Gates looks to expand view beyond Windows

LAS VEGAS--Microsoft has long viewed the software world through Windows. Now, it's hoping to prove that it understands the growing popularity of Web technologies beyond its own operating system.

Chairman Bill Gates on Monday delivered a keynote speech here at Mix '06, the first edition of a Microsoft conference aimed at developers building new-style online applications that combine Web and mobile access.

The Microsoft chairman said, in essence, that the development world has changed with the advent of new Web technologies that give people any time, any place access to their data--a far cry from the PC-centric world of the past. "Everything we do now, we have to be user-centric, not device-centric," he said.

Gates also pledged to bolster the company's development efforts on Internet Explorer, which he said has lagged in recent years.

"In a sense we're doing a mea culpa, saying we waited too long for a browser release," Gates said. "I expect us to move very very rapidly there because we see great opportunities."

Gates said that Microsoft is already working on the next two versions after Internet Explorer 7, which is due later this year with Windows Vista, a long anticipated update to Windows XP.

On Monday, Microsoft released several product updates, including a "refresh" of the Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 preview, and Microsoft's Atlas AJAX Web development kit will have an updated license allowing customers to run Web applications built with Atlas.

The term AJAX was coined last year to describe a combination of Web technologies, including JavaScript and XML. More and more developers are using these tools to build more capable Web applications that can replace older generations of "fat client" desktop systems.

This week, Microsoft executives will explain in more detail the company's full arsenal of software and Live hosted services for building Web applications on a range of devices including desktop PCs, mobile phones, gaming devices and Media Center PCs.

The expansion of Web-connected software to a larger group of consumers is something that can't be ignored, the company says. "More and more activities are happening online. Whatever industry you look at, that's where people are spending time," said Charles Fitzgerald, general manager for platform technologies at Microsoft. "Our latest Web technologies (can be used) to drive better customer connections online."

Moreover, the popularity of "mashups," which let developers combine parts of one Web site with parts of another, has driven a new way to look at Web sites. Increasingly developers can think about Web sites as "components" in their applications, Gates said. "This is a powerful idea whose time has come, and we're really just at the beginning."

Video: Mix '06: Gates keynote
From the stage of Mix '06, Bill Gates discusses building new online applications.

Gates on Monday also discussed the changes to Web usage that will come from the broader adoption of RSS (Really Simple Syndication) and related Microsoft-led initiatives, including Simple Shared Extensions for sharing calendaring information and Live Clipboard.

"You can think of RSS as the start of the programmable Web. As Web sites start exposing their APIs, amazing things happen," said Gates.

Microsoft intends to build deeper RSS support in Windows Vista and Internet Explorer 7, allowing people to subscribe to Web pages as well as podcasts and photos.

The Mix '06 conference is also an effort by Microsoft to attract more Web developers and designers to Microsoft products.

The company's Expression line of designer tools is being built to foster better collaboration between technical programmers and designers. The tools are expected to be released later this year.

Overall, Microsoft is hoping to prove to developers that it understands the new realities of online development, ranging from things like AJAX to software-as-a-service development, pioneered by rivals such as Salesforce.com.

Adam Gross, vice president of developer marketing at Salesforce.com, noted that Microsoft has been very successful with traditional Windows developers. But it has not been as successful reaching "Internet developers."

"Until now, Microsoft tools have been very Microsoft-centric. I'd like to see how they are really going to approach the Internet as a development platform," Gross said.

[SqlserverCode]

Atlas

So MS is finally jumping on the Ajax bandwagon
Little late in my opinion

<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://otherthingsnow.blogspot.com/" target="_newWindow">http://otherthingsnow.blogspot.com/</a>

[pdude]

AJAX

They invented AJAX back in 1999!

[SqlserverCode]

OWA

Yes I know they had it in Outlook Web Access 3 years ago, I am talking about a wrapper

<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://otherthingsnow.blogspot.com/" target="_newWindow">http://otherthingsnow.blogspot.com/</a>

[Milly Staples]

OWA -

They have had it in OWA since 5.5

Ah yes, the USER...

Is that what Microsoft's focus has been lacking all of these years? Pft. As long as there's no standards set by MS, development of applciations will always yield completely different interfaces and render them useless. There may be a billion choices for software on Windows, but there's nearly half of that being completely different in UI.

Great job!

[JulesLt]

XMLHttpRequest

Yeah, I mean it's not as if it's all based on a proprietary MS
extension to JavaScript for their webmail version of Outlook, that
most web developers ignored for 5 years until Google made
fantastic use of it - and someone came up with a snappy LAMP
style acronym.

[Captain_Spock]

If Microsoft is.....

... only now finding out "that the development world has changed with the advent of new Web technologies that give people any time, any place access to their data--a far cry from the PC-centric world of the past.", and is saying; "Everything we do now, we have to be user-centric, not device-centric,"; then, someone must have locked away the "LOTUS KONA" Coffee Maker in a File Cabinet and someone else must have now found it and is about to try that NEW BLEND OF "KONA" that could be had "on a range of devices including desktop PCs, mobile phones, gaming devices and Media Center PCs." ;-)

Just take a look back in history and you will be able to tell... "Lotus brews potent Java with Kona":

<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.morochove.com/watch/cw/ff70206.htm" target="_newWindow">http://www.morochove.com/watch/cw/ff70206.htm</a>

;-) ;-) ;-)

[microsoft slayer]

I will never use anything that microsoft offers

online or offline...they don't care about the user. It's always the same crappy product with infinite patches.

[FutureGuy]

good for you..

..now get lost.

[City_Of_LA]

Do you know how pathetic you sound?

Puking up the same old argument.

Now begone cretin!

[microsoft slayer]

MS invented stealing

that's all they do.

[Tanjore]

Tell me how?

1) GUI was developed by XEROX research labs and Apple imitated it and Microsoft did the same thing. How is it stealing?

2) Even before Web became popular, microsoft was working on similar solution. Ofcourse a proprietary one. Once Netscape became popular, microsoft adopted to market forces. What microsoft did to netscape is bad. But just imagine paying for a browser!!!

3) PC's are commodotized now. Miicrosoft conspired to commodotize the PC and this brought the prices down drastically.

4) Have you seen openoffice, the GUI resembles more Microsoft Office!!!. Who is stealing from who.

Microsoft for being behmoth cannot rush to market features like small OS companies can do. That does not mean they are not innovating.

Have you ever wondered how microsoft can release a technology almost in couple of months time after a successfully technology by a rival!!!

AJAX is Invented by MS

yes, AJAX was invented by Microsoft in 1999 with the release of IE5, then the so called OSS people STOLE the concept in the name of providing alternative.

IE5 the first browser tp support AJAX a 100% microsoft invention.

now who is stealing from MS ?

[t8]

What are you talking about

AJAX is made up of technologies that Microsoft didn't create. i.e., Asynchronous JavaScript and XML.

So the only thing stolen if you want to call it that is the term.

And of course the only reason MS invented the term in the first place was to take some of the attention away from Java.
In doing that, AJAX in turn takes the attention away from Windows because it is about Weblications as opposed to Windows applications. Webllications only need a browser and are not Windows dependant.

The moral of the story is that no matter how Microsoft tries to distract people from competing products to Windows, the result seems to be that the Web and Open Source win. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that the Web and Open Source are too logical to compete against.

[Don_Dodge]

MIX06 - The Programmable Web

Ray Ozzie is leading the Microsoft innovations in RSS, SSE, Windows Live, and Live Clipboard. All these innovations are focused on making it easier for developers to build rich, interactive, web applications.

Windows Media Center and Xbox 360 are new platforms for rich media applications. The Live versions of these products will release later this year. Microsoft is definitely looking to expand beyond Windows on the PC. This is a big change for Microsoft and one that will open up huge opportunities for startups looking for The Next Big Thing.

I wrote a blog on this subject today. See <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2006/03/mix_06_the_prog.html" target="_newWindow">http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2006/03/mix_06_the_prog.html</a>

MS spread too thin

MS has got their fingers into too many areas already. Wouldn't it be nice if they could produce just one good product? I'm tired of patch, patch, patch, then upgrade and patch, patch, patch. Either make a solid OS or make way for Linux. Internet Explorer 7 is of no interest at all to me as I've tried and am totally satisfied with Mozilla Firefox. The few web sites that I encounter that demand I use MSIE I just make note to no try them again and have no problem finding what I'm looking for without assistance from MS. MS Windows is a great gaming OS, but if I want to play games I could just dig out the old Atari 800.
Microsoft? Thanks, but no thanks.

[deeplyaware]

Heard Gates before

Wasn't it Bill who talked up the web services, way back? Then
Microsoft did nothing more about, just talk, until Google came
along, and Microsoft suddenly panicked and started Live.com?

If it was for Microsoft, we consumers would be the last priority.

Microsoft would do better to execute first, and leave the talking for
later.