This is great. I heard they were going to do something like this, but didn't realize it would be this cool. Is Visa perfect? No, but if you are buying a new PC, you would be silly to get anything other than Vista.

The Mojave Experiment

VMware will give it's ESX product away for free. Given the massive hype surrounding Microsoft's free Hyper-V release, I think this was the only prudent business move they could have made. The problem, of course is still the same as it was 6 months ago. ESV needs the very expensive management tools to be useful. Hyper-V has management tools too, and they certainly can't be classified as cheap, but you can operate a perfectly running Hyper-V environment without them. Not so with ESX.

I have no problem with VMware as a company, I just think their arrogant attitude towards their customers and the changing marketplace has led them to this place.

VMware... the new Netscape.

Now that Microsoft is starting to fight back against the funny, but often incorrect "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" ads that have been blanketing US television for months, it's probably time to admit that Vista has a serious PR problem.

We can all agree that Vista hasn't had an easy go of it so far. Released nearly two years late, driver and application incompatibilities, and some just plain old bugs, have caused the operating system to take a real beating in the hearts and minds of computer users the world around. I can't tell you how many conversations I have had over the last year and a half that have gone something like this:

Joe User:   "Oh, I won't get anything that runs that dumb Vista software. That thing sucks!
Me:   "Really? Why is that?"
Joe User:   "It's all over the internet that Vista sucks. Plus, those Mac commercials say so too!"
Me:   "Hmmmm... Have you tried it?"
Joe User:   "Hells no! Vista sucks! Everyone knows that!"

Obviously I am not the only one that has had that experience, as Microsoft is about to spend millions on an advertising campaign to start spreading the word that Vista is a good operating system. That's right... I said it. A good operating system. The almost weekly enhancements made by Microsoft, coupled with the application community finally getting off their collective butts and optimizing their software for Vista, has now turned Vista into a true powerhouse. Does it take more memory than XP? Yes. Is it a bit slower than XP? Indeed. But do you remember how much slower Windows 2000 was than Windows 98? How much more memory it took? And don't even get me started on the Windows 95 to NT 4.0 comparisons...  Yet somehow we survived.

Vista is more secure, more stable and more user friendly than any previous version of Windows.

Is it perfect? No. Far from it, but what modern operating system is? Do I recommend that you upgrade your existing PC to Vista? No. But when it's time to drop the dough on that new desktop or notebook, you would be a fool to get anything other than Vista pre-installed. Take it to the bank.