Read This If You Have a Dell Laptop

Dell has announced a major recall of laptop batteries. Over 4 million batteries are being recalled due to what is being called a manufacturing defect. The problem is fairly serious as there are many reports of laptops that have literally caught on fire because of the battery problem. One of these reports includes the laptop catching on fire on a plane.

Dell has a special website located here that will tell you everything you need to know about the recall. If you own a Dell laptop you need to check this out....now!

Microsoft Releases 12 Security Updates

This month's Security Update bundle from Microsoft includes 12 updates, 9 of which it rates as critical. Details can be found here. One of these updates, MS06-040 is a very serious issue. Even our friends at The Department of Homeland Security are saying that this update should be installed as soon as possible. There are already rogue programs published to the Internet that are taking advantage of computers that have not applied the update.

Security Updates are released by Microsoft virtually every month. This month's updates are more critical then normal at this point. Update your computers!

Microsoft Getting Into Health Care Software?

Microsoft has purchased a health care software company named Azyxxi. The program was developed by a group of doctors involved with Medstar Health, a conglomerate of hospitals and other health care related companies in the Baltimore-Washington area. The purchase includes hiring 2 of the 3 doctors that designed the program and about 40 members of the development team.

The Azyxxi software retrieves and quickly displays patient information from many resources, including scanned images, EKGs, XRays, MRIs, etc. It is currently used in only a hand full of hospitals.

There is a lot of hype going around about how this purchase puts Microsoft in the applications business instead of the traditional infrastructure business like operating systems and databases that it currently associated with. I disagree. The Azyxxi software IS an infrastructure program. It simply ties data provided by other applications together. This will help the health care industry. One of the biggest issues in automating the health care industry is the incompatibility of data generated by a wide range of applications. I see Microsoft's interest in eliminating this barrier at a infrastructure level and not at a traditional application level.

If Microsoft can accomplish this goal it will not only greatly benefit health care in general but also keep the cash flowing in in the future. It will be interesting to watch.

Internet Explorer 7 Will Be a "Critical Update"

Microsoft will release Internet Explorer 7 later this year if all goes as planned. They have decided to distribute IE 7 via Windows Updates as a Critical Update. This means that if you have Windows Updates set to automatic you will have IE 7 installed automatically. Their reasoning is that there are so many security related fixes and enhancements in IE 7 that it fits into the Critical Update category.

Is this good or bad? Well, obviously being more secure is a very good thing. But, IE 7 is quite a bit different. Although I really like IE 7's features (Tabs and RSS are my favorites), it is visibly different. You will need to play around with the new design a bit to get used to it. For a lot of users change can be difficult. I suspect that everyone will be just fine, after some interesting words and faces. And yes, some web pages may not work correctly so be aware.

If you are a Microsoft Enterprise Client, Microsoft has a tool that will temporarily disable the download so you can do your testing. Of course you are already testing with the beta release aren't you? Remember, we do not suggest that you run any beta software on production workstations. Beta software can and will cause problems.

Is Zune the iPod Killer?

Microsoft confirmed this week that rumors of an iPod like device will be coming from them are true. Zune is the brand name for a family of media devices that they will introduce. The rumors are that the first pieces of the family will be available in October or November. The first hardware devices will include a hard disk based media player which will support wifi wireless.

This is the typical Microsoft path. Let someone else innovate, see if the market is there, see where things can be made better, introduce their own products, watch the innovators struggle. Although I'm not sure that Apple will be an easy target. The iPod is like the Mac, the users are extremely loyal and will not change platforms. The vendors that are vulnerable are the Creative Labs, iRivers, and other vendors that produce "me too" portable media players.

As with all of these technologies, the winner will be determined by who has the best products and services. And is the best at a little thing called customer support.

Here's some more info on Zune. Get ready for a laugh!