Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Microsoft breaks down "Live Software" strategy
Perhaps feeling the Web 2.0 pressure, to offer Windows over the Web and software as a service. They previously said they'd be doing Office via the Web, which is cool. This is the true advantage of Web 2.0-style apps like Writely and GMail. (You ever hear the myths about Flickr releasing new versions every 30 minutes?)
Of course, Microsoft being Microsoft they'd never lower themselves to using the existing "Web 2.0" moniker, so they've dubbed it "Live Software", collectively as Microsoft Live (think of the "RSS Feeds vs. Web Feeds" debacle). As a marketing guy, I question whether this will cause some confusion over the Xbox Live brand - or maybe help to integrate it.
This without doubt is going to do wonders for Microsoft's QA credibility, giving it the ability to just fix & update software and re-distribute without having to issue patches, LiveUpdate transactions, and massive press announcements. We'll all be none the wiser and have one less thing to worry about. I enjoy the benefits of Internet-hosted applications, and this certainly is the direction towards which software distribution is heading. But I don't think we should move exclusively over to browser-based apps yet. At least not for a couple of years.
Scoble even breaks down the implied deficiencies of MS moving to web-based software vs. open source models.
Photos from the rollout from michaelarrington's photostream.
Of course, Microsoft being Microsoft they'd never lower themselves to using the existing "Web 2.0" moniker, so they've dubbed it "Live Software", collectively as Microsoft Live (think of the "RSS Feeds vs. Web Feeds" debacle). As a marketing guy, I question whether this will cause some confusion over the Xbox Live brand - or maybe help to integrate it.
This without doubt is going to do wonders for Microsoft's QA credibility, giving it the ability to just fix & update software and re-distribute without having to issue patches, LiveUpdate transactions, and massive press announcements. We'll all be none the wiser and have one less thing to worry about. I enjoy the benefits of Internet-hosted applications, and this certainly is the direction towards which software distribution is heading. But I don't think we should move exclusively over to browser-based apps yet. At least not for a couple of years.
Scoble even breaks down the implied deficiencies of MS moving to web-based software vs. open source models.
Photos from the rollout from michaelarrington's photostream.
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