IE6 Retirement Schedule Is OK by me

There has been some uproar about an article that Microsoft will still support IE6 until 2014 (ref: http://twitter.com/JimHolmes/statuses/3388282884, and RT dozens of times.)

I'm sorry, but I cannot get upset about this news article.  Back in the 90's, we whined and complained that Microsoft (and other vendors) were coming out too fast with software releases, and not supporting releases long enough. Remember that VB 2.0 was only out 6 months before VB 3.0 came out.  And MS Word 98 was replaced by Office 2000 only 8 months after its release.  Microsoft heard and understood, and came out with their Lifecycle Support policy so that we could have some semblance of scheduled lifetime for software releases.

And now we want to whine that Microsoft is following that policy?  I'm sorry, but I'm not going to follow that.  We cannot complain because there wasn't a planned policy, then complain that we don't like the standard policy.  No, Microsoft is OK on this one.

Now, I fully agree that we should not be using IE6.  We need to get users to safer and better platforms, and get them on IE8 whenever possible.  And the sooner the better, especially for relieving our web site development headaches.  The faster the market share for IE6 approaches zero will be good for all of us. 

But as long as there are users using IE6, for whatever reason, I want Microsoft to support it.  I want critical security patches and fixes dealt with and deployed as quickly as possible, and any performance enhancements or rendering fixes continued to be developed. 

And as long there are significant share of our users still using IE6 (20% of total IE population, that I last heard of), we as developers still need to account for those users and make sure our sites don't leave them out.  We develop software for our businesses, and for our business's customers, not for our standards of elegance.  We need to continue to support or users and customers, not ridicule or demean them.

Google uncloaks once-secret server

Interesting look at Google's server designs, both the individual server (battery on the server instead of UPS, velcro wraps) and the container design.

Google uncloaks once-secret server | Business Tech - CNET News

Microsoft Tag now can do black and white

Microsoft Tag can now do black and white tags, as well as color.  All the current readers already can handle the b&w.  And you can use both a b&w and color tag for same link.

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Microsoft Tag : Feature: Microsoft Tag Black and white!

NOD32 changes licensing

Looks like Nod32, my favorite recommended antivirus solution, is changing their licensing just a bit, but will cost me bucks.

First, a little about what I am trying to do.  I run a pretty decent laptop with Windows Vista, 4gb ram, and anywhere from 2 to 7 hard drives (1 internal, of course, and the others on USB).  As a software development consultant, I run a number of virtual machines. Some are for unique setups for clients (their VPN, or older version of Visual Studio or Windows); some for testing purposes (e.g. clean systems for testing setup packages, older browser versions); some with server OS's (Windows server 2003 or 2008) with older SQL server, or SharePoint development.

Trying to have an antivirus solution properly licensed for all these virtual machines is a pain.  The only av product I found that allows virtual machines to share the same license as the host is Nod32.  So besides the very reasons to use this product (fastest, smallest memory footprint (100mb), and best detection (it heuristic engine has never missed an in-the-wild virus, ref), having to buy only one license makes it a very good fit for me.  And it is one of the few client antivirus products that will install on server OS's.

Starting with their version 3.0, the server OS's were no longer permitted for a single-user license, only a business edition license could install Nod32 v3 on Windows Server 2000/2003.  This was not too much of a problem, as we were permitted to use the previous version, v2.7, on the servers and was still supported.

Now here is the new problem.  Nod32 v4 was released this week.  And when my license it renewed, the new username will not be permitted for v2.7.  Nod32 v4 will still not allow installation on Windows servers with single-user license.  I will have to buy a new business edition license to be able to install on Windows servers on virtual machines.  But business licenses have to be purchased with a minimum of 5 users, at (currently) $42.99/user ($214.95), as compared to $39.99 for home/single-user.  So in order to install Nod32 on my server VM's, I need to buy for 4 unneeded/unused users.

My options are somewhat limited.  No one else allows licensing on virtual machines except as a separate machine and license (and since I have about 15 virtual machines, buying licenses for them is not an option).  AVG free edition is not an option, because it does install on server OS's.  Looks like I have to buy wasted business user licenses.

Sorting out the different layers of virtualization | Virtually Speaking | ZDNet.com

Basic description of the different types of virtualization:

• Access Virtualization
• Application Virtualization
• Processing Virtualization
• Storage Virtualization
• Network Virtualization

Sorting out the different layers of virtualization | Virtually Speaking | ZDNet.com