The SmallBizWindows Product of the Year 2010: Microsoft Windows Phone 7

Windows Phone 7

This product truly surprised me.

Of all the things I expected Microsoft to do with the follow-on to Windows Mobile*, I never expected them to come to a total full stop, hit reset, and then completely re-engineer the new user interface and bring to market not just a new user experience, but also to bring to market a product the encompasses the ‘social’ and the ‘cloud’ seamlessly.

Well, from the new UI to the delectable new devices, Microsoft really nailed smartphones. Furthermore, with all the hardware OEMs and telco partners that are committed to Windows Phone 7, its survival is pretty much certain**.

Since Microsoft is committed to mobiles as part of its three-screen strategy, there is no doubt that this product will continue to be developed, and further improved.

• In January of 2009, at the incredible CntrStg, I had the misfortune to meet with some imbeciles who, surprisingly, were the marketing ‘brains’ behind Windows Mobile. These Microturds were arrogant, and tone deaf. The dropped the bombshell that the then-forthcoming next browser for Windows Mobile would not work on down-level devices, only new phones. At the howls of the audience at this revelation, these yum-yums said point blank that after all, end-users weren’t Microsoft’s customers; the mobile Telco's and handset OEMs were. They also threw around the fact that they were moving 20 million Windows Mobile licenses annually. I disliked those morons then and there, and let them have it in very directed questions. Well, my fears came true. At the time of its removal from the marketplace, Windows Mobile had dwindled to tens of hundreds of licenses sold annually, if even. Friggin’ arrogant bastards.
• Despite all the goodness of Windows Phone 7, why hasn’t it taken off? A subsequent post I am working on, will divulge my thinking. Hopefully, someone will let me know if I’m on point, or totally missing it.

The SmallBizWindows Innovation of the Year 2010: Kinect for Xbox 360

Kinect for Xbox 360

Kinect changed the game, again!

When Microsoft released Xbox 360, it changed the (console) game by bringing high-end graphics only seen in PC-based gaming rigs to consoles. However, that mantle was passed to the lesser-powered, but easier to use Nintendo Wii.

However, in November of 2010, Microsoft released Kinect for Xbox 360, an add-on hardware device that not only enhances the Xbox gaming experience, but introduces newcomers to console gaming.

Yes, Kinect changed the game. Again!

Since then, Microsoft has been on a tear, moving more than 8 million Kinect devices to customers in since the 4^th of November, 2010. Moreover, Kinect has had a very long tail, pulling Xbox consoles to their best ever.

In a testimony to the innovations in Kinect, there have been hacks and extensions to Kinect, with products scheduled form business to healthcare to entertainment, and to even more gaming. There have also been unintended and, for Microsoft, unwanted uses*

For all these, Kinect wins.

It is truly an innovative product.

* It looks like Kinect will be a hit with the adult entertainment industry too.

The SmallBizWindows Innovator of the Year 2010: Microsoft

Microsoft

Well, 2010 was a year in which Microsoft was unstoppable, at least on all cylinders but one*. Microsoft delivered on many expected and unexpected products, and finally, marketing at Microsoft seemed to awaken, Rip van Winkle-like, from their decades-long slumber.

From the client – Windows 7, to mobiles – Windows Phone 7, to the servers – Windows Server, and to the cloud – Windows Azure, with all the requisite tools and management, Microsoft had something for everyone.

In fact, even within innovative products, Microsoft has had several impressive components, such as, DirectAccess, BranchCache.

For an observer of Microsoft like myself, it has been quite a plateful:

• Microsoft Windows 7
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2
• Microsoft Windows Azure
• Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2
• Microsoft Office 2010
• Microsoft Office 2011 (for the Mac)
• Microsoft Windows Phone 7
• Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2010
• Microsoft System Center Essentials 2010
• Microsoft Expression Studio 4
• Microsoft Visual Studio 2010
• Microsoft Kinect for Xbox 360

Moreover, Microsoft started targeting the very small of small businesses with Microsoft Foundation Server, and small workgroups and education with Microsoft MultiPoint Server.

With all these innovations, selecting Microsoft as our Innovator of the Year 2010 was a no-brainer.

The SmallBizWindows OS of the Year 2010: Microsoft Windows 7

Microsoft Windows 7

Really, is there anyone else on Terra that doubts the fact the Windows 7 was the Operating System of 2010?

Several hundred million licenses sold, global satisfaction and applause. Instantly compatible with about 80% of all previous software, and for those stubborn legacy apps, XP Mode.

This was an easy choice to make.

The SmallBizWindows Server of the Year 2010: HP Proliant DL385 G7

HP Proliant DL385 G7

When we started looking at candidates for SOTY greatness, we quickly glommed onto blade servers. For the blade server category has received the most amount of engineering investment from all vendors, and an incredible amount of ink. Rack mount servers were a distant number two, and tower servers seemed like an afterthought.

After settling on blade servers, we then zeroed in on HP blades. However, we kept on coming back to the Proliant DL385 G7, which is actually a rack server. (It does have a blade cousin, the Proliant BL385, but that blade is limited to ‘just’ two hard drives.)

Little did we know that we would select an AMD Opteron-based server, the HP Proliant DL385 G7.

However, this is not just a simple CPU. It is a 12-core Opteron actually capable of trouncing comparable Intel Xeon processors in performance.

Just how cool is the DL385 G7?

“Twenty-four cores, 256 gigabytes, 16 drives…It’s the server the Old Spice Guy would use.” Daniel Bowers, HP.

Daniel Bowers is a Marketing manager at HP, and the guy responsible for sic'ing this beast upon the unsuspecting world. And the quote above says it all: you can equip a Proliant DL385 G7 with 16 hard drives, up to 256 GB of RAM, and in a typical dual-socket configuration, you have the use of 24 physical x86 cores.

In fact, Dan adds, “The Proliant DL385 G7 brings high memory capacity and bandwidth, plus the highest x86 core count for a 2-processor server.  It’s helping bring about a resurgence of Opteron in the data center.”

“The Proliant DL385 G7 brings high memory capacity and bandwidth, plus the highest x86 core count for a 2-processor server.  It’s helping bring about a resurgence of Opteron in the data center.” Daniel Bowers, HP.

How then, is performance.

A look at the video below shows the performance of this monster, where it beats the Intel Xeon-based Proliant DL380 on a memory test.

With chops like this, is there any doubt why we chose it as our Server of The Year 2010?

An ideal review configuration is below:

• • Two 12-core AMD Opteron 6172 (2.1GHz) Processors
  • 32GB of PC3-10600R Memory (8 x 4GB)
  • HP SmartArray P410i RAID Controller with 512MB Flash-Backed Write Cache (FBWC)
  • Three (3) 146GB SAS hard drives (6Gb/s, 10k rpm) in a RAID5 configuration
  • Four 1Gb NIC ports (Two dual-port 1GbE NC382i Multifunction NICs)
  • Two hot pluggable 750 watt Platinum Power Supplies
  • 3-year, labor and onsite service standard warranty
  • HP Insight Control license

We are already in possession of the nicey-nice HP C3000 blade enclosure (Tower config), and we’d gladly take the above for a test period of no less than 385 days. <<wink-wink, nod-nod>>

Oh, and by the way, the HP Proliant DL385 is the most popular AMD Opteron-based server in the world.

There you go!