Window XP Lives! (Again)

Microsoft has extended the cutoff date for PC makers to install XP on new systems yet again. The new date: May 30, 2009. Now, it may seem to you that this is hardly worth blogging about, especially since it's Jan. 9th, 2009 and the new cutoff date is little more than 4 months away. But, before you pass judgement on this particular post, consider this: THE ORIGINAL DATE FOR XP'S DEMISE WAS JANUARY 30TH......OF 2008! 

It seems that Vista has just not taken off like the marketing gurus in Redmond told us it would. The original date of Jan. 2008 was made to make way for Vista which was released to the masses in early 2007. The idea was, since the people aren't buying Vista, and the manufacturers aren't loading Vista on new systems, we'll just take XP off the market, and the mindless people will HAVE to buy Vista. 

Seems like that didn't work either. Now, here's the new dilemna: with Windows 7 scheduled for release this year, should users skip Vista all together, and just install Windows 7? Time will tell.

 For the record, I'm writing this blog on a laptop running Vista Professional. Vista has matured enough for most applications. It just can't seem to shake the early stigma of being buggy when it first came out. 

I wouldn't doubt that the XP expiration date gets pushed back some more. Far enough back that Windows 7 will be released to the masses, and users will be able to go directly to that OS from XP. 

 To Your Success, 

 Tim

Notebooks Sales Top Desktops For the First Time

According to Isuppli, world sales of notebooks surpassed those of desktops for the first time in history. In the 3rd quarter of 2008, 38.6 million notebooks were sold. During the same period, desktop sales declined to 386 million. That's an increase in notebook sales of over 40 percent for the same period last year. That's a lot of notebooks! 

This is a trend I think will continue in the business world. Users of notebooks no longer have to settle for second rate. Speeds, storage, and video sizes are now comparable to desktops at a fraction of the price they used to be. 

 To Your Success, 

 Tim

How To Get a Measly Hundred Bucks Out of NASA

Just in case you thought the government was taking care of your tax dollars in a fiscally responsible manner, along comes this story. 

If you happen to be in the ocean (for whatever reason) and run across a floating rubber ducky, NASA would like for you to call them. It seems NASA dumped 90 of the little yellow floaters in a hole in the ice in Greenland about 3 months ago. The idea was to determine how the polar ice cap is melting. To date, they haven't gotten a single one of them back. So, they put up a $100 reward for the first person to find one. 

I'm betting with the amount of tax dollars they spent on this project, they can afford to offer more than $100. Personally, I'm keeping my rubber ducky until they up the ante more! 

To Your Success, 

 Tim