Microsoft's Office 365 launch puts Google on defensive

"Apps isn't for everyone," Sinha writes. "But in the last week alone 38,000 businesses decided to give it a try. Maybe you should too."

Google claims more than 3 million businesses use Google Apps, and the company just launched a line of Chromebooks, Web-only laptops that don't require Google Apps but may be effective for Google Apps customers.

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Microsoft's publicly stated numbers are a bit higher: 750 million active users of Office, and installations on 1 billion PCs, although Microsoft doesn't detail how it arrived at those calculations.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is scheduled to talk to press in New York City Tuesday to announce the launch of Office 365. Microsoft is likely to argue that it's better suited than Google to providing a full-featured and secure office experience, whether in a customer's data center or in the cloud.

But there's room in the market for both, and Google has won some converts. Sinha hopes Google's cross-platform capabilities will win some more.

"Office 365 is optimized for Windows-based PCs and devices, which reduces your flexibility," Sinha argues. "Our applications are designed to work well on any device, on any operating system. Desktop, laptop, Chromebook, tablet, smartphone. Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, Blackberry, iOS, Windows Mobile."

Offshore ASP.NET Developer

If you deal in building web pages then you definitely have to go for the new or we can say the next generation server side scripting that is ASP.NET. What makes it unique is it takes an object-oriented programming approach to web page execution. An ASP.NET page gets compiled into an intermediate language by .NET common language runtime-compliant compiler. With so many features comes number of questions like when to need a server and what are the alternate which we can use and what other technique we can implemented to get the better result. Offshore Asp .net developer takes care of all these aspects of development.

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The salient features which keep it ahead of others is that ASP.NET have easier and quicker programming which in turn results in reduced amount of code as a result of which more than 30% of the time is being saved in any project development which can be utilized in developing something new. Declarative programming model, richer server control hierarchy with events, larger class library, better support for development tools- to utilize all these one need a skilled asp net programmer.

With the increasing amount of web pages on internet it became very important for any one to have a skilled hand so that proper connectivity and long term results can be achieved. Keep updated with latest changes is must and going for offshore asp.net developer is the most intelligent choice for any one. As per the requirement one can hire offshore asp.net developer on full time, part time or hourly basis or can even go for a team of offshore asp.net developer, junior or senior asp.net developer as per the web software development needs.

The asp net programmer should not only be knowledgeable in dotnet programming but also in custom software development, asp.net ecommerce development, vibrant website development, database management and net web design . Experience is what matters a lot in web development. If you are going for offshore asp.net developer go for someone with enough experience as well is highly qualified and should have web development capabilities in ASP.NET Jquery, AJAX, XML, HTML, XHTML, CSS and Java script along with the database capabilities in MS SQL server and Mysql. And to cover all the dimensions the process and system should include web development, ecommerce , content management, and OOPS as the whole .net framework revolve around them.

If you can get all the above mentioned skills in a asp net programmer than you are atleast assured to develop what you are planning for and can discuss the changes and various strategies so as to improve the quality of web page. Ask for technical development, further improvement, exploring new features of asp.net having an asp net programmer at your end is always a plus point. The thing with which asp.net can be embedded opens a wide area of possibilities and with the rapid growth in internet the asp net programmer will continue to dominate over others as it covers all the important technology from going online to the conceptual level highly successful real world depicting OOPS. Looking at the present scenario the best of asp.net is yet to come.

Mozilla's Right: Bring on the Browser Updates

Firefox 5 is now the poster boy for all that's wrong with slip-stream, blink and you missed it, auto-updating software. I just don't get it; this hands-free approach has been, in other instances, a real boon for me.

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My Apple iPad is full of software that regularly gets significant updates. They do not happen automatically, but they do wipe out previous versions with no fuss or muss. Online, I love that Google's Chrome web browser auto-updates. On any given day, I can be pleasantly surprised with a new version and new Chrome features and functionality. Sometimes the changes are super-subtle and address things like speed and stability. Other times, the logo has changed and I notice odd new buttons. None of this bothers me or slows me down. Sometimes I benefit greatly from the changes, other times, I scarcely notice them until someone mentions their existence.

Firefox, a Web browser I long-since stopped using, now follows the Google Chrome model, with auto-updates and, scandalously, no support for previous versions. Yes, I've heard the controversy. Businesses, in particular, are up in arms because Firefox 4 has been cast aside in favor of the shiny, new Firefox 5.

Out of curiosity, I downloaded Firefox 5 and was stunned by how much it had changed since my last update (somewhere around version 3.5). Firefox 5 is leaner and faster than any Firefox I've used before. Its interface actually reminds me, just a bit and not in a bad way, of Ubuntu, a Linux distro. In this version, it has managed to carve out a look somewhat distinct from the increasingly indistinguishable browser competitors. Overall, I'm happy with the Firefox 5 update, but there are many who are not.

Companies and their IT managers are not happy about what Firefox's parent, Mozilla, just did. Slipstream updates and lack of support for legacy products is a big no-no in the IT world. Businesses move to new technology at a glacial pace. This is to protect their bottom line. New hardware and software that doesn't work with other mission-critical products could mean lost work, lost time and a whole bunch of confused employees.

This is as it has always been. It is why Windows 3.1, Windows 95 and Windows XP survived for so long in the business world. To this day, I can walk into local businesses and find them running custom or industry-specific applications on Windows 95. Doing so also saves businesses a lot of money. That copy of Windows 95 is likely running on a 10-plus-year-old PC.

I would argue, of course, that companies stuck in the last century will likely get last-century business results while their newer competitors upgrade and race ahead at 2011 speed.

Web browsers are an interesting case. IT admins clearly see Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, and Firefox as just another piece of software—one they have to manage and ensure the entire company is standardized on. This seems like madness to me. A Web browser is little more than a container for everything you'll do on the Web. Web sites and Web services are built with some legacy browser compatibility, but they're also being built using new tools and with the latest browser features and functionality in mind. Internet Explorer 6.0 won't do as well as IE 7, 8, and 9 with some of the newer Web services.

When Google started doing auto-updates, no one complained. I'm guessing that this is because Google is making the biggest inroads in the consumer space. Internet Explorer gets weekly security updates, but as a business veteran, Microsoft would never dream of silently upgrading customers from Internet Explorer 7 or 8 to IE9.

Firefox became the darling of business and, especially, Web developers, in the mid Oughts (2000-to-2010). In my own company, our developers started using Firefox almost exclusively, with the result that sometimes my own Web sites weren't entirely Internet Explorer-compatible. For a time, I used Firefox. Eventually, I grew tired of its buginess and propensity for resource hogging and turned to Chrome and then back to IE9.

I think the size and intensity of this Firefox upgrade and support dustup is also a result of many businesses adopting Firefox over the last decade. Perhaps they fell in love with the vast array of extensions, some of which were probably designed for their industries. Now, however, these same IT admins feel betrayed. If Firefox 5 does not work with some mission-critical business app, they'll be blamed. On the other hand, I wonder if those same IT guys are simply upset that a little bit of control has been wrested from their hands. I suspect that Firefox 5 will work quite well in the majority of businesses and that companies simply don't want software and system update controls to migrate from IT to the end user. Unfortunately for them, I don't see anything stopping this trend.

Insta-Poll: Tell us below whether or not you think Web browsers should auto-update.

The bug that made history!

Spotting bugs in software and debugging them are standard practices in software development these days. However, the terms ‘bug' and ‘debug' became popular only after an incident in 1947, even though the term ‘bug' had been used as far back as in the 1870s by none other than Thomas Alva Edison, and was used by engineers to describe problems that occurred in machines, and even computers.

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In August 1947, Grace Hopper of the US navy and some colleagues were working on the Mark II computer (considered by many to be the grand dad of modern computers) when they found that something was amiss with one of the circuits, causing the computer to malfunction.

They searched and searched and then found the problem - a two-inch moth that was stuck in the circuits. They removed the moth using tweezers, pasted it in their logbook and claimed that it was the first actual case of a bug being found in a computer. They also claimed that by removing it, they had successfully ‘debugged' the computer! The incident made the two terms famous. In case you are wondering what happened to the moth that was in the logbook, well, it can be seen in the National Museum of American History and can be viewed online at http://americanhistory.si.edu/dynamic/images/collections_xlarge/92-13135_428px.jpg (picture courtesy)

Report: Investors About to Close $2 Billion Deal to Buy GoDaddy

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that a group of investors is on the verge of a deal to buy GoDaddy Group Inc., the company best known for registering Internet domains as well as its sometimes-controversial Super Bowl commercials that often feature buxom women wearing little clothing. The deal is said to value the company at between $2 and $2.5 billion.

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The buyers are said to include private equity firm KKR & Co. and Silver Lake Partners, who most recently sold Skype to Microsoft in a deal worth $8.5 billion. Private equity and venture capital firm Technology Crossover Adventures is also reported as a minor investor.

An official announcement about the deal could come as early as next week. However, the Journal's sources said the talks have not been finalized, and the deal could collapse at any time. When contacted, GoDaddy told PCMag that it had no comment.

GoDaddy's CEO, Bob Parsons, recently made headlines after he killed an elephant during a recent trip to Africa. Some GoDaddy customers threatened to take their business elsewhere in the wake of the killing. Parsons defended his actions, saying elephant hunts are necessary to help feed local villagers and prevent the animals from destroying crops.

A key part of the deal is that Parsons will continue as CEO. Parsons founded the company in 1997 and is an outspoken leader of the company, producing regular videos for his vlog and tweeting often.

Back in September the Journal reported that GoDaddy had hired the services of investment bank Qatalyst Partners to shop the company around to potential buyers. Besides Internet domain registration, GoDaddy also offers Web hosting, email, security, Web design, search, and other business services.

Mozilla mulls Firefox 3.6 retirement, too

Will deliver at least one more security update, set for mid-August

Mozilla is planning to retire Firefox 3.6 from support, but won't put the 18-month-old browser out to pasture until August at the earliest.

The retirement of Firefox 3.6 would follow that of Firefox 4 and Firefox 3.5 earlier this year.

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Firefox 3.5, which Mozilla launched in mid-2009, received its last security update in April. Since then, users have been encouraged to upgrade to either Firefox 3.6 or 4. Going forward, the estimated 12 million users of Firefox 3.5 will see their browser automatically updated to Firefox 3.6 , a move the company discussed last month.

This week, Mozilla retired Firefox 4 , which debuted three just months ago, as it rolled out Firefox 5 .
That move has been criticized by some enterprise IT managers . They've argued that the quick retirement combined with Mozilla's rapid-release scheme -- which delivers a new edition every six weeks -- puts them in an impossible position: By the time they test one version, another will already be out.

Next on the drop list: Firefox 3.6.

Mozilla has decided to issue at least one more security update for that edition, which shipped in January 2010. The update, to be pegged 3.6.19, will be released alongside Firefox 6 when the latter ships on Aug. 16.

The company has not disclosed other parts of its plan to declare Firefox 3.6 at "end of life," or EOL. Although Mozilla held a meeting Tuesday in its Mountain View, Calif. office to discuss Firefox 3.6's retirement, unlike its usual practice the company did not publish notes from that meeting.

The demise of Firefox 3.6 from support would put users who have stuck with the older version in a bind.

IBM, for example, selected Firefox 3.6 last summer as its default browser for employees.

John Walicki, the manager of workplace and mobility in the office of IBM's CIO, has complained about the retirement of Firefox 4, saying that it would force him to make a tough decision.

"I'm now in the terrible position of choosing to deploy a Firefox 4 release with potentially unpatched vulnerabilities, reset the test cycle for thousands of internal apps to validate Firefox 5 or stay on a patched Firefox 3.6.x," Walicki said in a comment appended to a blog post .

When Mozilla retires Firefox 3.6, that last option won't be available to Walicki and IBM.

Microsoft has exploited the Firefox retirement dustup to tout its support policies for Internet Explorer (IE).

Yesterday, Ari Bixhorn, director of IE, published an open letter to Walicki urging him to consider switching from Firefox to IE8 or IE9. "I think I speak for everyone on the IE team when I say we'd like the opportunity to win back your business," said Bixhorn.

The retirement of Firefox 3.5 will affect only a small fraction of Mozilla's active users. According to Web metrics company Net Applications, Firefox 3.5 accounted for just 6% of all copies of Mozilla's browser used in May.

It's unclear how many users would be impacted in mid-August by the retirement of Firefox 3.6: Although that edition accounted for 42% of all copies last month, the browser has been on a steady decline as people have upgraded to Firefox 4. If the trend of the last three months continues, Firefox 3.6 would near extinction by the end of August.

Microsoft readies record-breaking patch release

Microsoft will release 17 bulletins next week to fix 64 security vulnerabilities in Windows, Office, Internet Explorer, Visual Studio, and .NET Framework. Microsoft's massive "April Patch Tuesday," which includes patches to a "critical" bug in Windows XP, will tie the record for the most security bulletins released at one time, and break the record for number of vulnerabilities addressed with a total of 64.

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On April 12, Microsoft plans to release 17 security bulletins, including nine that are rated "Critical" and eight rated "Important." Fifteen of the bulletins address vulnerabilities that allow attackers to remotely execute code.

Microsoft's April Patch Tuesday is a dramatic contrast to last month's skimpy Patch Tuesday release, which only contained three security bulletins.Combined, the bulletins will address a stunning 64 vulnerabilities spanning Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, Visual Studio, .NET Framework, and the Graphics Device Interface (GDI+).

The last time Microsoft included this many bulletins in one update was in December, according to Jason Miller, a data team manager with Israel-based Shavlik Technologies. Microsoft will set another record with the number of vulnerabilities patched in one release. The previous Microsoft record was 49 vulnerabilities fixed for October's Patch Tuesday, according to Miller.

While the advance notification bulletin released April 7 did not include any specific details about the individual patches, Microsoft said some of the fixes will address the Windows MHTML vulnerability and the Server Message Block Browser bug in Windows XP.

First reported last January (Security Advisory 2501696), the MHTML flaw allows attackers to run scripts in the wrong security context on Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, and all supported Windows Server releases.

An attacker could exploit the MHTML vulnerability to inject a client-side script in a website the user is viewing in Internet Explorer. Once executed, the script could collect user information and spoof content. Attackers have exploited the vulnerability in "limited, targeted attacks" using the public proof-of-concept code, according to Microsoft.

The Server Message Block Browser bug in Windows XP, which could trigger a blue screen in kernel mode, was publicly disclosed on Feb. 15. French security firm Vupen rated the flaw as "Critical" and warned that the exploit could cause a denial-of-service attack or completely take over the compromised system.

"While RCE [remote code execution] is theoretically possible, we feel it is not likely in practice. DoS [denial of service] is much more likely," Microsoft Security Research Center Engineering's Mark Wodrich stated in a Feb. 17 post.

"This is a huge update and system administrators should plan for deployment," Wolfgang Kandek, CTO of Qualys, wrote on The Laws of Vulnerabilities blog.Affected operating systems include Windows XP, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition, Windows Vista (32-bit and 64-bit), Windows Server 2008, and Windows 7.

Updates are available for Internet Explorer 6 through 8. Despite Microsoft's attempts to sunset IE6, it appears IE6 bugs in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 have been addressed.

The patches cover commonly used Office applications, including Microsoft Excel 2002 through 2010, Microsoft PowerPoint 2002 through 2010, and Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac through 2011.Other included applications are Open XML File Format Converter, Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 Service Pack 1 through Visual Studio 2010, Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 through 2010, Microsoft Excel Viewer Service, Microsoft PowerPoint views 2007, Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack, and Microsoft PowerPoint Web App.