So this evening marked a huge shift in the way what the iPhone works. Apple announced the new features that would be available in version 3.0 of it’s iPhone operating system, and, well, there are far too many to list. What is clear is Apple’s message that the iPhone can be a serious enterprise tool - something they started when they added support for Microsoft Exchange back in the 2.0 release of the OS. With all the new functionality, one question strikes clear in my head:

Can you turn an entertainment device into a reliable business device?

Well, let’s take a look at what the new OS will have to offer….

Productivity Features

Finally, we get cut, copy and paste functionality across all of the Apple apps (Mail, Notes, Messages etc). It’s a long overdue feature, but the technicalities of making it work seem to be responsible for the delay. Scott Forstal of Apple said “the user interface took some time, and we had to develop a pasteboard server that runs under all apps, then you have to protect from malicious code…”

We also get an Outlook style search as an ‘additional’ home screen. The new ‘Spotlight Search’ screen allows you to search across the phone - be it contacts, calendars, email, SMS or Apps - and delivers your results right there. It also searches IMAP servers you have configured on the phone. You can also load an app this way by just typing in the name of it - just like you can in the Windows Vista start menu.

Open Formats

There’s also now support for many more calendar formats, allowing you more flexibility with subscribed calendars, and a whole range of new APIs that will allow apps to evolve even further. Indeed Oracle have already announced new apps coming with the new OS. Apple are also allowing application developers to communicate with the native hardware and functionality - which means we’ll see far more applications that can target specific purposes.

So what does this mean?

Well, it means that the iPhone is becoming more of a serious contender to Windows Mobile and PalmOS based phones that always had the edge when it came to productivity. But what else? If you look carefully at the announcement, Apple are being woolly where it counts - dependable and reliable service. There were no announcements about battery life, which is one of the biggest iPhone grypes. There were also no promises of reliability, with Scott Forstal being quoted as saying “We want to ensure the highest reliability and uptime for our services, but we can make no guarantees”.

And it comes down to that one question: Can you turn an entertainment device into a reliable business device?

Well, Apple are trying - and on the face of things, it’s looking good. I think, however, that it’ll be some time before I entrust all of my business logic to a device initially designed for a posing teenager.

Imagine being the youngest in a family of 6. You’re young and you’re good looking – and all you really want to do is make things better, more fun, and get people communicating. You have a lot to live up to though, especially as you’ve had a few issues. Everyone is constantly comparing you to your older brothers, saying how they wished you were as reliable and as friendly as them – even your least successful brother, two generations older, who would frequently be found hanging.

Sounds familiar, right? There’s not a media outlet on the planet that hasn’t had a dig at Windows Vista since it’s release in January 2007. Even in the lead up to it’s release, under it’s then code-name ‘Longhorn’, press coverage became less and less favorable for Microsoft’s flagship operating system. But what drove the world to care so much about an operating system – and why did the media take an interest in something that, traditionally, was left up to the so-called geek press?

‘It just works…’

I don’t need to point out all of the ways that technology has revolutionized the world over the last 15 years. My first computer, the Amstrad 1512 (left), was more of a quirky thing to have in the corner of the living room than something that actually integrated with my life in any way. So, has the uptake of computers into the mainstream been as a result of them getting easier to use?

Opinion differs, but I tend to disagree. With all of the added functionality that all computers of the 21st century have, they have an added level of complexity to match. We are forced to learn new acronyms and phrases in order to perform the simplest tasks, compelled to know the difference between an airport and an AirPort (and how extreme it is), and offered help in writing letters by talking paperclips.

Matter of image

I was recently chatting to my brother about the differences between Apple and Microsoft. “I think apple is conceived as cooler”, he told me. “Bill Gates is a stereotypical ‘geek’ isn’t he – maybe people associate that image with Microsoft. I think people generally think Microsoft is better, but Apple is cooler.” So does that mean that the whole issue is still ruled by the image of the geeks vs. the popular crowd?

Stephen Fry, a popular public figure both in the UK and the world over, recently went on a rant about Windows Vista. He’s reviewing technology for The Guardian newspaper, but also has a twitter account. Using his massive following in social networking as a sounding board, he posted some really quite abrasive comments about his new Vista laptop. The result? Within around three hours, there were a plethora of articles about the incident. The BBC had even reported on the power of his words with their article ‘Can Stephen Fry Kill a Gadget?’ earlier that week.

And yet, when I ask people in the industry, they don’t seem to see the power of the media. Kris Athi, a software developer, said “I think public demand has switched the media over more… I think the pubic create the trends,and then the media play on it” – and this seems ubiquitous. Another technology enthusiast said “With companies the size of Apple, Microsoft and Google, I think the shareholders shape the tech market not the media. The market drives forward the media in terms of what they expect to see now and in the future.”

‘Every dog has it’s day…’

In my mind, technology’s greater stance in the media has been reciprocal. The internet – possibly the best (and arguably the worst) invention in the last 50 years – has expedited this greatly. Social media such as Facebook and Twitter, alongside online news, review websites and quirky little stunts that the internet makes possible have really helped technology to penetrate every aspect of our lives. More than that though – it’s helped media to evolve, and as it’s done so, has allowed media to shape it in turn.

The power of the media has destroyed the image of what is essentially a stable and usable operating system. Vista will, in my opinion at least, never be widely accepted or trusted. It’s certainly done the Windows brand a lot of damage from both a consumer and business perspective, and I’m looking forward to seeing how the company tackles the issue with the forthcoming release of Windows 7.

That does leave one final burning question… did Vista really deserve the kicking it got?

Answers on a postcard…

So a while ago I made a few posts about some of the beta software involved in Windows Live Wave 3. Well as of today, some of the new online features of Windows Live have gone… well… live.

One of the most notable features is the new Windows Live Home - a place where you can aggragate many things such as Flickr, Twitter, RSS feeds and all of your Messenger status updates, as well as posts from people’s spaces, photos etc. This ties in well with the new profile that allows you to add friends across networks like Facebook and LinkedIn.

This ties in well with the whole new way that Windows Live does photos, videos, storage and more. I was never a huge user of the social networking elements of Windows Live, but so far I’m incredibly impressed by the way this can bring everything together!

Check out this blog post from the Windows Live Team that details more of the changes that have been made, and go to my new Windows Live profile and add me to your network! Don’t forget that if you have messenger, or any of the other Windows Live services (including a Hotmail account) then you’ve already got all of the new Windows Live features!

Stay tuned for the new releases on the software side of Windows Live!

After reading on Eileen Brown’s blog about The Simpsons’ recent take on Apple, I couldn’t not share. While I’ve nothing against those who like Apple’s products (everyone has the right to choose, and until recently I was a proud MacBook owner… even if I did run Vista),  I think that this highlights, in true Simpsons form, what lots of people think.

Too good not to share!

So having missed last week’s TechNet After Hours event in London (run by Alex Ball and her team) through food poisoning, I was really keen to get out to a tech event to let my inner geek stretch it’s legs. That’s why I’m here at work (well, in the same campus) on a Saturday with the likes of Dominic Green and a huge crowd of developers and IT pros from all over the UK at the seventh DeveloperDeveloperDeveloper Day.

While the event is held (and sponsored) by the company owned by it’s namesake, it’s not a Microsoft event and the speakers come from a huge range of different areas within the IT community. If the thought of knocking minds with some of the best and brightest developers and technologists in the industry doesn’t take your fancy, there’s always the free lunch and breakfast rolls, and more pairs of DDD socks than you could wear in a month.

There’s been a  huge array of sessions here do far today, from deep dives into WCF web services to much broader overviews of how to listen to a user’s requirements (which involved us all being asked to describe our underpants…), there’s been something for everyone.

Even further proving that geeks have a social life, the event comes complete with it’s own ‘geek dinner’ this evening – a great chance to network and let your hair down with other techies. So, reviews of specific sessions to follow -  but in the mean time, if you’re at all into technology, I strongly suggest you check out some of the community links below.

I’ve been hearing the same comment from almost everyone I know who uses IE8 beta 2.

Every time I hear it I sigh, and give the same answer. It’s a tiny, tiny issue… but people cite it as the reason they aren’t giving IE8 beta 2 a try, and that makes me sad.

So, one of the brilliant features of IE8 beta 2 is the fact that you can emulate IE7 if and when you need to. In beta 1 there was a big ol’ button that said “Emulate IE7” and it did exactly what it said on the tin, for every website you visited until you turned the feature off.

Beta 2 honed that concept into quite a sleek feature, and gave it a new home within the Tools menu. The result? Nobody could find it so well, and on some websites, where the “Run in compatibility mode…” button was grayed out, people assumed it wasn’t available.

The biggest example I get is of NatWest Online Banking. For security reasons, it doesn’t let you use the service unless you are using a ‘trusted’ browser, and with IE8 being in beta, it’s not yet been bestowed that honor.

“Well no matter… IE8 has a compatibility view right? I can just run it as if I was using IE7! So I go tools… compati… wait..”

Yup… it’s grayed out. This is generally the point that my friends call me and trash talk the beta software that I had persuaded them to download and install. Well – have patience. There’s a really easy way to get around this and emulate IE7 see the option there below the grayed out menace? Compatibility View Settings? Go ahead and click that.

At this stage, you can happily ignore almost everything on this page, and just hit the ‘Add’ button. As long as you were on the login page for online banking, you’ll now see ‘nwolb.com’ (for this NatWest example anyway) added to the list of websites there (mine contains dell.com).

All this does is tell IE8 to load ANY page views of that domain (nwolb.com) in IE7 mode. Simple. Effective?

Voila.

NatWest are pretty wise to want to fully test the security of a browser before they allow it free access to their online banking systems, but we also need to be able to use our online banking. Compatibility mode literally emulates IE7 within IE8 – so it’s just as secure, and an identical experience to what you’re used to.

So, the time has come to make it official. As of last week I left my job as a secondary school teacher to join Microsoft as the first Deployment Specialist for their Live@Edu platform.

Why? What? Who? Where?

Well, I can’t say I didn’t enjoy teaching. I loved it, and I was at a fantastic school that I will remember fondly. One of the unfortunate things about teaching ICT at secondary school level was that my own knowledge was getting stagnated and out of date. I also felt that at this stage of my life, I wanted a different environment and a fresh set of challenges in my work life.

I still have a huge amount of passion for technology – and this is why the role I’m now in at Microsoft was the right choice for me. I’m working on post-sales, support and scalability for Live@Edu – a product that really makes use of some of the most cutting edge technology to help students work better and learn smarter.

I’m part of a fantastic team trying to help Universities and Colleges (and Schools in smaller numbers) make use of this free product as a solution to whole-campus messaging and collaboration. Imagine having access to Outlook in your browser, having your lectures in a calendar that synced up to your mobile and your PC seamlessly. Throw in file sharing, online storage space and messaging and you’re still only a tenth of the way into the potential that Live@Edu holds.

The Open Bracket will still be a source of general tech ramblings – and I fully intend to review non-MS products as well as some of the great technology that my new employers make.

Wish me luck!

So a short time ago I wrote a blog post about Huddle, the online workspace & collaboration people, and their new desktop application. Since then, the small-yet-sturdy start-up have been cooking up some more delights together with the people over at LinkedIn, the social network for ‘experienced professionals’.

For those of you with a LinkedIn profile (like myself), you can now add the Huddle Workspace ‘application’ to your profile. This offers you all of the great functionality that you get from Huddle – workspace management and collaboration, time management tools and the same great options for syncing between home/work/partners etc, but extends the support in to your LinkedIn social network.

So what’s this good for? Well, LinkedIn is a great social network for the workplace. I’ve seen myself shift greatly since getting a LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn has given me the chance to interact with colleagues and other professionals in a new way, without any of the ‘party attitude’ and potential time-wasting that I get from Facebook. Trust me, I could waste hours playing games of not-quite-scrabble.

The Huddle app for LinkedIn has given me the chance to really start sharing stuff with other professionals in my field – not just direct colleagues, but anyone and everyone who I come into contact with and want to share work and ideas with. I can take some work I’ve been doing on a project, and share it with both the technology experts and the management types all on the same workspace, all through LinkedIn.

Don’t take my word for it though – it’s free to get a LinkedIn profile, and it’s free to install the Huddle app (just click Applications in the menu on the left, and find Huddle Workspaces at the bottom of that page).

Once you’re there, why not look me up?

It’s true. I think all of us have thought at one point or another “man, I could really use some extra space”. This post is aimed at those of us who use PCs on a regular basis though, so if you were looking more for relationship advice, try here.

I recently saw a great post via Channel 9 about freeing up hard drive space in Windows Vista. Scott Hanselman, who is a principal programme manager at Microsoft, wrote a blog post going through several (very) quick and easy steps to free up hard disk space, and after spending around 5 minutes before my shower this morning doing them I’m about 20GB richer.

Here are the top two tips that worked for me, but do go and check out the post on his blog, ComputerZen, to see all of his space-saving tips!

Once again, click here to see Scott’s full blog post.

The ‘computer’ industry has always been full of codenames, going right back to the heady days of the late 1980s where Janus and Sparta would become Windows 3.11, and codename ‘Cairo’ created a buzz at PDC back in 1991.

It’s with the internet that codenames have really become more public, with Longhorn sites giving us news on what would become Windows Vista earlier than we ever had it before. So, what of the future? We’ve had cool sounding codenames like Longhorn and Whistler which have subsequently RTM’d with the more ‘aspirational’ product names of Vista and XP - so what’s next?

We don’t have to wait long to know. This week (and earlier than ever), Microsoft have released a final, concrete name for the next version of Windows. It’s already had several codenames including Blackcomb and Vienna, but the name settled on for the next release of Microsoft Windows is…

 
Windows 7.

 
No, I’m not kidding around. Mike Nash announced on the Windows Vista Team Blog on Monday that for the first time, a Windows release is inheriting one of it’s codenames as it’s final name.

“The decision to use the name Windows 7“, writes Nash, “is about simplicity. Likewise, coming up with an all-new ‘aspirational’ name does not do justice to what we are trying to achieve, which is to stay firmly rooted in our aspirations for Windows Vista, while evolving and refining the substantial investments in platform technology in Windows Vista into the next generation of Windows.

Simply put, this is the seventh release of Windows, so therefore “Windows 7″ just makes sense.”

So there you have it. Ladies and gentlemen, Windows 7. Keep an eye on the Vista Team Blog, and on the Engineering Windows 7 blog for some great, official, up-to-the-minute info on how this new version of Windows is coming on.