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Would Microsoft Really Consider A RIM PurchaseYesterday

Microsoft has never been one to get into the hardware business. The only exception being in the smaller computer periphery market with things like mice, keyboards and webcams; and of course the gaming market with the Xbox. For anything else it has always concentrated on the software solutions to run on other peoples hardware products. This is especially true when it comes to the cell phone market where Windows Mobile is used on about 18 million devices currently.

Like winds of war though the wind can shift direction bringing with it many different types of opportunities and the current economic downturn could be bringing one such opportunity Microsoft’s way. According to a post over at electronista they are quoting Canaccord Adams financial expert Peter Misek as suggesting that Microsoft could have a standing offer to buy Research In Motion; makers of the Blackberry, if their stocks fall below the $50 range. Now given the sliding stock market it is very conceivable that RIM’s current stock price of $60 could slide but it would have to slide all the way down to $40 in order for Microsoft’s bid to be considered as a premium offer.

As pointed out in

Is Moving to Canada That Bad?Yesterday

USB SyncerYesterday

USB Syncer is a small synchronization software program for Windows 2000 and Windows XP that can synchronize the contents of a folder on the hard drive with a folder on a removable drive. The synchronization is a one-way synchronization meaning that the contents of the hard drive’s folder will be copied to the removable device but not the other way round. All changes that might have been made to the USB drive will be ignored by the software program.

The interface of USB Syncer requires minimal user input. The user needs to choose the source folder on the hard drive and the destination folder on the USB device. The contents of the source folder will be copied to the USB device whenever the USB device is connected to the computer. Contents that are stored in the folder on the USB device will be deleted before the transfer starts.

The software program comes in an early beta version that has some limitations that are explained during installation and in the readme file. The application might not work properly if more than one removable device is connected to the computer during synchronization.

The software will ask the user if he wants to perform a synchronization if the user selects the

Walmart Decides To Keep DRM ServersYesterday

Who would have projected this? Walmart decided to keep the DRM servers running for now after announcing that they would be shutting down the DRM servers of their mp3 online store which would essentially mean that customers would not be able to transfer the music to another computer or device anymore.

It was actually very easy to predict. One simply had to look at all the other companies who decided to turn off their DRM servers leaving their customers standing in the rain. All of them caved in after announcing that they would turn off their DRM servers.

Why don’t the decision makers look around first to get a feeling for what will happen if they announce the shutdown of DRM servers? It happened numerous times already in the last years and it always went off the same way. Company A announces the shutdown of their DRM servers. They usually do that by mailing their customers or posting an announcement in the online store.

The online community notices what company A is trying to do and is writing about it in protest. No one likes the decision of company A at that time. Bad press and customer complaints result in company A changing their mind and either providing their customers with a better deal or canceling the decision to turn off the servers.

Why can’t there be an instructions manual for overpaid managers who think that laying all the burden of turning off a service on the customer is a good idea that would save the company mon

Windows 2003 SoftwareYesterday

Windows 2003, also known as Windows Server 2003, is the successor of Windows 2000 server. It has been Microsoft’s flagship product in the last years and got recently replaced by the newest Microsoft server product Windows Server 2008. One could say that Windows Server 2003 incorporated many features of Windows XP while Windows Server 2008 did the same with Windows Vista.

A total of 11 different Windows Server 2003 editions have been released by Microsoft from Windows Home Server over Windows Small Business Server to Windows Server 2003 Enterprise or Windows Storage Server 2003.

Microsoft released many Windows 2003 software additions including multiple feature packs, service packs and tools many of which are recommended to install to increase system stability, performance, security and functionality.

Two Windows Server 2003 Service Packs have been released, one Windows Rights Management Services Service Pack and one Windows SharePoint Services Service Pack. All of those Windows 2003 downloads are available from the Microsoft website.

In addition to Service Pack downloads for the Windows 2003 software a total of 16 feature packs have been released throughout the years including important additions such as the Group Policy Management Console, Windows Services For UNIX or Identity Integration Fea