'web as a platform' and Windows Live

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What a day! Had a bunch of the usual meetings but managed to get away in the morning to catch Dare Obasajo's internal presentation at Microsoft, the 'web as a platform' (he's works in MSN platform team). Interesting timing....as he did so, things of direct relevance were happening simultaneously in San Francisco.

There's plenty of reaction to the Microsoft Live news kicking around, but there are two posts I'd to highlight.

The first is from Dare:

"From a practical perspective, when I think about Windows Live I think about three things:

  1. User-centric web applications with rich user interfaces: You can expect more applications with rich, dynamic, user interfaces such as has been shown in the Mail beta and on https://www.live.com. For the geeks out there this means that you'll be seeing a lot more AJAX applications coming out of us and a focus on software that puts the user in control of their online experience.
     
  2. Smart desktop applications that improve the Windows user experience: The MSN division has slowly become Microsoft's consumer software division. From desktop search to instant messaging, a number of key applications that were once thought of as bits that ship with the operating system are now being shipped on a more frequent basis by MSN. With Windows Live, this reality is being acknowledged and embraced. Expect to see more beneficial integration between consumer applications coming from Microsoft and our web properties such as the integration between MSN Messenger & MSN Spaces.
  3. The Web as a platform: https://msdn.microsoft.com/msn was just the beginning, expect a lot more. Coincidentally I just finished giving a presentation to a few hundred of my co-workers from across the company on MSN Windows Live services as a Web platform. This is definitely an area I will be spending a lot of my time on in the following months."

One of the points Dare was keen to stress at the presentation today is how Windows Live is not Hailstorm 2.0. I hope to hear more from him on this topic. If you're interested to hear an informed view of where this is all heading, I suggest you subscribe to Dare:

"There is going to be a lot written about Windows Live over the next couple of days and a lot of it will be inaccurate or fueled by speculation. What I've written above is as accurate a picture as I can paint based on the knowledge I have as someone who now works on this stuff."

The second view I'd like to point out is from Tim O'Reilly who was reporting 'live' from SF. His take on the Windows Live news is worth taking into consideration given his push of the Web 2.0 concept (as an aside: at his session today Dare only used the phrase Web 2.0 to describe how 'pundits' describe the 'web as a platform'...looks like Microsoft is now terming this 'live software', I think it is fair to say we're all talking about the same thing).

Tim is essentially mapping Web 2.0 map and what Microsoft is up to.:

"Bill articulates five "Live" Principles, remarkably similar to some of the points I've talked about as Web 2.0: His list:

  • Software plus service
  • Server = Service
  • Support multiples pcs and devices
  • Multiple styles of client
  • Combination of client software, peer-to-peer, and internet services

This isn't quite software as a service as we normally talk about it. The bullet "server = service" focuses on the intent to give customers the option to have services run on either on premise or in the cloud. The idea of supporting multiple PCs and devices, is very much what I've discussed under the heading "Software above the level of a single device." Devices cited include the PC, phone, car, game console, camera, and even wristwatch. There's an emphasis on rich client experiences. The trend that Macromedia started a few years back, that AJAX has fueled, is front and center here, but with an emphasis on the seamless cross-device aspect. Finally, we hear about the integration of internet services as a fundamental part of everything, with P2P, and not just web, being a core part of what is discussed."

I'm looking forward to Richard's views on all this once the dust starts to settle.

My view? As I've said before, I think we'll need to take a historical perspective.

"The real test is this: At some point in the future will we collectively look back upon this stage of the Internet's development and agree that there was something new, transforming and profound going on with the web? I happen to believe so."