Sure it's been awhile, sure more Apple macbooks are found across campuses nation-wide (not like it says anything about the OS they are running), sure the iPhone continues to enjoy monumental success. But what does this mean for the giant that started it all? How about showing why Microsoft started it, and will continue to dominate for years to come.
Awhile back ago, the great Bill Gates officially left his job at Microsoft to focus on the Melinda and Gates foundation and remain solely a "voice" at the company. He decided to leave the company in the hands of what Bill referred to as "One of the top five programmers in the universe." He speaks of the new fearless leader, Ray Ozzie. Then again, how many people know/care that Bill left and that Ray is here? What does it mean for the future of the company that started it all? More importantly what has Ray given to technological acheivements? To society? To Microsoft?
Most great standards of technology today have people that often go unknown in the world. Ray Ozzie birthed the software known as "Lotus Notes." For those of you that don't know what LotusNotes and the Lotus software structure did, it offered a means of centralized email, calender, and file sharing management. Several employees of a company stored their email contacts, files, even instant messages on a server that relayed these between themselves. If this sounds like Microsoft Exchange Server, you'd be 100% correct. Exchange server as most small businesses and large businesses alike are familiar with is a means of sharing Outlook contacts, calender, email, etc with other members of an organization. The overlap of these softwares is no coincidence even though Ozzie had nothing to do with the development of Exchange. If Bill Gates were Jesus, and redeemed technology to make it better for everyone...Ozzie was the Buddha, doing it all years before him.
But I'm not attacking Bill Gates, I'm not praising Ozzie, and I'm not trying to be sacreligious. But this is just how history went.
Great story, still doesn't show what Ozzie has done for Microsoft.
No doubt, we've all experienced or had to deal with Windows Vista in some shape or form. More so, we've all felt the wrath of the new Microsoft Office 2007. Tabbed interface, menu bar is gone, everything has changed. No doubt everyone from the PC (personal confuser) to experienced IT person has essentially had to relearn Office. Office 2007 incorporates a single Ozzie like feature that is ONLY available in the most elite of Office suites (Office Enterprise). This feature, program really, is better known as Office Groove. Groove is Lotus, only in a nicer, friendlier, Microsoft package. For the first time, Groove will integrate file sharing directly into Windows. Any folder can be instantly synced with any person in the world. You change a file, it changes for them and vice versa. But why not 12 people, 50, as many people as you want. It's de-centralized, collaborative filesharing. Which is great! Any file I want!? Any person?! What are the downsides?!?!
A 2gb folder limit. You'll quickly find yourself making a lot of folders or maybe no one buys Office 2007 because of rumors that "it's harder to use." With that being said, who is going to drop the money on Office Enterprise? Sure you can buy Groove independent of Office Enterprise for a mere $60. But how would you have known of it's existance otherwise? To say the least, Fail.
Well, maybe not fail. That was a bit harsh, DorkCorp immediatley started using Groove and have reaped the benefits since it's release. We don't forget files, we don't have to worry about who has a more up to date version of the file. One file, several places. It's almost as though it's own form of backup. It's brilliant. But apart from the 2gb folder limit, we can't exactly use this on MacOS, we can't access it from a phone, we can't access it from another computer...wow this just got limiting. If anyone of our computers goes down, we are right back where we started, email. But that's why we got Groove! No more emailing! Groove even supports instant messaging! Why Groove, why?!!?
Then the iPhone was invented. It seemed as though technology had a fresh new face, literally. MobileMe rolled out with it, pushing this new "cloud" technology. Erase a contact on your phone, and the same contact is erased from your Outlook at home on a Windows or Mac based computer. $100 a year, online file storage, Outlook synchronization, but no real file sharing. Just a centralized place to upload files too. Brilliant, right? Wrong. MobileMe currently flounders its way about the 3G network on AT&T and people have said that when it works it is decent at best. If only there was a solution that was more effective, more of a swiss army knife, and free...
Introduce Microsoft Live Mesh. The "cloud" software that debuted BEFORE Apple's MobileMe. The software that syncs files across the cloud, phones, pc's, and mac's. The software that is free. The software that really shows what cloud computing is about. Lest we all forget why Microsoft owns the world. They simply do it better and/or without walls. Writitng programs for the ever so glorious iPhome costs some scratch. Writing programs ya know...for the world...thanks to Microsoft is free.
Even the mesh platform can be written for simply by clicking to download the sdk. Thanks Microsoft!
Get ready, as Microsoft is about to re-invent themselves and the industry.
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