Depending on your perspective you may be chagrined to learn that the latest version of Apple iTunes 7.02 does not function with Microsoft’s new Vista OS.  Apple is recommending that iTune users should not upgrade to Vista yet.

The first question is just who is incompatible with whom?

Is the new iTunes incompatible with Vista?

or

Is the new Vista incompatible with iTunes?

The answer to that question probably depends on your perspective and priorities in life.  If iTunes is more important then the second and if not then the first.

The second question though could be more interesting.  Is this some type of anti-trust move by Microsoft to block out iTunes from its market dominating Operating System base.  This would then allow Vista to potentially make way for more Microsoft OS users and fewer Mac users, while simultaneously opening the door a crack for Zune?

or

Is this some type of anti-trust move by Apple to block out Vista from its market dominating iPod user base?  Could they be opening the door to convert more people away from Microsoft’s Operating system and over to Apple’s OS and machines.  Will Apple make iTunes compatible with Vista prior to the release of Apple’s new Operating System expected this summer?

Prediction

Both companies are playing a game of chess against each other and the answers to all of the questions above would be the same, Yes!

Technorati tags: Microsoft v Apple, Microsoft, Apple, iTunes, Vista, Zune, Antitrust

Page Popularity for Site: 24% [?]

Bryan Lee, the soon to be former Vice President of Microsoft entertainment will leave the big Butterfly in the next few weeks.  Lee was the leader in charge of the Zune device release last November.

While the device did make it to market, it was not a blockbuster by any stretch of the imagination.  Better WiFi media players were on the market 2 years ago.  However, Microsoft did try and it was Lee’s experience coming out of Sony that the Butterfly counted on to come up with a way to sell Zune’s.

iTunes sales do not make Apple much money, but the availability of the music inspires people in part to buy their MP3 players and deal with the ludicrous exclusivity of file formats that only work on iPods.  So Microsoft should have had a leg up on Apple with a device that would not provide such a closed system, until they closed the wireless system.

The device could not download songs intuitively from the internet and songs that were shared from one device to the next could only be listened to 3 times, so you better hope that you stopped that Zune and didn’t mute it or you might miss your buddies favorite song recommendation all together!

Lee seems to be receiving much of the criticism on his way out as Microsoft’s golden child J Allard (right) will assume full responsibility for the device.  Allard headed up the Xbox device launch and was infamous for saying he would rather buy an Apple than use the Microsoft OS on the drawing boards, which was later scrapped as Microsoft restarted the project and ultimately came up with Vista.

So why didn’t Allard step in this time and say he would rather buy an iPod and set this device on the right track? 

Well for one thing, they didn’t have a working Apple model to benchmark.  Unfortunately, they missed the working benchmark that was on the market a year ago from Sonicast and Tao.  It worked just fine and could have shown the Zune a thing or two about ease of use.  Microsoft should have just bought the rights or bought the entire company rather than waste all that time on R&D and benchmarking.

Open note to Mr. Allard, drop me an email and I’ll put you in touch with the right people.  Then you can prove yourself the hero and start ordering office furniture for the COO office in Butterfly headquarters.

Page Popularity for Site: 22% [?]

You can’t see it yet, but Vista will be before us very soon.  Microsoft starts their long anticipated release in three days.  It is likely to become a dominant operating system all around the world, but Microsoft does appear to be loosing some ground.

Plus, there are new claims from Microsoft competitors claiming that Vista breaks Anti Trust laws in Europe.  So it is likely that we can expect another long decade of Anti-Trust fights against Microsoft.  At the end of the day, Vista may be a bit of a knock off of Apple’s OS X, and Apple has Leopard launching this spring and summer.  However, there is one thing that Microsoft does very well.

They can get the rest of the world to upgrade and move forward.  It may not be the best or safest or many other things, but people do pick it up move forward with the herd and the herd improves.  Maybe more slowly than those cool Mac kids, but it is an improvement.

Technorati tags: Microsoft Vista, Vista Antitrust claims, three days till vista

Page Popularity for Site: 15% [?]

No one likes their conversation taken out of context especially in court, so it has to be a little embarrassing for Windows Development Chief James Allchin to have been quoted from his email to Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer as saying that he’d rather buy an Apple Mac if he didn’t work for Microsoft.

He states today that he sent the email in 2003 to make a point and push Microsoft to make dramatic changes in their development of their operating system that today is known as Vista.  He also says that those changes were made and the OS is better than it would have been.  His comments and others stating that Microsoft had “lost sight” of customers needs were revealed in some of the remaining anti-trust cases looming in state courts against Microsoft.  These statements may have been dramatic at the time and are probably no less dramatic now.

Page Popularity for Site: 13% [?]

Microsoft has identified the minimum operating requirements for PC’s that might run Microsoft’s future Operating system ‘Windows Vista’ due out next January (2007).

“A ‘Vista Capable’ PC will require at least an 800MHz processor, 512MB of system memory, a DirectX 9 capable graphics card, a 40GB hard drive with at least 15GB of free space, a DVD drive, and audio and internet capabilities.
The only extra requirements for a ‘Vista Premium Ready’ PC are a 1GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor, 1GB of Ram and a graphics card with 128MB of onboard memory capable of supporting Windows Aero2.”
Several beta testers have indicated that these requirements for even the Premium Ready levels are currently not enough to prevent the OS from operating ’sluggishly’.

If history is a lesson, it will probably be necessary to read between the lines of these guidelines. Typically the minimum levels Microsoft has recommended in the past, would work with a stripped down machine and system, and were more useful for technology enthusiasts that were interested in trying it as an experiment, ‘just to see if it could be done.’ Therefore, these minimum recommendations will probably not be for everyone.
For the higher end recommendations, it has been typical for users to at least consider doubling up on memory and processor per the MS recommendations.
So if MS is recommending 512MB, users probably will need at least 1GB, If MS is recommending at least 1.32Ghz, then shoot for 2.6GHz. If the video card needs 128mb of on board memory, better bet that you’ll need and want 256 or better.

don’t get me wrong, people get lucky and sometimes can cram something into an old machine. I ran office 2000 on a 6 year old laptop with 16mb of ram, running a 1994 version of Windows. Strange things can be done, but don’t bet your job, business, education or career on it. Better safe than sorry, and from what I’ve seen of the new OS, you’ll probably be much happier if you upgrade when the time comes.

Side Note. Vista is due out in January 2007. Preloaded machines from Xmas won’t have the new OS unless a MS Christmas miracle occurs. Therefore, many of the retailers are probably going to go thin on PC/laptop inventory through Christmas expecting a big reset in the spring of 2007. I wouldn’t expect to many bundling options in January or February that make good bargains. However, once all those unsold and returned machines from Christmas get refurbed and put back on the market in February and March of 2007, there could be some interesting hard ware options that will show up.

Microsoft surprises with Vista hardware specs - vnunet.com

Page Popularity for Site: 12% [?]