Good week/Bad week

Find out what is hot to trot and what is chillier than a Met Office-predicted cold snap

GOOD WEEK

Windows 8

At least Microsoft reckons it's been a good week for Windows 8, after proudly ann¬ouncing it has shifted 60 million licences of the new OS. The vendor claims this represents "a similar sales trajectory" to its predecessor. Possibly in the sense that all products have "a similar sales trajectory", where some people buy it and others don't. Some killjoys have pointed out that big-name vendors including Fujitsu and Acer have lamented tepid Windows 8 systems sales. Other party poopers have noted that it is unclear how much of the sales figure is accounted for by new licence sales and how much by lower-cost upgrades, and also what percentage of the 60 million have actually been sold to end users rather than sitting in OEM or resale channels. But we'd like to remind Microsoft of the immortal wisdom of short-lived R&B outfit 3LW: "Playas gon' play, them haters gon' hate."

Brent McCarty

It's been an absolute barnstormer for the new UK and Ireland boss of Ingram Micro. Not only has he snared a high-profile executive role, but he gets to escape the affluent hellhole of Scottsdale, Arizona, with its 20ºC January temperatures and vibrant nightlife. The Canadian distribution exec should land in his new home of Milton Keynes just in time to be invigorated by the cold snap. He must also surely be hoping to arrive early enough to take part in the upcoming annual charity Zumbathon at the Monkston Park Community Centre. May we be the first to offer you a warm welcome to the UK, Brent. Fish and chips and pints of mild all round, we say!

Tablets

What once looked like a passing fad is now truly a world beater. Yes, 2013 will belong to the tablet as shipments of the touchy-feely device leave the humble notebook standing. According to analyst NPD Display Search, tablet shipments will reach 240 million this year as punters are dazzled by an ever-widening array of devices varying from 5.6in to 13.3in. With projected shipments of a measly 207 million, laptops are very much looking like yesterday's man, with the humble desktop resembling a Victorian relic. NPD added that 7in devices will predominate in 2013, guaranteeing at least another 12 months of smutty headlines from the tech press.

BAD WEEK

Welsh taxpayers

If South Wales taxpayers thought the dust had settled after last year's scandal which saw publicly funded laptops worth ￡1m sitting in storage following a procurement row, then they were wrong. The dust had, in fact, settled upon an additional ￡800,000 worth of wireless networking kit which was also revealed last week to be keeping the laptops company in storage. Following a flurry of Freedom of Information requests sent by CRN, Torfaen Council eventually held its hands up and told us about the extra kit. Torfaen and neighbouring council Monmouthshire, who jointly procured the kit, blame Newport Council for pulling out at the last minute, leaving them with the equipment; a claim Newport denies. The Welsh government is continuing its talks with both councils about what will happen to the equipment, but these talks have been going on for months, so we're not holding our breath for an outcome any time soon.

Procurement chiefs

Navigating the way through the complex minefield of licensing and software asset management (SAM) can be a difficult task, and one we on the CRN newsdesk do not envy one bit. But it seems there could be even more traps to fall into, as SAM vendor License Dashboard warned that virtualised environments can mean firms need up to six times as many licences as they thought they did. The vendor put the blame on the confusion between user and device-based licences, and points to VMware's DRS product as a prime candidate, claiming that according to its own studies, DRS can increase licence requirements by 500 per cent with the flick of a switch.