Dave-

If you’re listening, your software rocks.  Now how about a price that’s a little bit easier on the home user’s wallet?  DAVE works exactly as promised and is a savior for dual-platform households.  I wish I could say the same for the supposed “Windows Compatibility” features in OS X “Panther”.  $150 is much too expensive, though, for the casual home user with just a couple of computers – one that happens to be a Mac.

Best Regards,

Bob 

Thursby Software Systems Inc. has introduced DAVE v5, a new version of its Macintosh software tool that enables them to work more effectively with Microsoft networks.
[MacCentral]

Own SBS 2003?  Sign up for your free CALs.  Glad to see that we’re proactively working to make things right when we screw up.  First rule of customer service – “Acknowledge your mistake, apologize and then make it right.” 

Microsoft is trying to do right by its customers’ problems.

As I blogged previously, Windows Server 2003 users installing the software after Nov. 24, 2003, are likely to encounter a nasty installation error related to a bug in Windows SharePoint Services. According to a Microsoft support document: "This problem is caused by code that verifies the signatures of the dynamic-link libraries (DLL) that are installed with Windows SharePoint Services. An error in the verification algorithm does not permit the signatures of the DLLs to be verified."

As I blogged two weeks ago, Microsoft has yet to update some Internet Explorer digital certificates, which could be used during software installation. When did the first group expire? On Nov. 24, of course.

Anyway, Microsoft is trying to suave some customers’ tired frustrations, and that’s a smart make-it-right approach. The company is giving Small Business Server 2003 owners five free client-access licenses for their troubles. Considering CALs cost $99 a piece, the giveaway is no small consolation. Small Business Server 2003 includes Windows Server 2003, which includes Windows SharePoint Services. This Web page offers information on how to obtain the free CALs and a replacement CD for disc 3.

For the smallest businesses using SBS 2003, the CAL giveaway is potentially a big bonus for their troubles. Consider that the low-end version of SBS 2003 costs $599 with five CALs; servers with the software can be found for under $1,000. It doesn’t take much math to see the benefit of $500 in free CALs. That works out to 10 CALs for that $599 price.

The giveaway is yet another sign that Microsoft’s increased emphasis on customer service is for real. Microsoft executives don’t like to talk about it, but the U.S. government’s antitrust trial laid bare a surprising number of dissatisfied customers and partners.

Particularly with CEO Steve Ballmer’s call to make customer satisfaction a top priority--maybe demand given customer satisfaction is now tied to employee compensation--Microsoft is changing its ways for the better.

[Microsoft Monitor]

I say we all get together and hold one of these ourselves…the Japanese have figured it all out.  Bring your PCs to my house and we’ll decorate the garage, light some candles and send those pesky glitches back from whence they came.  (I’m kidding.  If you actually show up at my house, I’ll probably call the police.)

Caption: "Japanese businessmen hold a service aimed at fending off viruses and glitches for their computers in a purification ceremony conducted by a Shinto priest according to Shinto rituals at Kanda Myojin shrine in Tokyo January 6 2004."

Where are the Macs in this picture? Are they pure of virii and glitches?
[Niall Kennedy's Weblog]