A few Microsoft E3 ditties

As the internet explodes with fanboy anger over Microsoft's latest E3 coup, we have some thoughts on their lesser debated announcements.

-Full Xbox 360 game downloads coming in August. This along with the new UMD-less PSP and dare we say the iPhone App Store is changing the way we acquire our games. It was nice knowing ya GameStop. Say hi to Tower Records for us at Chapter 11 court.

-Minor update to Netflix. No longer do you need your Mac or PC to update your movie que. Updating is now available from the Xbox dashboard. We say yea to this. Movie subscriptions for the win. Owning content is soooo 2005

-Facebook and Twitter integration. Maybe Microsoft's $250 million Facebook investment is finally paying off. On one hand we think the integration will be a great way for 360 users to meet and play with new people. On the other hand it's another way of Facebook taking over our lives. The Twitter integration is what you'd expect, Twitter on your Xbox and we just don't "get" Twitter.

-Zune Marketplace hits the 360 this fall. All video (and we think music) will be available on the 360 dashboard. Oh yeah, it's 1080p instant on streamed video too. Is BluRay now the new laser disc? Does this force Apple to do something serious with Apple TV?

Introducing Our New Micro Show: Stickies

You know former Mac Genius (can they ever really take the title from you?) Jamie DeGrazio as the co-host of Root Access. Well now he'll also be doing a micro show for us called "Stickies." Just like Stickies" on the Mac, it's a brief look at a tech topic. Jamie will cover a wider range of tech-related news than he can on Root Access.

The first episode is below. It's a work in progress, so it's a little rough around the edges (you know you want an Apple startup chime to start the show) so we look forward to your feedback:

Windows 7 Starter Edition Limited to Three Open Apps. Seriously

Sometimes Microsoft will do something so mind-boggling stupid, you just can't help but wonder what is going. (Apple does this at times too, to be fair, but this one is a doozy.) Kudos to Ed Bott over at ZDNet for unearthing this gem: Windows 7 Starter Edition will only allow for three apps to be open simultaneously. Starter Edition is intended for developing countries in Asia, Africa, and elsewhere. I guess the thought is that these "primitive" tech users can't possibly be expected to handle having three programs open at once. I mean checking mail, researching online, writing a paper, AND doing something else? Let's just let them get used to three apps first.

As Bott points out, there doesn't seem to be any limit within a program. For example, you can have 12 browser windows open if you like. This would tend to indicate that this wasn't done to protect under-powered systems from crashing. It was done to protect over-priced versions of the software from not selling. This is hockeypuck mouse-level stupidity.

As advocated elsewhere, I agree, and say these markets should instead consider free alternatives like linux. This offering from Microsoft does nothing but to help them ensure their current marketshare numbers.

How The Other Side Lives: CNET Reviews IE 8

The opening to Stephen Shankland's review of Internet Explorer 8 sums it up best:

In the interest of broadening my horizons, I promised Microsoft I'd give Internet Explorer 8 a fair shake by trying the browser as my default for a week.

And, boy, am I glad that week is over.

He goes on to mention that IE still isn't in the same class as his preferred browsers, Firefox and Chrome (can we hurry up with that Mac version of Chrome, please?). Still, from the "It couldn't get worse" files, Shankland recommends current IE 7 users upgrade due to increased security features. Overall though, the sluggishness of the interface, gave him pause (literally), and made him long for his browsers of choice.

Being April Fool's Day and all, I have a foolish proposal for Microsoft: bring IE back to the Mac. Just for fun, as we say around here.

Why Computer Companies Shouldn't Be Part of News: MSNBC Online

There's  a strange dual personality for MSNBC. On one hand, you have the cable network, and as far as technology goes, they tend to take a hands-off approach, with little news beyond big product launches. On the other hand, you have msnbc.com, which every once in awhile, will stick a stinker of a bias tech story in there, that just makes you scratch your head. And so it goes with today's article, "Has The Mac Lost Its Cachet?" Author Dan Richman, hiding behind that headline with a question mark on the end, (fine for bloggers I say, but not "real" news) goes on to explain just why it could be lights out for Apple. Oh sure there are other computer companies doing worse, and yes he's pulling a stat that he admits only shows the one month in which Apple saw a decline. But surely that's enough evidence that Apple's about to coming crashing down, right? And it's just a coincidence that this comes on the heels of Microsoft's new ad campaign (Microsoft being the "MS" in MSNBC) touting how expensive a Mac is compared to a PC. Dan spends the first half of the article repeating the same mantra found in the commercial. (It's even more strange since we uncovered that Steve Jobs works at MSNBC. :) )

There may very well be valid points in the article, but I know if I was the news editor of a company that's a joint venture with MSFT, and I wanted to ensure objectivity, I wouldn't go anywhere near this story. I think there would be anger in the general public, if say there was a network called CNNGM, a partnership with General Motors,  that then ran a story questioning whether Fords were really worth it.