http://ayende.comAyende @ RahienCopyright (C) Ayende Rahien 2004 - 2021 (c) 202660CLR/Tools An excellent post from Scott Hanselman on Managing Change with .NET Assembly Diff Tools . As http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment18http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment18Sun, 15 Apr 2007 22:22:42 GMTMy worst fear is that some software companies have already "bought" this true. There are some big players in CRM, BI and ERP business migrating to web. The problem is that the user experience, of course, is getting worse. Sometime these companies don’t think on how much time the users spend using their application. In ERP, for instance, there some heavy users that spends 6/8 hours using the app. As you said, can you imagine develop in a web-based IDE? I bet these users are having the same feeling... (Something like a kick in the balls) http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment17http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment17Wed, 11 Apr 2007 18:23:49 GMTSo yet ANOTHER person is proclaiming "Microsoft is dead" and that Linux will take over the world? This is a novel idea. It's not like I haven't heard this EVERY SINGLE YEAR since like...1995. http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment16http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment16Wed, 11 Apr 2007 13:30:51 GMTHi, 90% of users are GrandMa's ! I knew they were more and more elders, but this is a scoop ! However I agree we are maybe going to see less dependence on the desktop. Microsoft and Adobe at least are working on SOA offerings that will keep real applications off the browsers but will make an heavy use of Internet based protocols. I would like to point out that Mozilla already offer a good plateform with their browsers and XUL. They were well ahead but failed to sell it as a serious development platform. Cheers. http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment15http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment15Mon, 09 Apr 2007 23:17:20 GMT "Today VCs only see web applications as valid solutions." Is it possible that Microsoft has succeeded so completely, with Windows, IE, Office, and the middleware they provide for free, that there are just no growth opportunities for anyone else on that platform? Besides open-source and free/gadget-ware that provide a niche alternative/specialization. I think the answer may be yes. It's like the water fish swim in and don't even realize. Complete domination may not be sexy or hot, but sexy pays only so many bills. Even these arguments are cliche. Graham's article is about as valid as the guy handing out books saying he's a viable third-party presidential candidate. You may be, this is America, but you better be something revolutionary and amazing. Google Maps, GMail, and Backpack ain't quite that. http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment14http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment14Mon, 09 Apr 2007 19:03:39 GMT"Today VCs only see web applications as valid solutions." That is so right on the money. http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment13http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment13Mon, 09 Apr 2007 18:52:09 GMTI smell somebody is trying to create another Internet Boom (and Bang).... There's too much 'fun guys' who see this as a tool to get stock ride up. Sure I agree a lot of apps can be done online- e.g. something like Microsoft Outlook, even maybe MS Office- but as Ayende said, there are apps which should not be done on web. And considering Ajax as a valid replacement just shows his lack of technical background- like most business people does. http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment12http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment12Mon, 09 Apr 2007 04:08:56 GMTThat is a much more reasonable conclusion, but to even suggest that MS is not part of this game is ludicrous. MS has the biggest programmers population, ignoring that is.. strange. http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment11http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment11Sun, 08 Apr 2007 23:48:17 GMTThe point made here by Harry is prehaps where things will get interesting, the RIA market. Forget the browser, its really about occasionaly connected, rich media applications that can take as much advantage of the host OS as standard application but be as rich in display, media and as interactive as the web (Ajax included). Microsoft are in this market already as are Adobe and a few others. It will be only a matter of time before Google join in (if I was to hazard a guess it will be related to Mozilla when they do). http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment10http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment10Sun, 08 Apr 2007 23:40:29 GMTThank you for pointing out the article. It was refreshing in terms of perspective and ideas. And don't be sensible, the guys is talking about school computers ... http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment9http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment9Sun, 08 Apr 2007 14:15:52 GMTYou are forgetting the context - he speak as a VC manager. Today VCs only see web applications as valid solutions. http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment8http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment8Sun, 08 Apr 2007 11:26:34 GMTI can easily envision Paint.NET being a click once application. Does this make it a Rich Internet Application? We may get to the point where we have client applications that spend a lot of time talking over the network, but this is not what I consider to be an internet application. http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment7http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment7Sun, 08 Apr 2007 01:31:17 GMTNever say never, Ayende. AJAX may not be up to the task, but the RIA technologies are catching up with winforms, and the next gen of them will be even more powerful. http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment6http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment6Sun, 08 Apr 2007 01:06:10 GMTHe seems to think that web based applications are what makes the world turn around. The idea is that a computer is something disposable, with the real applications living in the cloud. http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment5http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment5Sat, 07 Apr 2007 22:26:52 GMT"I feel safe suggesting this, because they'd never do it. Microsoft's biggest weakness is that they still don't realize how much they suck. They still think they can write software in house. Maybe they can, by the standards of the desktop world. But that world ended a few years ago." I don't know what he is using but a desktop is any pc running any os? maybe he has some super technology from the future that isnt considered a desktop? or is he referring that laptops are the primary use of computers today? http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment4http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment4Sat, 07 Apr 2007 22:23:27 GMTHe isn't talking about money or market share, I think. He is talking about influence, I believe, but that is still not even realistic way of looking at things. http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment3http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment3Sat, 07 Apr 2007 22:12:04 GMT"What killed them? Four things, I think, all of them occurring simultaneously in the mid 2000s. The most obvious is Google. There can only be one big man in town, and they're clearly it. Google is the most dangerous company now by far, in both the good and bad senses of the word. Microsoft can at best limp along afterward." I didn't know google was in the os market, Gmail, there seach engine and there maps don't count as a os. This guy seems to be a bone head. http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment2http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment2Sat, 07 Apr 2007 22:06:24 GMTThe only way to bring focus to himself is to make controversial or sensationalist claims. http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment1http://ayende.com/2296/paul-graham-microsoft-is-dead#comment1Sat, 07 Apr 2007 19:15:47 GMT