The future audience of the Internet

Interesting. Pay attention to market share, folks! Per this article from Fortune.

New approaches to Unified Network Management

I've noticed a recent trend among wireless equipment companies to provide both cloud-based and premises-based management mechanisms for campus wireless networks. There are advantages and disadvantages to both; cloud offering "easy management from anywhere" and easy scaling and support, on-premises providing direct control to the network should cloud access drop or become otherwise unavailable.

Now, Netgear has taken the bull by the horns and is offering networking management that will use whatever model, or combination of models, the customer prefers. They obviously "get it!" I expect to see more vendors moving in this direction, too.

Integrated or Independent QA?

A friend at work forwarded this article to me after a lunch time discussion about QA testing, and whether it should be integrated within the development team activities or operate as an independent effort.

The author's viewpoint is that there is value in a separate team and effort.

I think there’s a parallel to scientific method, too, which makes QA as a separate process valuable. Review by a different team, that corroborates readiness through their own effort, is important for overall confidence, too. Not to say that’s infallible, but it demonstrates an important watermark.

Netflix rates ISPs for their streaming speeds

Netflix now provides on-line info about how well ISPs perform with streaming media - organized by country, check it out.

How to tick off your customers

OK, I'm not a Microsoft basher in general. I use Windows daily, and it's generally made my day to day computing life easier and more productive (gasp, a true confession!) However, there have been recent practices that have gotten my goat, so bear with me as I vent.

NB: These are good examples of how to tick off your customers (perhaps others can avoid them!)

1. Start charging for features that were previously free. I'm specifically thinking about the Encrypted File System (EFS), which was included in Windows XP Pro, but now costs $ in Vista.
2. Add injury to insult: Put EFS only in the Windows Ultimate Edition.
3. Require all OEMs to ship only Windows Vista (but not specifically the Ultimate Edition).
4. Inflict a complete Windows recast on the customer, followed by a robust, reliable version a year later (e.g., Vista -> Windows 7) Therefore, after already spending more $ to upgrade to Vista Ultimate, I have nothing better to do than spend $ to upgrade to Windows 7, too, right?

My point: Customer satisfaction is a many-faceted gem. It not only includes product features, reliability, and a timely delivery - but subtle factors as well - such as perceived value, clear messaging, and keeping migration and upgrades simple.

Windows 7

The buzz is "They finally got it right" and "Windows 7 is what Vista should have been".

After taking a look I agree :-)

Windows 7 features a "Back to basics, lean and mean" approach. It gets Windows out of the way, and puts the spotlight back on the applications software.

I installed it on a Lenovo ThinkCentre P-IV box with 4GB RAM. A straightfoward desktop, not cutting edge.

Observations:

• It installs faster than previous Windows versions
• It starts up and shuts down faster than Vista
• Just the basic features are evident on the UI and desktop (as mentioned: lean and mean)
• UAC finally works without being so annoying :-)
• It will install and run under the free VMware server. However, the usual vmnet virtual network adapter didn't work for me, so the VM had no networking capability.

Now, will MS sell just a few editions of the OS, instead of the confusing array offered with Vista? Last I heard, the plan is to offer half a dozen different editions, so unfortunately that confusing Vista legacy will remain.

Ease of Use

Ever wonder "Wouldn't it be handy if Linux had a command to set permissions along the entire pathname?"

Or "Why can't I click on a process in Windows Task Manager and select Go to File?"

These are examples of why software will never be finished. There will frequently be ease of use improvements that can be made.

I believe such optimizations add compelling value. They should be given serious weight, not just designated to some enhancement request black hole.

Good news: In Windows Vista, you can now do the "Go to File" trick. That's a nice value add :-)

The Importance of UI Design

After testing complex applications and their associated configuration/management UIs for some time now, I've come to appreciate the importance and payoff of good UI design.

A good UI must feature simple and intuitive presentation, ultimately meeting the user's skill level on demand. Since most users will deal with the UI on a routine basis, its appeal makes up a big portion of what the customer will find compelling about a product.

This means a little investment up-front will go a long way!

Some design effort should be attempted before any code is written. This yields the following benefits:

• QA gains an opportunity to familiarize with the intended approach, can identify test tool candidates, prototype test cases, and provide early-on usability feedback.
• Developers will communicate effectively among themselves, determining the necessary classes and how functionality can be included ahead.
• Use Cases can be evaluated using the UI design. It's really useful to have use case tutorials made available to the product team up front, so all agree the necessary features are present and will work as intended.

'nuf said!