Microsoft late to the table again......
[hr style="width: 100%; height: 2px;"]Microsoft Develops Version of Internet Software Tools
By STEVE LOHR
Published: March 21, 2006
Microsoft faces a potent challenge as software is increasingly built and distributed as a service on the Internet. The company yesterday offered the most detailed glimpse to date of its strategic response: embrace the Internet software model, add its own offerings and link the new technology to the coming version of its Windows Vista operating system.
It is a familiar game plan for Microsoft. From the spreadsheet to the Web browser, the company has rarely been a pioneer, but it has been very successful as a fast follower in new markets.
"This is classic Microsoft strategy, never a first mover but impressive once they get focused," said Ted Schadler, an analyst at Forrester Research.
In its appeal to developers and companies, Microsoft is promoting its ability to provide Web technology that seamlessly brings together server, desktop and Internet software. Speaking of his company's plan, Bill Gates, the Microsoft chairman, said, "We will definitely have a comprehensive model. And there will be an integration benefit."
[hr style="width: 100%; height: 2px;"]Yeah. Someday. After someone else invents it.
