One of the reasons the demise of WinFS is so depressing is that a number of people figured this would at least be an indication of some kind of desktop innovation from Microsoft. Robert Scoble points out that the web killed WinFS and people don't need the type of functionality a database enabled file system would bring. Robert also points out that the WinFS technologies will be folded into future versions of SQL Server so it isn't quite dead yet.

An interesting article - Designing High-Availability Windows Systems. Contained some links to some interesting technologies and products - Marathon EverRun FT (clusters applications), Stratus - The Availability Company (servers which duplicate everything for redundancy) and Steeleye (another cluster solution).

On a related note DRBC Planning for Mainframes. I believe there are other mainframes out there other than IBM Z series (as mentioned in the article) - Unisys ClearPath for one and surely VMS would count as a mainframe OS ?

AnandTech - Windows Vista: Beta 2 Preview. Looks like a promising upgrade but nothing hugely compelling over XP.

Proof positive that pre-Elmo Sesame Street was infinitely better than post-Elmo - Stevie Wonder on Sesame Street performing Superstition.

Interesting - Squeak is the Smalltalk of the 21st Centrury.

Provocative - Time to dump Microsoft and fire your IT Manager ?. Doesn't really work for anyone that values security (who else can read your gmail ?), interoperability (does your webmail talk to your web calander ? does it sync to a PDA or mobile ?), even basic future-proofing (if your web service provider closes up what happens to their clientele and their data ?) or disaster recovery (lose your network connection and lose access to your externally hosted web apps). Still there is a grain of truth in having a simple all in one solution for small organisations (eg. Microsofts Small Business Server or Cobalts simple Qube) - if someone made a simple to install Linux server distro which bundled basic groupware, collaboration and a dms they'd be onto a winner.

Five days until I start the new job. Lots to do around the house. Lots of Solaris to learn :-)

Made a concerted effort in the last couple of weeks to complete an online Fundamentals of ITIL course. You really cannot under-estimate how big ITIL is in NZ (and the UK I guess). Personally it seems similar to the TQM/Kaizen/ISO900x fad of the late 80's/90's but with a more practical IT focus. We'll see how long it lasts - I think most mature IT organisations already have aspects of ITIL in practise already but for a newbie working in the field the theory behind ITIL will get you up to speed and propel you beyond the mere Joy of Tech usually associated with people in this profession.

On my iPod shuffle for the last few weeks (from 1st June onwards):

Post inspired by Jesse.