As I have done since version 3.5, I’m charting the storage changes in VMware’s latest release of vSphere, 5.1. Unlike version 5, which included many new technical storage features, 5.1 mainly tweaks existing features and adds these new elements to the mix.
Microsoft
The Windows RT Name is Worse Than Meaningless
Perhaps “Windows RT” is meaningful and appropriate in Microsoft’s eyes, but it is an utter failure if no one else comprehends the name. Microsoft should have used a more obvious and meaningful term to differentiate “run time” products instead of another investment in Windows Alphabet Soup.
Begun, the Patent Wars Have
Every day, it seems there is a new lawsuit in the mobile phone industry. HTC, Motorola, Google, Microsoft, and especially Apple and Samsung are actively litigating their way through a thicket of patents. The same is increasingly happening in the rest of the IT industry. But is all this bloodshed really about innovation? Or is it, as one federal judge noted, simply a new form of intense business competition?
Is Tim Cook the Reincarnation of Steve Ballmer?
Steve Jobs handing Apple over to someone like Tim Cook is indeed analogous to Bill Gates’ selection of Steve Ballmer at Microsoft. It is likely that Cook will successfully steer Apple to a decade of success regardless of stagnating innovation. Apple will dominate the remainder of this decade, and Tim Cook will be celebrated as its captain. But will Apple stagnate?
Who Will Support SMB 3.0, and Which Features Will They Support?
I’m really thrilled about the improvements Microsoft is making to the core SMB protocol in Windows Server 2012. But it won’t really matter if nobody but Microsoft supports the new protocol. So I like to call out to all the enterprise storage vendors: Let me hear your support for SMB3.0!
