It appears that Microsoft has announced the versions for Windows Vista. There is an article on engadget that lists 6 different versions. I don't know how much of these new versions are the result of market surveys and how much it is the result of lawsuits over the bundling of tools but I think it will be confusing for some people. I suspect that the big box retailers will have just one or maybe two different versions that they sell and it will pretty much boil down to you buying that one but I can see problems for programmers if we have to remember what version of the OS has what tools installed on it and more especially if certain functionality is disabled because you don't have the right version.

I just read an opinion piece at http://www.onstrategies.com/filesnew/perspectives/perspectivescurrent.html that has a quote about the Open Source Software business model and likens it to the Internet bubble that we experienced not that long ago. The relevant quote is:

Does mean that open source has finally become a viable business?
 
According to a Forbes online filing, the answer's no. Likening the open source rush to
the dot com bubble, Forbes says that this time around, customers are also placing
themselves at risk. According to an eWeek account of an elite CIO panel last fall, few
considered open source technology or business models adequately proven.
 
The Forbes article added that open source wasn't such a great deal for vendors either.
"Problem is, most people just take the free stuff and run." Exhibit A? Barely 3% to 5% of
JBoss customers buy support contracts.

The article then goes on to talk about 3 different OSS models. I found it very interesting reading.

The February Geek Dinner is coming up next Wednesday night. It will be held at the Miller Business Innovation Center at 6 PM. Here is a description that came in my e-mail with a link at the bottom to sign up for the event.

**EVENT SUMMARY**
DevUtah's February Geek Dinner will be held at the Miller Business
Innovation Center on Wednesday February 22 at 6 PM.

David Spann and Alistair Cockburn will lead a discussion on “Introducing
Agile to the Organization”. If you’ve heard of Agile methodologies but
can’t get others in your organization interested; or if you’ve been a
member of a high performing Agile team but can’t find the right words to
convince upper management to spread the “gospel”, this discussion may be
helpful. David and Alistair will take your questions before they begin
and will respond to as many as possible. Being agile by nature, they
want to meet your (the customer’s) interest. If you’ve only heard about
Agile, feel free to do a little research and post beginner questions as
well.

**SPEAKERS**
David Spann is high-tech management consultant who focuses teams on
making a reasonable return on investment while exceeding customer
expectations. David has helped conduct each of the annual Agile Software
Conferences since the first one held at Westminster College in 2002 and
is currently involved with Alistair Cockburn in developing Utah's Agile
Project Leadership Network.

Alistair Cockburn is an internationally known project witchdoctor and
strategist. He co-authored the 2001 Manifesto for Agile Software
Development and the 2005 project management "Declaration of
Inter-Dependence" and has written several best-selling books.

**MENU**
A build-your-own taco buffet will be catered by Megan Faulkner Brown.

The meal cost is $12. You can prepay from the wiki or just bring cash to
pay at the door.

Please RSVP:
http://www.phil801.com/devutah/index.php?title=2006_February_Event

Fellow Regional Director and all around nice guy J. Michael Palermo IV has done it again. He has written a valentine day love story that geeks can truly appreciate. You can read it at http://weblogs.asp.net/palermo4/archive/2006/02/14/DotNetLovePartII.aspx

It looks like the folks in Boise are planning on having a code camp next month. It is on March 18. If you would like to attend or even better speak at this event you can get more information at http://www.boisecodecamp.org.

I have never attended a code camp but from everything that I hear they are a lot of fun. It is also a wonderful opportunity for people who are thinking that they might want to get into speaking to start to get some experience talking about something that is interesting to them.

I was catching up on some old e-mail and saw that .NET-2-The-Max site at http://www.dotnet2themax.com/ is back in operation. I haven't spent a lot of time looking over their newly designed site but I loved the original version. I am looking forward to lots of good articles, tips, and code from them.

On March 20-22 Microsoft will be holding the MIX conference at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. If you want to go but can't get your company to pay for it, or you work for yourself and can't convince the boss to let you go :) you still have a chance to attend. You can enter a contest to redesign the MIX homepage. 3 lucky winners will get a pass to the show. You can get the full details at http://blog.mix06.com/blog/archive/2006/02/05/154.aspx or register for the conference at http://www.mix06.com.

I just registered so I will plan on seeing you there.

I just read an editorial at http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=13568 entitled UNIX Security: Don't Believe the Truth. Aside from the authors assertion that UNIX is more secure than Windows and his refusal to entertain any other opinion (for the record I think it is somewhat akin to saying Orem, UT is safer than New York, NY because there are fewer crimes) I thought it was a good piece. The main point is that even though most users do not run with sufficent privileges to allow the OS to be damaged by a virus, the stuff the user cares about can be damaged. The exact same thing is possible when running Windows as a non-administrative user. I had an experience where not being an administrator saved me from a virus infection.

One other interesting tidbit was the advertisement that was playing along with the article. I normally ignore the ads but this one was for the Microsoft sponsored "Get the Facts" campaign on whether Linux or Windows Server 2003 is a better purchase for enterprises. It seemed ironic to me.