Sad Bits from Microsoft

Just about exactly a year after release, Vista gets a refresh with Service Pack 1. I said it would take a year to get SP1 out, and it did. I expected more improvement in SP1, but then I remembered the real improvements in XP came with SP2. So hold your breath for another 18 months or so for Vista to get a decent feature and performance upgrade.

Sad news about Microsoft Home Server. This product supposedly brings the value of a file service, such as a safe place to store and share files, to the home user. I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of a home file server from Microsoft, but I have recommended several times that home power users can benefit from more intelligent home storage options. These tricks also help home users backup files.

The most important feature of a server? Reliability. News about Microsoft’s Home Server? It sometimes loses and corrupts files when interacting with Microsoft applications. See one story from ZDNet here, and eWeek’s story quoting Microsoft admitting the problem here.

This is the cruelest type of incompetence from Microsoft. They promise home users, typically far less data-protection savvy then businesses, a “safe haven” for data. Then they pull the rug out from under them by screwing up the files on the way to screwing the customer. You’d think after two decades of making business servers, Microsoft would have learned something about file protection. Guess you can never underestimate the level of Microsoft incompetence. But it’s still terribly sad. Shame on Microsoft yet again.