More critical issues to consider when choosing browser based tools or applications

Browser based applications seem like a good idea. You deploy a server with an application and users simply use a web browser to access it. No installation, patching, or maintenance of the end user’s workstation is required. What could be more simple?

As I wrote previously, this isn’t entirely true. On my Windows machines, it is common for me to have apps that require different versions of Internet Explorer or FireFox. It is hard to manage PCs when one application requires IE9 and another requires IE10. Some work on FireFox but only new versions while other won’t work with anything news that something that was released two years ago.

Sadly, it is still the big names in the business causing most of this havoc.

I recently discovered that the transition from Windows 7 to Ubuntu Linux was easier than the transition from Windows 7 to Windows 8. I still believe that but I ran into new complications.

Adobe Flash is no longer supported under Linux. Java is no longer supported in Chrome on Linux and OS-X. Imagine what that will do to your management capabilities! The vSphere 5.5 web client requires a new version of Flash and thus cannot be managed via Linux. Most of my Dell servers have management cards requiring Java. They are difficult to manage under Linux. I don’t even want to talk about the complexities of using a browser to manage my Cisco gear. Put simply, Linux is awesome but incompatible with many of the web applications available today.

It’s getting so complicated I am tempted to run a bunch of terminal or Citrix servers with specific browser versions so that when a user launches an app, I can launch it in the correct browser and version. What a pain.

If you are a web developer, I beg you, please do not write code that requires a specific browser or version of Java, Flash, etc. The overlapping requirements quickly combine to make it impossible to use every web application we have from a single machine. This is a real problem.

In theory, HTML 5 will save the day but I suspect it will take a decade for people to convert legacy applications to it and by then something else will be the new thing which breaks our applications.

Think carefully about using browser based applications. If you have more than two, you may have to have multiple machines just to be able to use them.

Is Linux or Windows 8 easier to use?

I have been using the original Surface as my laptop since it was released. To mu surprise iy has worked out very well. All of my applications, including odd ones like NMAP, work great. The only thing I dislike is the lack of ports. One USB port makes working with external devices a pain. I have purchased USB adapters so I can connect to devices via serial ports. The one things I have not purchased and that kills me is a USB to Ethernet cable. There are times I cannot be plugged into a docking station and need an Ethernet port. All things considered though, the Surface is a great laptop.

The one thing I still struggle with is Windows 8. (Yes, I updated to Windows 8.1 but it is still a pain to work with.) I open a PDF and it goes into tiles mode. Switching between the desktop and tiles is an insane design at best. Running on the desktop only seems like trying to avoid the inevitable. I have really tried to get comfortable with Windows 8 but the UI is just bad. It is by far the worst UI ever designed simply because you basically are using to operating systems at once.

I needed a laptop with a bunch of ports so I took an abondoned Windows 8 laptop and loaded Ubuntu Linux. (It was harder to delete Windows than it was to load Linux.) To my great surprise the load went well. The laptop had a touch screen which Ubuntu detected. Everything just worked. Installing software and hardening the OS was simple for an IT guy. What amazed me though was the interface.

When I use Linux, I typically don’t even load the GUI. What can I say, I love text only CLI interfaces on Linux. (I hate the Cisco CLI though.)  This was the first time I loaded a GUI on Linux in years. Frankly, the GUI was stunning

In all fairness, the Windows 7 interface is probably easier to use because it is about the same as every other version of Windows going back to 98. I realized that the change from Windows 7 to Ubuntu was minimal while the change form Windows 7 to Windows 8 was gut wrenching.

I am considering doing some A/B testing with users. I believe that if I were to have one group use Ubuntu and another use Windows 8 I would find the Ubuntu crowed more efficient. I might concede that they would be equally proficient but for the cost savings Linux would bring, why not use Linux?

I won’t inflict anything on end user that I won’t inflict on myself. I decided to go rouge and use Ubuntu as my only work laptop.

• Email: Evolution seems to be a fine Outlook replacement. It does everything I need. I don’t know if it will work with Office 365 or newer version of Exchange though. If it doesn’t work, I can live with email on my phone and OWA.
• Web Browsing: Everything but Internet Explorer. If you have to have IE, Linux won’t work.
• JAVA: I have yet to get websites that use JAVA to work on Chrome. I will eventually but that seems to be a pain. (Hints are welcome.)
• Security Tools: NMAP, Wire.Shark, and all my other favorite tools work better on Ubuntu than Windows. I run these on Linux anyway.
• Visio: I love Visio but DIA seems to work well enough for me to diagram everything I need to diagram.
• Office: LibreOffice does everything I need. I have yet to try to load a bunch of my Office docs in Linux but I suspect they will work. If not, I am willing to convert them all over time. I don’t use Office much anyway. I would prefer to use the web apps in either Office 365 or Google Apps anyway.
• RDP: Yep, I can remote control all my servers.
• Putty: I can remote control everything else
• Printing: Paper is dead. I never print. I’ll have to test it at some point though.
• Patching: We use Dell’s KACE system for patching. It works on some flavors of Linux. I still need to test this. If it doesn’t work, I can use the built in patching engine to keep everything updated.
• Encryption: You can encrypt the hard drive during installation making laptop theft less of an issue. Password management might be a pain but so is data loss.

I don’t know if I would throw Ubuntu into production but if Windows 9 isn’t significantly easier to use, it may be hard to justify the cost of Windows anymore.

Are you listening Microsoft?

Microsoft Volume Licensing is NOT a discount program

You would think Microsoft Volume Licensing allows businesses to purchase large quantities of software at a discount. Put simply, it doesn’t.

OEM software is far less expensive

When I order a computer, I can get a full copy of Microsoft Office for about $200. It is a retail copy meaning my usage rights are fairly restricted. I can’t move that copy to another computer. I can’t upgrade it when a new version comes out without spending a ton of money. If all I want is a copy of Microsoft Office to use until my computer dies, it will cost me $200.

Or, I can buy a copy through Microsoft Volume Licensing. I can choose between Open, Select, or Enterprise agreements. Depending on the price tier you are in and the volume you buy in you might pay as little as $400 for a copy of Microsoft Office through volume licensing. In fairness I get more usage rights with a volume license. I can move the license between computers for example which is very helpful. Is it worth paying twice as much for the convenience of moving a copy of Office from one computer to the next?

I have run the numbers every way I know how and the honest truth is there isn’t a way to justify the extra cost of buying through Volume Licensing.

Windows is getting less expensive, if you are an OEM

Although still in the rumor state, it appears Microsoft will be discounting Windows 70% to compete with Android and Apple. That would make me happy if that discount was available through Volume Licensing which to date it is not.

Once again, the most expensive way I can purchase Windows is through Volume Licensing.

Windows may end up being free

Another rumor is that Microsoft is considering making Windows free. I actually think this is a good idea but will it be free to enterprise customers? If Microsoft continues the trend of marking up software to volume customers, I suspect I will pay a hefty sum for an otherwise free product.

But the licenses are different!?!?

I can hear Microsoft salespeople screaming about how the volume license has different use rights than OEM and retail licenses and they are right. Volume licenses allow for much more freedom than OEM or retail licenses. What they fail to realize is that the math just isn’t adding up. With the cost of hardware going down every year, it is often less expensive to simply buy someone a new laptop instead of paying for upgrade rights on software.

Oh, and there is the audit thing

Read the Open, Select, and Enterprise agreement carefully and you will find that as the discounts increase, so do Microsoft’s rights to audit your software usage. If you sign an Enterprise agreement for example, Microsoft has the right to conduct an onsite audit without notice.

I would never knowingly deploy software I had not purchased but that doesn’t mean I want to volunteer for more vigorous audits. The “discount” I get would likely not pay for my time to conduct the audit.

Buying OEM is the least expensive and most painful way to get licensing from Microsoft

I am really struggling with this concept. I am tired of paying more for products using volume licensing but it is hard to order everything you need when you order a computer. It is also getting harder to buy things retail since many products are moving to subscription pricing. Regardless, it is hard for me to pay volume pricing for the limited benefit I get from it.

Should I buy a Windows, Apple, or Android Tablet?

Consider this common set of events…

You are at work and create a simple Excel worksheet because that is the application you have loaded on your work laptop. Perhaps it is a grocery list, schedule, or some other file you need at home. (I’m sure you created this personal file on your lunch break.) You save it to Dropbox or some other file sharing application, go home, grab your Windows 8 Pro tablet … and cant open the file. You have not purchased a copy of Microsoft Office for your tablet!

Ironically, the solution is simple. Open your Android or Apple device and you can view the document fine in one of the free applications that come on your phone. Or, you could spend $139 on Microsoft Office Home and Student.  Or you could subscribe to Office 365 Home Premium for $100 per year Of course, there are free options. You could use Google Drive on all your devices. You could load  one of the Office alternatives on your Microsoft Tablet. Regardless of the product you choose, you will not be able to use a Windows 8.1 Pro device without loading additional software.

Don’t forget virus scan

Remember, a Windows 8.1 Pro tablet is running a full version of Windows. This means you should protect it the same way you would protect a Windows PC or laptop. You should install a Virus scanner. There are plenty of free versions for home use but be careful what you download. There are dozens of sites that distribute “free virus scanners” which are really just viruses.

Don’t forget to install and update Adobe Readers, JAVA, and Flash

If you need them, you will be installing applications like Java and Adobe Flash. Keep in mind that these applications are some of the most attacked on the Internet. Just loading them dramatically increases the risk you run of getting a virus or other malware. You must ensure these applications are up to date at all times to mitigate this risk. (Installing virus scanning alone will not help.)

Don’t forget to backup your data

Unlike an Apple or Android device where you can backup everything to the cloud for free, you are going to have to find software to backup your Windows 8.1 Pro tablet. There are inexpensive solutions out there but none that I trust are free.

What about Windows RT?

Windows RT is s version of Windows that does not run traditional Windows Apps. It is not the same thing as Windows. You cannot install software on it unless it comes from the Windows Store. It does come with a scaled down version of Microsoft Office though.

I don’t recommend Windows RT devices yet because they don’t have the same quantity of software that Apple and Android devices have. It is also doing poorly in the market right now and Microsoft has a habit of pulling poorly performing products off the market (Anyone remember the Microsoft Phone?)

Don’t buy a Windows 8.1 Pro device if all you want is to consume information

If you want a tablet to surf the web, update social media, and create simple files like grocery lists then a tablet is the perfect device for you. Either Apple or Android will work great for you. I am a fan of “staying in one ecosystem” meaning if I buy things on iTunes then I need to stick with Apple devices. If I buy things from Amazon or Google then I should buy Android devices.

I would only buy a Windows 8.1 Pro device if I need to sit and type for eight hours a day. Remember, if it runs Windows 8.1 Pro it is the same as a laptop or PC, just in a smaller case. You have to manage it just s you would a Windows PC. For most people, an Apple or Android device will be much less work to use.

Why Microsoft should abandon Windows (Sort of)

When nothing but the PC existed, it was easy to have a one-size-fits-all operating system. Now that computers are shaped like phones, tablets, laptops, and legacy PCs the one-size-fits-all operating system just doesn’t work. Continuing to try to make Windows work on a modern phone AND legacy PC is killing Microsoft. How would I fix it?

Kill Windows

No, not really, but release a final version of Windows that runs on PCs and Laptops which we will all be calling legacy devices soon enough. Commit to supporting “Windows Legacy” with security patches for 10 years so enterprises will have time to migrate their custom apps to a new platform. This is the operating system for businesses that can’t let go of the past.

Windows Next

Come up with some clever name for the tablet/phone version of Windows using the new interface, formally known as Metro. Basically this would be like the Windows RT operating system where you can run new apps but nothing legacy. The desktop is dead once and for all. I love the desktop but face it, it won’t work on mobile devices which is what we will all be using soon.

Stop forcing us to buy Office

Microsoft Office is the best productivity application on the market but most users only need a small percentage of the features is has. Products like Google Apps are good enough for most users today and will be more than enough soon. In order to compete, create a simple version of Office for “Windows Next” and create a final “Office Legacy” product for “Windows Legacy.”

Frankly, I hope it doesn’t sell, because we will all be using Office 365.

Focus on the cloud

Enough with desktop installation and patching. Enough with per machine licenses. Enough, enough, enough. Focus on Office 365, CRM Online, and migrating business applications to the cloud.

If it won’t run in a web browser, it shouldn’t be developed. Well, perhaps that is an overstatement but if it does require a client, it should work equally well on every operating system. It should also run equally well on any web browser.

Microsoft should stop trying to save Windows by making software that only runs on Windows. Instead, they should be writing applications that work on any device. Microsoft needs to admit it has lost the battle for control of end user devices and focus on applications.

Make something we want to use again

Microsoft products are loved by few. Office is great but more and more people are willing to give it up due to the staggering price. Internet Explorer is rarely used outside of a legacy application requiring it. Businesses are avoiding Windows 8 like the plague. And Office 365 works best if you run a full version of Microsoft Office … which requires Windows.

Microsoft has the resources to build a product everyone wants to use. I honestly think they could have the best cloud products out there if they would stop trying to save Office and Windows by tying all their products to them.

I know it is a hard pill to swallow but Windows cannot be all things to all people anymore. It is time to do something different.