I’m glad I am not the only one having this trouble. Part of my job includes monitoring and maintaining several servers which are located around the country. I have most of them using LogMeIn for access to the machines, but some locations are using Windows Home Server.

The latest service pack for Windows XP continues to cause problems for users. According to an online user forum, the latest glitch in Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) causes problems with the remote desktop access feature of Windows Home Server.

On the We Got Served U.K.-based Windows user forum, Windows XP users running Windows Home Server, Microsoft’s home storage and local networking server, report that SP3 is cutting off their access to the server from their PCs. The remote desktop access feature would ask users to add their home server’s Web site address in order to access it even after they already had, users reported.

I have been using the company laptop, which has not been updated to SP3 yet, to monitor those servers on a daily basis. Oh Microsoft, why is making a quality product (or update to a quality product) so difficult for you? Please fix it before I show up at your door with a handful of ostrich feathers, intent of tickling you until you fix it.

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My work laptop started acting up two days ago. I haven’t installed anything new, the laptop hasn’t moved, nothing is different. Well, except for the way the laptop is operating.

Six reboots in six minutes. Can your Mac do that? You just got to love toys.

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Yes folks, Service Pack 3 is just another wonderful update from Microsoft.

Users who thought the Windows XP operating system would be more reliable than its younger sibling Vista are being buffeted by reports that the latest update for XP, Service Pack 3, has its own problems.

A variety of complaints about SP3 are being posted on the Web, with users complaining about system crashes, spontaneous reboots, and other issues. On the Windows XP forum at Microsoft.com, for instance, a poster named Doug W. said that, after installing SP3, he had to use system restore “after three attempts, with different configurations each time.” He mentioned that his system has an Athlon chip from Advanced Micro Devices, and other users have reported similar problems with SP3 on AMD machines.

I ran the update the other day and haven’t had any problems. I have an AMD Athlon 64, so I guess I should just shut up and be thankful. It wasn’t like I was trying to install a walk in tub or anything like that.

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Since my last post about Vista I actually found out that three people I know admit they use it. I have heard from some that Vista is more comfortable for those who are used to working on an Apple computer. I have also heard from people that the file structure in Vista is very similar to a linux machine. Of course, I do not know these things for myself because after 15 minutes using Vista, I formatted the hard drive and installed XP on my computer when I got it.

Windows Vista customers can now receive the first service pack for the operating system via the Microsoft Automatic Update service, Microsoft said Wednesday.

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 will download automatically to PCs that have the automatic update feature of the OS turned on, the company said. Previously, Vista was available to customers via Windows Update, but people had to specifically download it.

Not all customers will receive SP1 immediately via Automatic Update, however. The company is distributing it in phases to “ensure a seamless download experience,” Microsoft said. A timeline for when all customers would receive Vista SP1 via Automatic Update was not immediately available.

So, this means the automatic updates aren’t yet quite so automatic right? If Microsoft was starting today as a small business opportunity, it would never make it. We wouldn’t want to overload the servers with all those Vista users out there. Seriously, how many people use Vista? Raise your hand if you’re sure.

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So what do you think, will they release it on April 29th, or will we be left waiting again? I for one won’t be waiting, it will come when it gets here. If there’s anything I have learned about Microsoft, is that they will release it when they darn well feel like it.

Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) will reportedly debut later this month. Tech news outlets are widely reporting that the much-anticipated update will be available on April 29. Microsoft was not immediately available for comment.

The final version of Windows XP SP3 was slated for delivery during the first half of 2008, but Microsoft seems intent on downplaying the attention it might get in favor of pushing Windows Vista, especially in light of the uproar about extending the life of XP.

I think it’s hilarious that tests have shown that XP running SP3 can run some tasks twice as fast as Vista. Vista. Ha! How did they get it to move twice as fast? Did they run it through some Orovo detox before they released it?

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Exciting news on the Windows Server front. Was that last sentence an example of an extreme oxymoron or what?

Want to run a Coppermine photo gallery on a Windows 2008 Server? In the past, that’s meant that the popular PHP application for photo galleries would run more poorly than on a Linux or Unix server, for which PHP had been optimized.

But the specialist in the PHP language, Zend Technologies, says that’s no longer the case. The Zend Core commercially supported form of PHP has been certified by Microsoft as ready to run “with performance and stability” on Windows Server 2008, said Andi Gutmans, co-founder and CTO of Zend. That means passing more than 100 compatibility tests, plus collaborating closely on certain Microsoft technologies.

For example, Zend worked with Microsoft’s FastCGI component for its Web server, IIS, to make FastCGI set up and run PHP applications efficiently. The IIS Web server is now built into Windows 2008, and the two companies made certain the PHP interface to FastCGI worked smoothly, Gutmans said in an interview.

This really is kewl news, for those that will be brave enough to upgrade their production servers to 2008 anyway. Me? Not yet. I really love seeing things in action, I wish I could see the Windows Server software running in a real environment, like I can see macs running at the Apple Store, or like I can see designs up front and in person at directbuy. How about it Microsoft? When are you going to open a Microsoft Store?

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How funny is this? Why on Earth would Microsoft be “slashing” prices?

Microsoft Corp. will cut the price of some versions of Windows Vista, the software maker said late Thursday.

The move came a day after court filings revealed internal dissent over which Windows XP computers would be considered capable of running the new operating system — and a feeling on at least one executive’s part that the company had “botched” the marketing of computers as “Vista Capable.”

Only copies of the year-old operating system that are sold in boxes directly to consumers are affected by the price cuts — not the versions pre-loaded on personal computers. The cuts will range from 20 percent to 48 percent.

They delayed the heck out of it. They released 50 million different versions of it. They promised free upgrades for people who bought XP machines at Christmas. People were not, and are not happy with Vista. So they cut the price.

This is what companies do when their product sucks. When was the last time you saw Apple cut the price of an iPod by 48%? Hopefully it won’t take too long for Microsoft to get back on the horse, that is, if their developers can find their saddles.

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Why am I not excited about this? Why am I not chomping at the bit to test the latest and greatest OS from Microsoft? Oh yeah, Microsoft. ’nuff said.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is due to launch two major product upgrades at an event — tomorrow in Los Angeles — the Windows Server 2008 OS, which is due for release next week, and its SQL Server 2008 database, expected in the third quarter after delays. He’s also expected to discuss Visual Studio 2008, which shipped in November.

The launch of a new family of Windows server products this week will kick-start a broad shift among customers to 64-bit versions of Microsoft’s server software, analysts and customers said.

Like their predecessors, the new products will be offered in both 32- and 64-bit editions. But several factors this time will prompt more customers to choose the 64-bit versions, including the broad availability of 64-bit x86 server hardware and the trend toward consolidating and virtualizing server workloads to reduce power consumption and improve efficiency.

In other news, the sun came out from behind a cloud today. Weathermen make their predictions accordingly. Now pardon me while I look for some home theater sconces. I need mood lighting in here, because the glare of obviousness is killing me.

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It seems I’m not the only one who had trouble with the Windows Genuine Advantage crap.

Microsoft has just made virtualization much more affordable. Of course, I think that also means they just made virtual blue screens of death much more noticeable too.

Microsoft Corp. on Monday announced several moves it says will help its business customers take advantage of a technology called virtualization, and in the process help the software maker catch up with VMware Inc., the frontrunner in that area.

Virtualization allows one physical computer to house multiple “virtual machines,” each one acting like a separate computer with an operating system and all the software that runs on top of it.

…

To help move the virtual desktop scenario forward, Microsoft said Monday it plans to acquire Calista Technologies Inc., a San Jose, Calif.-based start-up founded in 2006. Calista’s technology makes logging on to a virtual desktop feel more like working on a physical Windows computer, Microsoft said. No financial details of the agreement were disclosed.

Microsoft also said it will expand an alliance with another virtual desktop computing company, Citrix Systems Inc., that will help their respective products work well together.

Redmond-based Microsoft also announced it will cut the cost of licensing Windows for use on virtual machines to $23 from $78 per year for its big business customers.

Don’t get me wrong, this really is good news for some users. Just think, some of you will have absolutely no control over your machine, because it won’t be real, but that’s okay because you weren’t sure what I meant by the word virtualization anyway.