Tag: Microsoft

IRS Missed Deadline

On By Norbert HauptIn Crack-Ups, TechnologyLeave a comment

Yes, I didn’t say I missed an IRS deadline – which always comes to mind when reading the two words IRS and Deadline together.

According to this article in the Dailydot.com, the IRS has 110,000 computers running Windows, and only 52,000 of those have been upgraded to Windows 7. The other ones are still running Windows XP.

The problem is that Windows XP is now retired and no longer supported by Microsoft. The IRS, as well as the rest of the tech community, has known about this deadline since 2008. They blame budget cuts for the delays in upgrading.

Now they will have to pay Microsoft for very expensive “custom support” to eventually upgrade those machines, or buy new ones altogether.

It must be nice to be a company that can push the IRS around. It took Microsoft almost 40 years to get to that position, but apparently, they have arrived.

Bill Gates to Bring Cool Back to Microsoft

On By Norbert HauptIn Business, Cool People, Crack-Ups, TechnologyLeave a comment

Bill Gates [photocredit Borowitz Report]
With the announcement of Microsoft’s new CEO, Satya Nadella, the company did some more restructuring. Bill Gates is coming back to take a more active role as technology adviser.

Since Steve Ballmer was blamed for lack of vision and sluggish execution, causing much of Microsoft’s decline, I concur that having Gates back inside the company, working technology, should be very helpful to the new CEO – perhaps.

On his very first day back on the job, Gates tried to install Windows 8.1 on his laptop, upgrading from Windows 7. But he couldn’t do it for several hours. He got Nadella to help. Still, by noon, no success. After some choice expletives, they both gave up and Gates will stay on Windows 7 for now.

I know what that’s like. I have needed help installing many a Microsoft product in my career. I can already tell, having Gates back at work at Microsoft will be great for the company. At least the install programs will be working soon!

This reminds me of what Steve Jobs supposedly said when he came back to Apple in 1996 when the company was close to bankruptcy. When his team asked him what he thought the problem was, he said: “The products suck!”

I can just see it:

Bill Gates returned to the company and he saw that the products sucked.

And Bill Gates said: Let there be cool products. And there were cool products.

And Bill Gates said: Let there be a cool CEO with a hoodie. And there was a cool CEO with a hoodie.

satya-nadella
Satya Nadella [photocredit: The Frontline]

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