SMB Research Center

Books
The old saying "build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door" may have been true 100 years ago, but... September 22, 2006

Dell from both sides
One reader accused me of slamming Dell just for something do to a slow news day, because I highlighting their refusal to install products they... September 19, 2006

Dell Slipping?
After relaying the Dell computer strangeness suffered by my friend LaRee (Dell Ships Skunk), I heard from others with weird Dell problems. I couldn't help... September 15, 2006

Dell Ships Skunk
You know those Dell Computer commercials showing how they package exactly what you want, exactly how you want it, based on your specific order? Doesn't... September 12, 2006

OpenOffice Responses
Multiple readers pointed out, more politely than necessary, that OpenOffice does in fact have a Title Case menu item. I mentioned in my Anybody But... September 07, 2006

Apple SBS?
Faithful Reader Milan states, correctly, that in our discussions on small business servers we never mention the revamped and well regarded servers from Apple. Guilty... September 02, 2006

Google and Corel
Google paused from it's fight against becoming a brand name turned generic term like Xerox, Aspirin, and Kleenex long enough to release Google Apps for... August 29, 2006

Search Feedback
My latest column, titled Find That File Fast, isn't a roundup of all good searching tools, just an introduction to three. Yet several of you... August 25, 2006

Stolen is a Strong Word
Reader Rob Harmer in Australia runs a company providing software and services to help companies sidestep the Bully Software Alliance when they come knocking. Their... August 22, 2006

Schools and Linux
CNN.com reported today that 500 of the famed (and controversial) $100 laptops will be delivered to children in Thailand starting in October. Essentially a beta... August 18, 2006

MS Fans DO Respond
It seems the Microsoft fan I quoted and said didn't respond did in fact respond, but for some reason his personal e-mail never reached me.... August 15, 2006

Microsoft Fans Don't Respond
I accused Microsoft fans (or Microsoft employees) of running an "astro turf" campaign by sending feedback that looks like it comes from real people but... August 11, 2006

Apple's Time Machine
Leave it to Apple to take more jabs at Microsoft than all of the Network World columnists combined. Quoting Steve Jobs explaining why he can't... August 08, 2006

Back to School Specials
Back to school time is a great time for low-end to mid-range desktop and laptop bargains. Although the ads try to entice students, I'm sure... August 06, 2006

Backups Galore
After my tales of PC woe, the fact a new SonicWall CDP (Continuous Data Protection) appliance was sitting in my office, still in the box,... August 03, 2006

GigE and AMD
Faster networks are more fun, and more productive, than slower networks. Prices for Gigabit Ethernet gear running at 1,000Mbps used to be outrageous, then expensive,... August 02, 2006

Innovation from Ballmer?
Steve Ballmer to the rescue: he will single handedly take over as Microsoft's "Champion of Innovation." Yet as we discussed not long ago in Research?... July 28, 2006

Graphic Board(s)
Last week I talked about how my video system melted down. Nothing I tried resolved the new conflict between my Nvidia video driver and the... July 25, 2006

Thanks a lot, Microsoft
Thank you, Microsoft, for convincing me to update my video driver. I had run the same video driver for two years, ever since I built... July 18, 2006

Schools Save Big with Open Source
I asked before about success stories of schools using Open Source Software. Here's a few examples with dollars attached. Reader John sends in the first... July 11, 2006

Research? What Research?
Microsoft spends billions (with a b) each year on software research. Every few months another feature article goes on and on about all the brains... July 07, 2006

School Successes
I asked for successes at schools using Open Source Software, and I received a wide variety of them. Although schools aren't typically thought of as... July 03, 2006

School Daze
We all have the common thread of school - good memories and bad. Talking about any school subject stirs up the waters pretty good, as... June 30, 2006

Schools and Open Source
Schools need to save money (know any school districts so rich money doesn't matter?) and one way to do so is via Open Source Software.... June 27, 2006

Dueling Accounting Spokespeople
A Microsoft spokesperson took exception to my No Coincidences posting. First, the spokesperson said Microsoft didn't release the story during the QuickBooks Enterprise conference, but... June 23, 2006

Freebies, Backups, Lawsuits
Unlike the Geico commercial with the computer-generated Gecko, we don't have free pie and chips, but we have a long list of freebies from our... June 20, 2006

Novell Feedback and the BSA
Let me try to link previous criticism of Novell to our current investigation of the BSA (Bully Software Alliance). Think I can do it? Reader... June 16, 2006

No Coincidences
Do you believe in coincidences? I don't. Another example of why I don't is Microsoft's recent press release announcing their Small Business Accounting software will,... June 13, 2006

Bullies Winning
In another example of cronyism and capitalism overwhelming conscience in Congress, lobbyists just defeated net neutrality (my title, not the real headline). Now large carriers... June 09, 2006

Numbers and Voices
Perhaps it's just because I spent most of last week with the Intuit people at their first ever QuickBooks Enterprise User Conference, but all I... June 06, 2006

PDF and Phishing
It's a shame when big corporations with big legal staffs stop improvements that could help the rest of us. That appears to be the situation... June 02, 2006

Security and VoIP (separately)
Think you, as a small business, struggle more with security than the large companies? Not according to Execs express top security concerns where Big Dogs... May 30, 2006

One Tax Down
Glad to see we've finally closed the books on the war - the Spanish American War, that is. The Treasury Department finally abolished the Telephone... May 26, 2006

Technical Pain Feedback
Let's all do our Bill Clinton impression (thumb up, bite lower lip) and say, "I feel your technical pain." OK, a slight modification of the... May 23, 2006

Target: Microsoft
While Microsoft continues to be Microsoft, blasting everyone it believes might be a competitor, other companies now seem less afraid of their power emanating from... May 20, 2006

Unwavering MS Mission
Say what you want about Microsoft, and I usually do, but they certainly don't waver from their mission. Bill Gates just gave a speech (they... May 16, 2006

Where to Buy
PC World has an excellent roundup of the best places to buy "tech" things. They included online and offline stores (remember when it used to... May 12, 2006

Vista, Faxes, Weirdness
As Microsoft gets closer to releasing Vista, or delaying it once again depending on the source of your favorite rumor, details continue to leak out.... May 09, 2006

Fax and NAS and Novell
Although there are plenty of online fax services, and plenty of online collaboration sites, for some odd reason the collaboration sites don't offer fax services.... May 05, 2006

InterOp and More News
I served my sentence at InterOp for a half-dozen years or so starting in the early 90s, so I no longer have to slog to... May 02, 2006

More "Help" on the Way
I have nothing against the Gateway company, and in fact I liked their E-9220T server back in January. But their recent announcement (Gateway offers IT... April 25, 2006

Mid-Week Security
It's raining bad news for the security conscious all of a sudden. What is going on? First of all, a recent study discovered phishing sites... April 19, 2006

Un-Standard Speed
No one's happy to go slow when fast is an option. The long-awaited 802.11n standard will speed up wireless networks, but official standards-compliant products remain... April 13, 2006

New Software Service Options
The acronym SaaS for Software as a Service looks like a retro-Swedish rock group (aBBa reborn?) but offers new ways to get work done. The... April 11, 2006

Apple Advance Backwards
If there was ever a Mouse That Roared, he wears jeans, a black turtleneck and runs Apple Computer. How Steve Jobs gets so much attention... April 06, 2006

Novell and IBM News
Continuing our Novell Week, one LinuxWorld announcement tied Novell and IBM together for new products aimed at small and medium businesses. This collaboration isn't surprising,... April 04, 2006

More Novell Nattering
Some Novell fans and detractors have responded to my earlier blast (Novell - BrainShare or BrainDead). Some agree with me, but some disagree (of course),... March 30, 2006

Vista and PC Sales
Now that Microsoft officially admitted its new operating system Vista wouldn't ship for consumers until some time next year (surprise, surprise), companies who rely on... March 28, 2006

Another Day, Another IE Hole
Another day, another dire warning from Microsoft of a nasty Internet Explorer bug. I wonder if they're ever embarrassed announcing these things. They should be,... March 24, 2006

Novell: BrainShare or BrainDead?
My buddy Deni Connor titled her recent Novell piece, "Does Novell Still Have Mind Share," a play on the Novell BrainShare user meeting currently underway.... March 21, 2006

No Exchange for SMB?
Oliver Rist and I bumped into each other years ago working for different magazines. I thought he was pretty smart then, but I think he's... March 17, 2006

Speaking of VoIP
I still hate the acronym VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and agree with industry pioneer Jeff Pulver on using the acronym VON (Voice on the... March 14, 2006

Google Rumors Verified
Google, the rumor factory that also does some searching and news and e-mail, long maintained they had no interest in any type of online applications... March 11, 2006

State of the Internet Report
Symantec releases two Internet Security Threat Reports each year, and the new one just came out. I'm heading to Symantec to get the lowdown on... March 08, 2006

SMB New Product Flood
It's nearly spring, and new products for small and medium businesses are busting out all over. Let's take a look at one new hardware product... March 07, 2006

WordPerfect Redux and Mini-Google
Believe it or not, WordPerfect (now owned by Corel) used to be the dominant word processing application in the world of computing. In the DOS... March 02, 2006

Your Office Keeps On Truckin'
I've been looking for more news following this announcement about Ford's upcoming features planned for their popular F Series trucks, but haven't seen any in... February 27, 2006

Storage Tests Coming Soon
Snap Appliances, a pioneer in NAS (Network Attached Storage) if not the company that started the market, announced a new set of products the other... February 22, 2006

Microsoft Office 2007
Microsoft, another company always seeking headlines, released the new name for their updated Office suite: Office 2007. Personally, I'm overwhelmed by the blandness of it... February 16, 2006

Movies and IT Heroes-2
Every decade or so, Hollywood puts a bona fide star actor in a hero's role as an IT person. Last time it was Robert Redford... February 15, 2006

Movies and IT Heroes
Every decade or so, Hollywood puts a bona fide star actor in a hero's role as an IT person. Last time it was Robert Redford... February 13, 2006

Searching and Saving Updated
Google, always seeking headlines, announced they are updating their desktop search application (top story on the right). Now the standard for millions of users (including... February 10, 2006

Searching and Saving
Google, always seeking headlines, announced they are updating their desktop search application (top story on the right). Now the standard for millions of users (including... February 09, 2006

Data Backup Help
In my never-ending role trying to save people from themselves, let me nag a little more about data backups. OK, let me point out some... February 07, 2006

Virus Warning and CRM News
The top story on the right (and here) illustrates one of the cruelest hoaxes around: hiding a Trojan horse program inside an e-mail promising help.... February 03, 2006

More Server News
I talked about the Gateway E-9220T server in the first column of 2006, and now InfoWorld's Oliver Rist compares that same server to a couple... January 31, 2006

Vista Starts Slide
People called me out when Microsoft claimed Vista would ship by this fall. I stated last year that Vista, the Windows XP upgrade, wouldn't ship... January 27, 2006

01/24/06
Everyone needs help of some kind when managing a network. If your network is three computers in the same room, you need minimal help. If... January 24, 2006

01/19/06
If you've been in business just two or three years, you probably haven't given a thought to the file formats of your documents. Most people... January 19, 2006

1/12/06
I first thought the lead story for the day would be the explosion of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) products at CES (Consumer Electronics Show)... January 12, 2006

1/09/06
Holidays stop, winter work drudgery commences. So goes the calendar. The top story on the right gives warning to small businesses that more states now... January 09, 2006

1/05/06
New products galore, or at least the promises of new products, are rolling out in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) event this... January 05, 2006

1/3/06
Good news: enough of you gave this experiment a thumbs up (keep those e-mails coming) that we can keep going. In other words, small/medium business... January 03, 2006

12/29/05
Thank you, readers, for sneaking around quietly. None of the Powers That Be have caught us yet, so we can continue this discussion. If you... December 29, 2005

12/26/05
No one's watching, since this is the dead week between Christmas and New Year's, so no one has shut me down. A coup (like this... December 26, 2005

The Inmates Take Over
Welcome to the new Small and Medium Business Research Center (SMBRC for the acronym junkies). What appears in this space over the next few weeks... December 21, 2005