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Microsoft Prepares For 'disruptive' changes

2005-11-10T02:38:00.000-08:00

Aiming to stir up the same kind of momentum as his Internet Tidal Wave memo of a decade earlier, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has penned a memo outlining the challenges Microsoft faces from a host of online competitors.
"This coming 'services wave' will be very disruptive," Gates said in an Oct. 30 e-mail to top Microsoft employees, which was seen by CNET News.com. "We have competitors who will seize on these approaches and challenge us."
In the memo, Gates cites an earlier missive from Ray Ozzie, outlining the importance of tapping online advertising and services as new revenue sources.

"It's clear that if we fail to do so, our business as we know it is at risk," Ozzie wrote. "We must respond quickly and decisively."
Ozzie's memo, which was also seen by CNET News.com, includes a laundry list of missed opportunities for the software maker, citing competitive threats from rivals such as Google, Skype, Research In Motion and Adobe. In September, Microsoft announced that it was reorganizing itself into three units and tapping Ozzie to lead a companywide services push. Last week, Microsoft announced the first fruits of that effort--products called Windows Live and Office Live. Windows Live combines many of Microsoft's existing MSN services into an advertising-supported product for consumers, while Office Live is a set of services, some free and some paid, aimed at small businesses.
Although Microsoft had already announced those moves, the two memos shed light on the urgency and importance the company is attaching to these plans.
Ozzie notes areas that Microsoft could have led, such as Web-based applications, but where other companies are instead more heavily focused.
"We should've been leaders with all our web properties in harnessing the potential of Ajax, following our pioneering work in OWA (Outlook Web Access)," Ozzie wrote. "We knew search would be important, but through Google's focus they've gained a tremendously strong position."
In the memo, Ozzie talks about Google as the most prominent of Microsoft's emerging competitors, but also makes reference to Yahoo and Apple Computer.

"Google is obviously the most visible here, although given the hype level it is difficult to ascertain which of their myriad initiatives are simply adjuncts intended to drive scale for their advertising business, or which might ultimately grow to substantively challenge our offerings," Ozzie wrote. "Although Yahoo also has significant communications assets that combine software and services, they are more of a media company and--with the notable exception of their advertising platform--they seem to be utilizing their platform capabilities largely as an internal asset.
"The same is true of Apple, which has done an enviable job integrating hardware, software and services into a seamless experience with dotMac, iPod and iTunes, but seems less focused on enabling developers to build substantial products and businesses," wrote Ozzie, who joined Microsoft as chief technical officer earlier this year when his company, Groove Networks, was acquired by the software maker.
He also cites smaller, emerging companies that are developing software and services that use the Internet, rather than Windows, as their base platform.
"Developers needing tools and libraries to do their work just search the Internet, download, develop and integrate, deploy, refine," Ozzie wrote. "Speed, simplicity and loose coupling are paramount."
At the same time, Ozzie sees an opportunity if Microsoft can create a Web-based development platform.
"The work of these startups could be improved with a 'services platform'," Ozzie said. "Ironically, the same things that enable and catalyze rapid innovation can also be constraints to their success. "
Microsoft has talked of a developer platform in conjunction with Windows Live, but the company has offered few details of how third parties will be able to build on top of Microsoft's work.

He also points to the fact that although Microsoft's Office is ubiquitous, it is Adobe's PDF file that has emerged as the key means of sending formatted documents on the Web. Microsoft is proposing its own rival to PDF, known as Metro, with Windows Vista, its new operating system that is due out next year. The company will also support PDF in the next version of Office, due next year.
Gates says that despite the threats, "the opportunity for us to lead is very clear."
"More than any other company, we have the vision, assets, experience, and aspirations to deliver experiences and solutions across the entire range of digital workstyle & digital lifestyle scenarios, and to do so at scale, reaching users, developers and businesses across all markets."
Details of the memos were reported late Tuesday by the Wall Street Journal.

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Should other service providers feel threatened...? You have a say!

Windows Live!

2005-11-04T04:46:00.000-08:00

Is Windows Live just another Microsoft ploy to counter Google's Personalised Homepage and My Yahoo!?

Have your say by posting comments here!

Microsoft's Vista Ideas!

2005-11-04T04:35:00.000-08:00

Here's what Microsoft has to say about the soon-to-be-released Windows Vista
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Windows Vista introduces a new level of confidence to the experience of using your computer. Beyond the design aesthetic of Windows Vista, the fundamentals of the operating system free you from worrying about security, reliability, and managing your computer. You are in control.
Security is fundamental to the Windows Vista architecture. Windows Vista security features protect against the latest generation of threats, such as worms, viruses, and spyware. In the unlikely event of a successful attack, Windows Vista ensures that the effects are minimal. With Windows Vista, you can connect to whomever you want and do the things that you want to do, confident that Windows Vista is keeping your information and your computer safer.
A more powerful and more secure system
Parental Controls: Windows Vista introduces a rich set of parental control features, providing powerful tools to help parents monitor, manage, and administer their children's computer usage to keep them safe.
Fast On and Off: A Windows Vista computer starts and shuts down as quickly and reliably as a television, typically within 2 to 3 seconds. Windows Vista processes login scripts and startup programs and services in the background so you can start working right away. You'll also shut down and restart your computer less often by using the New Sleep state, a simple one-click on and off experience which not only reduces power consumption, but also delivers and protects user data.
Diagnostics: Built in diagnostics will help you detect, analyze, and fix problems such as failing hard drives, networking and performance issues more quickly and easily and help keep your computer running smoothly.
User Account Protection: Windows Vista User Account Protection bridges the gap between user and administrative privileges by running programs with limited permissions. When you need to perform an administrative task, such as installing software or drivers, Windows Vista prompts you to confirm your intentions or to provide the proper administrator credentials.
Businesses can also help protect their employee's systems data without affecting productivity by using seamlessly-implemented Standard User Accounts.
More intuitive and easier to use
New look and feel: When you start using Windows Vista, you will recognize familiar elements such as the Start menu and task bar. Beyond the familiar, however, the overall Windows experience is redesigned and streamlined so that it is more intuitive, more attractive, and easier for you to use so you can accomplish tasks more efficiently.
Familiarity: Because Windows Vista is built on technology that you are already familiar with, you can get up to speed quickly with minimal training and support.
Media Center: Enjoy all your favorite entertainment — including live and recorded TV, movies, music, and pictures — in one place through an easy-to-use Media Center menu system and remote control.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I really dunno about the other aspects, but the world already knows about Microsoft's claims to better security...Can they make it BIG with Vista?

Microsoft and Apple Hand-in-Hand??!

2005-11-04T04:21:00.000-08:00

If you play "Project Gotham Racing 3" on an Xbox 360 after the console hits stores later this month, Microsoft invites you to use tunes straight off your iPod as an alternative to the game's sound track.
Officially, the company says the new console can stream music from just about any MP3 player. But during a preview of the next-generation console in San Francisco last month, Microsoft execs talked up the interoperability between iPods and the Xbox 360.
"When you plug your iPod in," Xbox digital-entertainment executive producer Jeff Henshaw told CNET News.com, "the Xbox 360 automatically detects that it's there. You can browse by artist or album or genre or by custom playlist."

However, because of the iPod's digital-rights-management software, the Xbox 360 cannot stream songs purchased from Apple's iTunes Music Store, Henshaw said.
There's a reason for that: Microsoft built its iPod connection without the support of the folks at Apple.
"We do not have an official relationship with Apple for the iPod connectivity," said Scott Henson, product unit manager in Microsoft's advanced technology group. He maintains that "Xbox 360 leverages standard protocols such as USB mass storage to enable iPod support."
Henshaw said Microsoft tried to "engage" Apple in a partnership that would have officially made the iPod interoperable with Xbox, but Apple rejected the overture.
"So we went in and built all of the support we could," Henshaw said. Microsoft plans to release the new Xbox in North America on Nov. 22.
Apple has been pitching a very different approach for those who want to connect to its popular music player. Through its so-called "Made for iPod" program, the Cupertino, Calif., company is attempting to collect royalties from the maker of any accessory device that interfaces with an iPod through its "dock connector."
Apple would not comment for this story.
iPod owners will be able to connect their digital music devices through one of the Xbox 360's three high-speed USB ports. They'll be able to access an Xbox menu that will let them scroll through songs, artists, genres and the like and select songs to play in games' backgrounds. Users will also be able to stream photos off their iPods for playback of slide shows on the Xbox.
"We expect Apple will have some retaliation ready within days or hours of the Xbox 360 shipping."
--Richard Doherty, president, Envisioneering
Henshaw said the Xbox 360 would be able to stream any standard MP3 file or AAC file from an iPod, but not protected songs purchased through the iTunes Music Store. Those songs, he said, will appear grayed out in menus on the Xbox.
He also said that Microsoft was working around Apple's assertion of control over the iPod's dock connector by making the "Xbox 360 use a very standard USB port for connectivity. We just rely on the USB cable that Apple ships with iPods."
Henshaw wouldn't comment when asked if Microsoft had had to perform any reverse engineering in order to get songs to stream onto the Xbox 360 from an iPod.
But Neil Benson, the creator of iPodcopy, a software package that enables users to move music off their iPods, said making this connection is more complicated than Microsoft is letting on.
"The trick is finding the right files," Benson said. An iPod "scatters the music files across random directories and renames them, so they're really hard to find."
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Well. Everyone knows how Microsoft and Apple are always at loggerheads. Maybe, just maybe, this could be Microsoft's ploy to bite into Apple's share of the MP3 player pie.

Hi!

2005-11-04T04:12:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my blog....i'll be using this blog to mainly post about technology...please feel free to go through my blog and contact me if you like it.

Thx