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The Rich Client Strikes Back: Microsoft is redefining the application interface around rich clients, and if Java does not have an answer, it faces being cut off from end users. The answer lies in matching Microsoft's richness while trumping it on security
Posted by pbrittan on January 15, 2004 at 11:49 PST | Permalink | Discuss (16)  

Security Strategies: The IT security outlook just seems to be getting worse. Maybe it's time to change the rules.
Posted by pbrittan on December 15, 2003 at 09:30 PST | Permalink | Discuss (4)  

Fighting With Everyone: Microsoft's campaign to take over the world is bringing it into conflict with a few people.
Posted by pbrittan on December 10, 2003 at 13:51 PST | Permalink | Discuss (1)  

The Battle Over Java: Is the cold war between Sun and IBM over Java heating up?
Posted by pbrittan on December 08, 2003 at 19:39 PST | Permalink | Discuss (6)  

Microsoft retrenches around fat clients: Microsoft is leading a charge back to the desktop. Will the world follow?
Posted by pbrittan on November 11, 2003 at 07:21 PST | Permalink | Discuss (10)  

Confusion between grid and utility computing: Widespread adoption still depends on the computer industry getting its definitions straight and clearing up the lingering customer confusion about these two related--but separate--concepts.
Posted by pbrittan on October 31, 2003 at 09:51 PST | Permalink | Discuss (2)  

Open Standards Definitions: What do we mean by open standards anyhow?
Posted by pbrittan on October 21, 2003 at 09:07 PST | Permalink | Discuss (5)  

Sun: Threatened by Standards?: Can 'standards' and 'standardization' be two unrelated concepts?
Posted by pbrittan on October 17, 2003 at 06:39 PST | Permalink | Discuss (10)  

RAD Tool Let-down: Rapid application development tools let you put together a great-looking mock-up of your app in no time, but often are of little use for the production version of your system. Visual GUI builders and data-aware controls are two such culprits.
Posted by pbrittan on October 15, 2003 at 09:29 PST | Permalink | Discuss (13)  

ROI of UI Technology: There are three main factors that affect the return on investment of any user interface technology: ease of use of the application, ease of deployment and on-going maintenance, and ease of initial development.
Posted by pbrittan on October 14, 2003 at 06:29 PST | Permalink | Discuss (4)  

Embrace, Extend, Extinguish on the browser?: Is Microsoft ready to move onto the 'extinguish' phase with the Web browser?
Posted by pbrittan on October 09, 2003 at 06:31 PST | Permalink | Discuss (2)  

Open Standards: Apps and Infrastructure: One valuable capability of open standards is to let customers decouple application decisions from infrastructure choices
Posted by pbrittan on September 30, 2003 at 09:31 PST | Permalink | Discuss (2)  

Avalon: A new UI for Windows: Avalon gives Microsoft an opportunity to demonstrate its leverage over the user experience and to shake up competitors.
Posted by pbrittan on September 29, 2003 at 13:35 PST | Permalink | Discuss (13)  

Microsoft and Web Services: Web Services are a way for Microsoft to leverage the existing base of J2EE without having to do anything to support Java explicitly.
Posted by pbrittan on September 22, 2003 at 10:06 PST | Permalink | Discuss (2)  

Building software that matters: Industry gurus claiming that technology no longer matters to Corporate America may be drawing the wrong conclusion from the wrong evidence.
Posted by pbrittan on September 17, 2003 at 13:42 PST | Permalink | Discuss (6)  

Pre-Integrated Airplanes: If the IT industry wants to be more like other, mature manufacturing industries, then large vendors need to be willing and able to integrate and resell software components as easily as they do hardware parts
Posted by pbrittan on September 10, 2003 at 11:01 PST | Permalink | Discuss (4)  

.NET on Linux, part 2 - "It's the API, stupid": Speculation on a strategy for Microsoft to co-opt Linux
Posted by pbrittan on September 04, 2003 at 07:56 PST | Permalink | Discuss (6)  

"I wonder when the Java developers will be as happy as the Mickeys": What do you think about when you write Java?
Posted by pbrittan on September 03, 2003 at 06:03 PST | Permalink | Discuss (11)  

.NET on Linux: Could Microsoft co-opt Linux?
Posted by pbrittan on September 02, 2003 at 07:34 PST | Permalink | Discuss (3)  

Java vs. .NET, part 5 - Rich thin clients: Let Java play to its strengths and co-opt Microsoft’s advantages
Posted by pbrittan on August 26, 2003 at 06:37 PST | Permalink | Discuss (12)  

Java vs. .NET, part 4 - Java is a language, .NET is not: Java takes a language-specific approach to solving problems, .NET takes a platform-specific one
Posted by pbrittan on August 22, 2003 at 09:09 PST | Permalink | Discuss (5)  

The Internet Has Been Good to Microsoft Office: Standards, and corresponding monopolies, can occur naturally
Posted by pbrittan on August 21, 2003 at 14:32 PST | Permalink | Discuss (11)  

Java vs. .NET, part 3 - Open Standards: Java's traditional weapon of choice
Posted by pbrittan on August 21, 2003 at 07:33 PST | Permalink | Discuss (6)  

Blackout: Single points of failure can be entire systems. Prevention may lie in "fencing in".
Posted by pbrittan on August 19, 2003 at 07:05 PST | Permalink | Discuss (5)  

XP, User Champions, and Software Vendors: Software vendors are in a better position than enterprises to have the full-time user champions that Extreme Programming requires
Posted by pbrittan on August 13, 2003 at 06:28 PST | Permalink | Discuss (2)  

ASP.NET and Smart Clients: Microsoft makes money from Windows desktops, not from browsers
Posted by pbrittan on August 12, 2003 at 06:54 PST | Permalink | Discuss (6)  

Paradigm Shifts: Sometimes you want them, sometimes you need them
Posted by pbrittan on August 08, 2003 at 07:48 PST | Permalink | Discuss (2)  

Java vs. .NET, part 2 - The Nature of the Beast: What is Microsoft trying to do?
Posted by pbrittan on August 06, 2003 at 11:35 PST | Permalink | Discuss (17)  

Docs >> Forms >> Apps: There is a natural evolution of platform technologies from document publishing to forms processing to application delivery. The Web is the leading example of this, but Adobe Acrobat PDF and Microsoft InfoPath are on their way.
Posted by pbrittan on August 05, 2003 at 10:10 PST | Permalink | Discuss (5)  

Software Usability Case Study: Novices and Power Users: Yes, you can support both
Posted by pbrittan on August 04, 2003 at 17:31 PST | Permalink | Discuss (2)  

Brittan’s Rules of Software Usability: Some broad ideas about what makes software usable
Posted by pbrittan on August 01, 2003 at 07:39 PST | Permalink | Discuss (2)  

Why is my cell phone so much more powerful and easy to use than my desktop phone?: Is it because of competition?
Posted by pbrittan on July 31, 2003 at 08:39 PST | Permalink | Discuss (4)  

Java vs. .NET, part 1 - Usability: Microsoft has the upper hand on the usability front
Posted by pbrittan on July 30, 2003 at 13:34 PST | Permalink | Discuss (19)  

Server-Based: Yes, I do love servers.
Posted by pbrittan on July 30, 2003 at 06:36 PST | Permalink | Discuss (2)  

No More Programmers: Can visual development tools obviate the need for programmers?
Posted by pbrittan on July 29, 2003 at 11:12 PST | Permalink | Discuss (7)  

Welcome: Welcome to Philip Brittan's Blog
Posted by pbrittan on July 29, 2003 at 11:09 PST | Permalink | Discuss (1)