I saw this ad in an RSS feed today:

The ad was served up by Google’s AdSense network.

I guess Google feels a bit threatened by Windows 8. That link leads to this Google on Windows 8 page:

And indeed, the latest builds of Chrome do allow you to replace Internet Explorer on the Start screen and in the full-screen Windows 8 (aka Metro) environment.

Any Google users out there tried this yet?

Byron Acohido of USA Today has an EXCLUSIVE!!!!! poll from the makers of the free AVAST antivirus software.

If true, it suggests that American consumers are tepid about Windows 8.

Most Windows users in the U.S. know about Windows 8 but few have immediate plans to upgrade to Microsoft’s newest operating system.

What’s more, about one-third of Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP users who are ready to buy a new personal computer say they intend to switch to an Apple product.

Oh my, I’m sure they’re wringing their hands in Redmond.

On Oct. 25, the day before Windows 8 officially went on sale, Avast polled 1.6 million users of its PC anti-virus product, and got 350,000 responses, including 135,329 from U.S. Windows users.

That’s a huge sample. Of people who have deliberately chosen a free antivirus program. In other words, cheapskates.

Anyway, here’s the rest of the story.

On November 5, AVAST published another poll:

A survey of over 100,000 users of avast! Free Antivirus in the U.S. and its territories predicts [Mitt] Romney as the winner of the U.S. Presidency. …

According to AVAST’s survey, 48.9% of users who are registered voters said they will definitely vote for Romney, compared to 46.1% who will vote for Obama. Interpreted by electoral votes, it gives 290 to Romney and 230 to Obama.

So, in other words, wrong.

Kudos to AVAST to getting USA Today to report this poll seriously. The company is actually far more modest about its methodology. Here’s what they said in the press release for their Presidential poll.

“Our reasons for doing the survey weren’t political in nature,” said Vince Steckler, AVAST Software CEO. “We usually use our surveys as an instrument for improving our software and services, but we wanted to see how quickly we’d be able to obtain an extremely large, targeted sample of public opinion.”

And they also offer a disclaimer:

Various factors should be considered. For example, as all those that AVAST polled were users of the firm’s free software in the U.S., there could be economic correlations. Or, the general demographics of avast! users could skew results one way or another.

PS: If you do the math, it’s far less frightening. Here:

Avast’s poll of U.S. Windows users found 16% planned to purchase a new computer. While 68% indicated they would get one of the new Windows 8 models, 30% planned to buy an Apple iPad touch tablet, and 12%, an Apple Macintosh computer.

Hmmm, there’s a wee problem right out of the gate. 68% + 30% + 12% = 110%, which is probably indicative of voter fraud or something.

But anyway… Get out your calculators. The real numbers, if true (a shaky proposition), show that fewer than 5% of AVAST customers (30% of 16%) plan to buy an iPad to go with their PC. And 1.9% (12% of 16%) plan to switch to a Mac.

Meanwhile, close to 11% (68% of 16%) plan to buy a new Windows 8 PC, and 84% are going to stick with their current Windows PC.

No wonder the only time I ever read USA Today is when I get it free at a hotel.

This is excellent news if you use Microsoft’s SkyDrive cloud-based file storage service.

The most recent update to the SkyDrive app for Windows allows you to choose which online folders you want to sync to a local PC.

To get to this dialog box, install the SkyDrive update, right-click the SkyDrive icon in the notification area to the right of the taskbar, and click Settings. You’ll notice a new Choose Folders tab, with a slightly redundant Choose Folders button.

Here’s what the feature looks like in action:

This feature is great if you have a 25GB (or more) SkyDrive account and you want to keep some files archived there but don’t want to waste local storage or bandwidth copying those files to a PC or notebook.

The update also includes improvements in sharing files by email or on social-media services like Twitter and Facebook. For more details, see this blog post from the SkyDrive team.

California lawyer sues Microsoft claiming storage space on Surface tablet less than advertised:

Andrew Sokolowski says he bought a Surface with 32 gigabytes of storage last week. But he quickly ran out of space after loading it with music and Microsoft Word documents.

He discovered that half of the 32GB storage space was being used by the operating system and pre-installed apps.

Sokolowski filed the suit Tuesday at the Superior Court in Los Angeles. He is seeking class action status.

Microsoft says on its website that the 32GB Surface has 16GB of free space while the 64GB version has 45GB free.

Shocking. Scandalous.

Wait. You say other computers are like this too? Apple is selling this model right now:

The original 2008 MacBook Air advertised 64GB of flash storage, but according to this report the actual amount free for user data storage was 38.29 GB. After laborious tweaking, owners of the first-generation MacBook Air were able to uninstall stuff and get that free space up to around 45GB.

After poking around various Mac forums, I have determined that a fresh-out-of-the-box 2012 MacBook Air with 64GB of flash storage actually allows only 49GB of user data storage. And if that value were displayed the way Microsoft utilities measure it, the actual data storage available would be shown as roughly 46GB.

How come no one has filed a class action lawsuit against Apple yet?

Bonus points for a picture when someone shows this guy sections 2d and 2e of the Windows RT license agreement that he accepted when he set up his computer:

d. Binding arbitration. If you and the manufacturer, or Microsoft, do not resolve any dispute by informal negotiation or in small claims court, any other effort to resolve the dispute will be conducted exclusively by binding arbitration. You are giving up the right to litigate (or participate in as a party or class member) all disputes in court before a judge or jury. Instead, all disputes will be resolved before a neutral arbitrator, whose decision will be final except for a limited right of appeal under the Federal Arbitration Act. Any court with jurisdiction over the parties may enforce the arbitrator’s award.

e. Class action waiver. Any proceedings to resolve or litigate any dispute in any forum will be conducted solely on an individual basis. Neither you, the manufacturer, nor Microsoft, will seek to have any dispute heard as a class action, as a private attorney general action, or in any other proceeding in which any party acts or proposes to act in a representative capacity. No arbitration or proceeding will be combined with another without the prior written consent of all parties to all affected arbitrations or proceedings.

Maybe someone will put together a how-to guide like this one for Windows RT users.

PS: Seagate settled a similar lawsuit back in 2007.

PPS: The best explanation of how the Surface RT uses its included storage is this one from Peter Bright at Ars Technica.

I just posted this at ZDNet:

How Steven Sinofsky changed Microsoft, for better and for worse

When Steven Sinofsky moved to the Windows division in 2006, it was fundamentally broken. He leaves behind an engineering process that runs smoothly. But he also leaves a legacy of cutthroat politics and feuding between divisions. Read more…

REDMOND, Wash. — Nov. 12, 2012

Microsoft Corp. today announced that Windows and Windows Live President Steven Sinofsky will be leaving the company and that Julie Larson-Green will be promoted to lead all Windows software and hardware engineering. Tami Reller retains her roles as chief financial officer and chief marketing officer and will assume responsibility for the business of Windows. Both executives will report directly to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

These changes are effective immediately.

For what it’s worth, I think this was a mutual decision, one that had been in the works for a while. And I’m sure there were a few shouting matches along the way. You don’t get to be a senior executive at a $237-billion company without ruffling some feathers.

I actually think the “leaving immediately” is far more honest than the bullshit you often see in press releases describing an executive’s departure.

When Apple fired VP Scott Forstall, for example, the press release noted that Forstall “will be leaving Apple next year and will serve as an advisor to CEO Tim Cook in the interim.” Anyone want to take bets on how many times Mr. Forstall’s car appears in the Apple HQ parking lot over the next year as he fulfills his role as “advisor to CEO Tim Cook”? The over/under is close to zero.

I’m sure countless insiders will weigh in with their takes on what happened here. My gut reaction? For those who see this as some sort of coup, note that Sinofsky’s most trusted lieutenant, Julie Larson-Green, is taking over his spot. That’s the very definition of an orderly transition and not what happens when regime change is the goal.

Personally, I will miss Mr. Sinofsky. He could be prickly, as my ZDNet colleague Mary Jo Foley will attest. But he is indisputably capable and an absolute genius at shipping great software on time. He delivered epic releases of Office and fixed Windows after the Vista disaster. Those are accomplishments that will be taught as case studies in business schools for years to come.

I’ve spent time with Ms. Larson-Green, most recently at the Windows 8 launch in New York City in late October. She’s a capable leader and, unlike her former boss, a team builder. She has already done great things with Office and Windows. She has the potential to do much more.

It’s worth noting that Microsoft is rare among large corporations in having two women in key leadership roles at the company’s most visible division.

Good luck to all.

Bloomberg reports that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is losing patience with Google in its antitrust investigation

Google Inc. (GOOG) is being pressed by U.S. Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jonathan Leibowitz to make an offer to settle the agency’s antitrust investigation in the next few days or face a formal complaint, two people familiar with the situation said.

[…]

FTC investigators have recommended the agency issue a complaint against Google for ranking its own services higher than those of competitors, for signing exclusive agreements to provide search services to online publishers and for making it difficult for advertisers to compare data about campaigns running on rival sites by Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)’s Bing, people familiar with the investigation have said.

The staff has also recommended the agency issue a complaint against Google for misusing patent protections to block rivals’ smartphones from coming to market, the people have said.

Remember how in 1998 Microsoft said “Why should we settle this antitrust suit? We’ve done nothing wrong?” How’d that work out?

This event is over. Thanks to everyone who participated. You can read the entire chat (in reverse order) on this Storify page.

This Wednesday, I’ll be hosting a Twitter chat that I’m confident many of you will want to participate in:

Windows 8 Migration: best practices for small & medium businesses
November 14, 2012, 10AM Pacific/Noon Central/1PM Eastern/20:00 UTC

@edbott #win8migration

Along with guest experts from Microsoft and Dell, I’ll be taking your questions about how businesses should prepare for a Windows 8 migration. Whether and when to migrate, how to plan for the switch, what it takes to avoid chaos and anarchy.

Register here.

Dell is sponsoring my participation in this event, but as always I have complete independence over what I say and which questions I pick. So feel free to ask some tough ones!

You can find more details about the event in this post on Dell’s SMB “Guide to Growth” blog.

Update: After I posted this, the original link at Daring Fireball was changed, with no indication that it was changed, to a more tasteful, less offensive site. The screenshots I captured below were accurate at the time.

More thoughts over at ZDNet: How outraged should you be about ads in Windows 8 apps? Not at all

This is hilarious.

John Gruber at Daring Fireball today linked approvingly to an article on Hot Hardware, adding the following title: “Windows 8 Includes Built-in Advertising.”

Gruber’s one-word comment: “Gross.”

Why is this so funny?

Follow that link and you come to an article that complains, mildly, that the Bing apps in Windows 8 (not Windows 8 itself, mind you) have ads in them.

But here’s what that Hot Hardware web page looks like:

See the word “advertisements” right under the screenshot? That double blue underline, ironically, means that the word has been transformed into an ad. If you accidentally move your mouse pointer over it, this is what happens:

That popup appears automatically and immediately, as soon as the mouse pointer passes over the word. No clicking required. And if you move your mouse pointer away, the popup window remains open.

And three seconds later, my browser window was taken over by an auto-playing video clip, complete with obnoxious audio.

So, to review:

A Windows 8 user who chooses to use the included News, Finance, Travel, and Weather apps will see occasional ads. If they don’t like them, they can choose not to use the apps. They can even uninstall them.

Meanwhile, Gruber sends his readers to a site that uses auto-playing video popups.

Gross.

I got an email from Adobe yesterday reminding me that I needed to update some payment information for an online subscription I have with the company. (Actually, I needed to disable auto-renewal on the service, which I am no longer using, but that’s another story.)

I use Internet Explorer 10 as my default browser on Windows 8.

Clicking the link in the email opened this page:

Seriously, Adobe? You think I’m running Internet Explorer 4?

And you want me to replace it with Netscape Navigator or AOL?

This does not give me great confidence in your web-based services.