled with buggy device drivers) causes the audio stack to be one of the leading causes of Windows reliability problems.

Therefore, Microsoft moved the audio stack:

The first (and biggest) change we made was to move the entire audio stack out of the kernel and into user mode.

though he adds that

In Vista and beyond, the only kernel mode drivers for audio are the actual audio drivers (and portcls.sys, the high level audio port driver).

So, not quite the entire audio stack. Some pro musicians reckon the removal of the audio stack from the kernel is the reason for Vista’s audio problems.

However you look at it, it is to my mind a depressing failure that a year after Vista’s release you can find pro musicians giving up, and even vendors (who have an interest in Vista working properly) making comments like this one from Cakewalk’s Noel Borthwick:

Vista X64 (and X86 to some extent as well) is known to have inherent problems with low latency audio. We have been in touch with Microsoft about this and other problems for over a year now so its not that Cakewalk hasn’t done their bit. There are open case numbers with MS for this issue as well.

It does look as if, for all the talk of “a big bet on audio in Vista”, Microsoft does not care that much about this aspect of the operating system.

Anyone tried audio in Vista SP1 yet?

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microsoft, software

450 fixes in Office 2007 service pack 1

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Microsoft has released Office 2007 service pack 1. But what does it fix? If you go to this page you can download a spreadsheet which lists around 450 fixes. It is a little misleading, since many of the fixes reference pre-existing knowledgebase articles, which I reckon means you may already have the fix. SP1 is still worth it (presuming it works OK) – there are plenty of other issues mentioned.

Of course I went straight to the Outlook 2007 section, as this is the app I have real problems with. This one will be interesting to some readers of this blog:

  • POP3 sync is sometimes slow.  An issue that contributed to this issue was fixed in SP1.

I believe I have noticed this one too:

  • A large number of items may fail to be indexed.

As to whether Outlook 2007 will perform noticeably better after SP1, I am sceptical but will let you know.

As it happens, the top four search keywords for visitors to this blog who come via search engines, for this month, are as follows:

  1. 2007
  2. outlook
  3. vista
  4. slow

It is similar most months. Hmmm, seems there may be a pattern there.

apple, microsoft, multimedia

Wired votes for Zune over iPod

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Wired Magazine, home of Cult of Mac, has declared the Zune 2 a better buy than the iPod Classic.

This may prove any number of things. One possibility is that Microsoft has a winner. After all, it the company’s modus operandi. Windows 1.0, rubbish. Windows 3.0, word-beating.

Then again, perhaps articles with unexpected conclusions just get more links. Like this one.

Not that I care – there is no Zune for the UK.

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internet, microsoft, software

Live Workspace: can someone explain the offline story?

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I showed the Asus Eee PC to a friend the other day. She liked it, but won’t be buying. Why? It doesn’t run Microsoft Office (yet – an official Windows version is planned).

It reminded me how important Office is to Microsoft. No wonder it is fighting so hard in the ODF vs OOXML standards war.

Therefore, if anything can boost Microsoft’s Web 2.0 credentials (and market share), it has to be Office. I’ve not yet been able to try out Office Live Workspace, but it strikes me that Microsoft is doing at least some the right things. As I understand it, you get seamless integration between Office and web storage, plus some extras like document sharing and real-time collaboration.

I still have a question though, which inevitably is not answered in the FAQ. What’s the offline story? In fact, what happens when you are working on a document at the airport, your wi-fi pass expires, and you hit Save? Maybe a beta tester can answer this. Does Word or Excel prompt for a local copy instead? And if you save such a copy, how do you sync up the changes later?

If there’s a good answer, then this is the kind of thing I might use myself. If there is no good answer, I’ll stick with Subversion. Personally I want both the convenience of online storage and the comfort of local copies, with no-fuss synch between the two.

That said, I may be the only one concerned about this. When I Googled for Live Workspace Offline, the top hit was my own earlier post on the subject.

internet, microsoft, software development

Microsoft Volta: magic, but is it useful magic?

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Microsoft has released an experimental preview of Volta, a new development product with some unusual characteristics:

1. You write your application for a single machine, then split it into multiple tiers with a few declarations:

Volta automatically creates communication, serialization, and remoting code. Developers simply write custom attributes on classes or methods to tell Volta the tier on which to run them.

2. Volta seamlessly translates .NET byte code (MSIL) to Javascript, on an as-needed basis, to achieve cross-platform capability:

When no version of the CLR is available on the client, Volta may translate MSIL into semantically-equivalent Javascript code that can be executed in the browser. In effect, Volta offers a best-effort experience in the browser without any changes to the application.

The reasoning behind this is that single-machine applications are easier to write. Therefore, if the compiler can handle the tough job of distributing an application over multiple tiers, it makes the developer’s job easier. Further, if you can move processing between tiers with just a few declarations, then you can easily explore different scenarios.

Since the input to Volta is MSIL, you can work in Visual Studio using any .NET language.

Visionary breakthrough, or madness? Personally I’m sceptical, though I have had a head start, since this sounds very like what I discussed with Eric Meijer earlier this year, when it was called LINQ 2.0:

Meijer’s idea is programmers should be able to code for the easiest case, which is an application running directly on the client, and be able to transmute it into a cross-platform, multi-tier application with very little change to the code.

What are my reservations? It seems hit-and-miss, not knowing whether your app will be executed by the CLR or as Javascript; while leaving it to a compiler to decide how to make an application multi-tier, bearing in mind issues like state management and optimising data flow, sounds like a recipe for inefficiency and strange bugs.

It seems Microsoft is not sure about it either:

Volta is an experiment that enables Microsoft to explore new ways of developing distributed applications and to continue to innovate in this new generation of software+services. It is not currently a goal to fit Volta into a larger product roadmap. Instead, we want feedback from the community of partners and customers to influence other Live Labs technologies and concepts.