Scot Petersen

Well, 2005 is just about gone. It was only yesterday that many of us stopped writing “04” on our travel and expense forms. The year went by so fast that it almost had the feel of 1997, or even 1999. Tech exploded this year, especially in online search, mobile devices and wireless. At the same […]

Do you sometimes wonder if the world (at least the technology world) is passing us by? Asia is to the 21st century what the United States was to the 20th, but the speed at which China, for instance, is growing makes the late-90s boom seem relatively serene. BEA Systems CEO Alfred Chuang, who is Chinese, […]

Microsoft has gotten a lot of mileage from its “embrace and extend” software strategy over the years. Equally as vital is the companys relentless drive toward tighter integration among its products. Tighter not in the sense of squeezing one more person in the back seat but in making many products work together virtually as one. […]

I always wonder if computer security companies around this time of year take a moment to give thanks to all the malicious hackers and Internet crime syndicates, and to Windows or any other security-challenged piece of software, without which they would not have a reason to be in business. Of course, they also shouldnt forget […]

When he became CEO of Home Depot after being passed over to succeed Jack Welch at General Electric, Bob Nardelli brought a little GE with him, and not just light bulbs. Nardelli also brought in lessons on how to increase productivity and eliminate inefficiencies, strategies that GE has just about perfected. IT was to play […]

With more than 20 pages of this issue devoted to Windows 20th anniversary, there might not be much left to say, so I will try to explain how this issue was put together and what you can expect from it. We did not set out to use the occasion as an opportunity to sing hosannas […]

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and newly anointed Chief Technical Officer Ray Ozzie last week announced a software-as-a-service initiative, dubbed Live, which is the companys long-awaited answer to challenges from the heavyweights of the Internet world—you know who they are. Unfortunately, whats new at Microsoft isnt necessarily so for users of existing service models—Salesforce.com, for instance, […]

Attending the RSA security conference five years ago in San Jose, Calif., I sat in the audience while a member of the Microsoft “security” team made a presentation amid titters and shakes of the head. I almost felt sorry for him. Microsoft wasnt always known for its software security problems. Windows worked just fine—until you […]

It has been said that life is the sum of all our choices. In the IT world, that has meant Mac or PC, Linux or Windows, Intel or AMD, Oracle or DB2, and Microsoft Office or, um, wait a minute … oh, thats right, theres no choice there. Despite years of development and a small […]

The bad guys are still winning. thats not a surprise to anyone who has been hit by a worm, a virus or a phishing attack. What is surprising about the state of Internet security is how badly they (professional criminals) are winning. Its not like the good guys (security vendors, service providers, IT managers) arent […]

Scott McNealy does know how to pick his friends. It doesnt seem too long ago that the Sun CEO and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer agreed to bury the hatchet once and for all and start a new cooperative relationship. In an eerily similar scene last week, McNealy sat next to old Sun chum and current […]

Nothing says “mission critical” more than peoples money. The technology platforms that support retirement accounts, 401(k) plans, corporate pensions and insurance annuities must be reliable, secure and adaptable. Thats why mutual fund company Fidelity Investments is looking to increase its investment in open-source software. Its been a long time since open source became “ready for […]