Phone cost

What phone do you think I'm talking about?

I got the dollar figure from the press release. Is that not trustworthy?

Desktop vs Workstation

Vendors have different lines, but that's not my guideline about the differences between the two. for his post, I define workstation as an enhanced system versus generic desktop.

It could be one difference that you need. If you do audio work, replacing a motherboard-based sound chip with an optional sound processor card with the type of inputs you need. Similar upgrades to the video processing for video production would include an optional video card and probably plenty of extra memory.

Don't buy a generic, off-the-shelf desktop; buy a laptop instead. If you get a seriously upgraded desktop, call it a workstation.

Shooting response

I hoped to make it clear some of the problems can be blamed on HP. But for most small business users, it's hard to tell whether the hardware or software vendor is to blame.

Read the summary and see if you still believe I'm unfair to Vista.

James

I'm always real

But this post wasn't an ad for RingCentral except as a representative of the hosted VoIP industry. That technology has a strong argument today. If you have pricing comparison information between different vendors, I'd love to see it.

James

Right wing mailings

I was talking about presidential elections, not general media outreach. Did Bush or McCain utilize the Web as extensively as Obama? Has McCain pledged his mailing list as collateral for a loan?

I'm biased? How many times

I'm biased? How many times has Microsoft released a new Windows version that shipped on time? How mane times has the new OS had the same minimum requirements as the previous OS? How many new OS versions shipped on the date Microsoft promised in their early PR floods?

If Microsoft ships Windows 7 by 2009 that runs on the same minimum platform as Vista, I'll put that story in ALL CAPS. Until then, I stand by the idea that the best way to predict the future is to look at the past (thanks, Mollie Ivins, RIP).

James

I've heard about Microsoft's

I've heard about Microsoft's Excel sharing tools, but haven't tested them. Have you? How much more infrastructure and setup is required to share Excel spreadsheets?

James

Looking forward to hearing

Looking forward to hearing what you have to say, and getting a look at the latest SMB product from Novell.

James

You call me a "Microsoft

You call me a "Microsoft stooge?" You certainly haven't read anything I've written in the last 10 years, have you?

Bash Novell? True, so maybe you have read some of my work.

My goal is to protect the small business technology buyer and user from bad products, unhealthy vendor relationships, and marketing hype hiding technical weaknesses. Microsoft and Novell both get targeted by me regularly, but for different reasons.

James

I have seen Nitix and others

I have seen Nitix and others but they have no real reseller channel and a tiny market penetration. But IBM just bought one of those companies - was it Nitix or another?

James