Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Microsoft, Microsoft, Microsoft

At work I do an unfortunately significant amount of development for Microsoft products. This usually results in building solutions in Visual Studio, which is their preferred manner of building solutions, since it is of course their own product.

Today, I had to work out how to build a solution for SharePoint, and I was presented with the most glaringly obvious example of how Microsoft are lost in their own mess of products.

To break it down, here is what I was trying to do:

Develop using Microsoft Visual Studio
Develop in Microsoft Windows 7
Develop for Microsoft SharePoint

Now, bearing in mind that VS 2010 comes PRE-LOADED with a SharePoint development environment, how hard can it be? After all, everything here is MS; no 3rd parties, where I could see integration being a problem.

However, I cannot actually start a project without SharePoint installed. OK, I'll install SharePoint. But I'm not allowed to install SharePoint without running Windows Server as my OS. Some might think "fair enough, it's a server-based application", but others, like me, thought "how many developers log into a LIVE server to develop on a different machine??". Or "insanity!" for short.

What made the whole situation amusing, was this: a step-by-step guide, written by Microsoft themselves on how to essentially fool Microsoft SharePoint into thinking you have Microsoft Windows Server instead of Microsoft Windows 7 so you can use Microsoft Visual Studio. It involved installing lots of Windows "hotfixes". The whole thing sounded like one guy at MS, tutting to himself going "nice work guys, none of these work together... and who has to save the public? Muggins here...".

Of course, even though I have everything I need locally, I can't actually connect to our external server to read data, nor can I deploy any solutions directly to the server.

The indication to me is that Microsoft, so large following their success in the 90s, have too many teams, too many products, and too little help. Huge ranges of products may provide businesses with out-of-the box solutions; but they definitely lack a "uniformed interfacing" approach when it comes to development. After all, how can any developer be expected to integrate Microsoft systems with their business, when Microsoft can't even integrate their own systems without their own special brand of "hotfix glue"...?

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Relax Before The Rush

Right before I rushed off on holiday (more on that later - I really need to catch up!) we were taken on a little treat at work...

A Relaxing Time

I say rushed off. I mean it: by the time we finished for the night I had 3hrs before a taxi to the train station! So I tried the best I could to enjoy the peaceful surroundings and amenities of Babington House, in Somerset.

The House

It's reportedly popular with the celebs for a bit of getaway; we took the entire company (minus one, who was there in spirit as well as cardboard cut-out form..) and rented out the place. And then had a sports day! How nostalgic!

A Good Throw

But of course, when the sack races, egg-and-spoon races, and well-throwing was done, we got to enjoy the heated pool, the free bar (FREE BAR!), a delightful meal, and one great party! I was remarkably tired, and with a plane to catch, I was a little disappointed I couldn't enjoy my amazing room for a lot longer!

Bedroom of Awesome

Room of Awesome

See the whole set here.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

10 Years Ago

It seemed apt to post some thoughts today, on the 10th anniversary of the attacks on September 11th, 2001. I don't want it to be cheesy, or disrespectful, or anything like that. So no pictures.

I remember the day well; it's hard not to remember "where you were" when you first turned the TV on. I was hanging about at home, with no job as I was preparing to head off to University for the first time a couple of weeks later. I was talking to friends online, who suddenly went quiet except for demands that everyone should turn the news on, right now. I remember looking at the twin towers, one on fire. I didn't think too much of it; fires happen all the time, right? Then I saw the replay of a plane flying into it... That set the whole air of disbelief for the entire day. The other plane, news of attacks on the Pentagon and other planes coming down, until the towers themselves came down. It somehow never seemed quite real; you couldn't really get your head around the scale of what was happening.

In fact, I never could quite comprehend, even from all the news cameras and amateur footage, the size of the buildings as they were toppling - never mind the amount of people they would contain. I had never been to New York, nor had I been to any city even remotely as "tall" as New York. Only once I visited New York for business last year, did I try to get my head around the size of what happened. I went to Ground Zero; not deliberately (I was merely playing tourist around South Manhattan); and it was looking up that made me realise that something so huge was so very missing, in a sudden wide open space.

Our New York office has now moved into the new WTC 7 building - I've seen the view from pictures, across the site of the original towers and the memorial pools in the old footprints. A few of the colleagues I have there; even those not from New York, and mostly unpolitical; reluctant to get into any debate on "conspiracies" or "the war on terror"; have said they find it hard to take in. I think I'll find it difficult if I'm ever there, looking over the site and still remembering so much from 10 years ago.