Personal Computer Legacy Applications Will Be Around For Some Time To Come

Towards the end of each summer, I participate in the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada’s “star party” at Smiley’s Provincial Park, a weekend of camping, star gazing, and lectures. It allows my inner geek to roam free, unencumbered by the constrictions of the corporate world, and it feels good.

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Office 365 More About Servers Than MS Office

I saw something new this past weekend: A laptop at the head table of a wedding. I was at my niece’s wedding and the master of ceremonies had a laptop to keep his agenda flowing smoothly and to come up with interesting games and tidbits to share with the guests.

This is Generation Z and they only know a life in which they are connected electronically — anywhere. And let’s be honest, the rest of us aren’t far behind them. Monolithic Microsoft understands this and doesn’t want to be left behind by the likes of Sun and Google, which is likely one reason they introduced Office 365.

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What Will Microsoft do With Skype Video Conferencing?

Two years ago, I wrote about using Skype for making free long-distance telephone calls. Since then Skype has progressed a great deal, to the point where Microsoft is buying the company for a whopping 8.5 billion dollars.

Time to start paying attention to Skype again, and in this article I’ll discuss its video capabilities.

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Hey, I just won a $7,000 Prize

Guess what, my entry won this contest! Worth $7,000 of free marketing from Starshot (Microsoft).

The contest was:

Write a brief synopsis between 500 and 1500 characters on why Windows 7 is a great business opportunity for you.

What I wrote was:

We are an IT consulting firm, and the only company based out of Atlantic Canada that belongs to Microsoft’s Partner Excellence Program. So we are always looking for ways of leveraging our respective brands to find more consulting work for us, and licenses sold for Microsoft. One such way is via a monthly technology column I write for the largest newspaper in the region. In October, right around the launch of Windows 7, I wrote a column on Windows 7 that was well received. I then put this article on my blog (see http://blog.nicomit.com/index.php/2009/10/windows-7-is-about-simplicity-and-responsiveness/), and now I have old-fashioned and viral marketing at work!

And what we won is:

What can $7,000 in marketing services do for your business? It can mean more demand generation, more event and telemarketing campaigns, a marketing program designed specifically for your business—quite simply, more chances to find new customer opportunities!