Stories by Jonathan Hassell

Reviewer Jonathan Hassell takes you through the highlights, and some lowlights, of the newly available Microsoft operating system.

United Airlines just can't win. Last week a data center hardware failure grounded caused nine cancellations and 580 delays. Recently, too, the carrier's computer systems let members of its Mileage Plus frequent traveler program book reservations involving either a connection or a final destination in Hong Kong, for travel in the first-class cabin (where purchased tickets can go for more than $15,000), for as little as four--yes, four--miles roundtrip.

Spring and summer school sessions have ended, and, if you're like a number of organizations around the globe, you have a giant pile of resumes and just a handful of openings for some fresh faces to join your firm at the bottom rungs of the corporate ladder. Hiring the right person is a difficult process, but managing the new employees--or, let's be honest, managing any employee--is even more challenging. Nobody sets out to be a bad manager, but that transformation can happen over time if your policies and your behavior are left unchecked.

The release of Windows Server 2012 is just around the corner, with the initial code due to be sent to manufacturing this month and general availability coming in September.

It's lacking enough functionality to make it worth waiting for subsequent versions, Jonathan Hassell says, unless you're building Azure apps right now.

The argument that IT no longer matters has resurfaced. In this age of consumerization, BYOD and the cloud, IT departments are, in fact, vital to any business, able to create value and sort the wheat from the chaff as stakeholders eye new investments or money-saving ideas.

Windows Server 2012 Release Preview features a better virtual desktop experience, much easier DirectAccess deployment and a full-scale file-classification and access control system.

Last month's Windows 8 Release Preview provided a sneak peek at what Metro apps will look like. The non-Metro desktop remains a mystery, though, so enterprises hoping to at least decide whether to adopt Windows 8 may need to wait until its final release.

The Microsoft Surface and Surface Pro tablets seem to strike a nice balance between work and play. However, Microsoft will need more than a built-in keyboard to woo iPad users. Oh, and then there's the risk that the device is a slap in the face to Redmond's OEM partners.

Microsoft is trying to move toward the Cloud while propping up Windows, Office and other client-based money-makers. As the software giant moves in those two directions, there are a few things it would rather not talk about.

If you're like most enterprises, you have data everywhere. It's in line-of-business applications. It's in directories. It's in various departmental servers. It's in your e-commerce platform. To manage all this, most shops use databases of all sizes running on a variety of operating systems and database applications, often from different vendors and editions. Chances are, they're not consistent.

It's time to rethink some old, and now outdated, security truisms that enable a very scary kind of attack.