Lots happening

Boy have I been a slacker!  I set a schedule for myself to blog at least twice a week, and I’ve completely blown it.  But since nobody’s reading this blog, maybe that’s OK.

Lots has been going on.

I’ve switched my world from Windows to Macs.  I last used a Mac in 1986, and they’ve changed a lot since then. 🙂 I migrated my home system from a Windows laptop to a 17″ MacBook Pro with the high-resolution panel, and at work I’m using a 15″ MacBook with an external 23″ Cinema Display.  Gorgeous!

Among the things I’ve had to adjust to is transitioning from Outlook 2003 to Entourage 2008.  Microsoft has thoughtfully made it hard to migrate from the former to the latter, by not providing task exporting, and only partial contact exporting, and making the entire export process as much fun as having a wart removed.

They’ve also deliberately positioned Entourage to be slightly less polished and functional than Outlook.  Entourage = .9(Outlook).

Deliberately limiting a product so it is “properly positioned” is something a marketing-driven firm like Microsoft does.  And this is one reason why I don’t trust Marketing judgments half of the time.  To not put code that implements better features into a product, when you unquestionably have that code because it’s been in another of your products for years, is being too clever by half.  Does anyone doubt there was a strategic decision to not provide too good an office productivity suite on the Mac, lest it cut into Windows sales?

Here’s a news flash: If you don’t cannibalize your other products, some other company will.  And while your HP business calculator may justify it, it’s no way to endear yourselves to your customers.  Last time I checked, customer loyalty was a good thing.  But then, this is Microsoft, one of the few companies whose name has negative brand value.

Because I didn’t have enough going on, I’m also upgrading our network storage from a 120GB Buffalo Linkstation to a 2TB dual-disk Buffalo Linkstation Pro Duo.

The new job’s going great.  I’m juggling three balls (one technology transition and two new technology evaluations), and I couldn’t be happier.  (Well, that’s a lie.  I would be happier if I won the lottery next week.)