November 20th, 2009

Will Microsoft's Silverlight dampen the appeal of Google's Chrome OS?

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 6:40 am

Categories: .Net Framework, App Compatibility, Corporate strategy, Development tools, Google, Internet Explorer, OEMs, Silverlight (wpf/e), Web 2.0, Windows client

Tags: Google Inc., Microsoft Silverlight, Operating System, Microsoft Windows Presentation Foundation, Microsoft Corp., Google Chrome, Chrome OS, Web Browsers, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems

I’m not one of those ready to write Windows an RIP certificate now that Google has finally taken (some of) the wraps off its Chrome OS. In fact, after reading through industry watchers’ questions and Google’s answers about it, I’m thinking that Chrome OS may not look quite so appealing by the time it rolls out in late 2010. Here’s why.

First, as others have noted, Google’s Chrome OS is a new windowing system layered on top of Linux that is being customized to run on netbooks. Chrome OS is an “extension to Chrome,” the company’s browser, in Google execs’ own words. Google officials are billing Chrome OS, among other things, as a way to provide Web applications with the functionality of desktop applications.

Microsoft offers an extension not just to its browser, Internet Explorer, but also to Firefox, Apple’s Safari and Google’s own Chrome. That extension is Silverlight. Among other things, Silverlight is a vehicle for providing increasingly complex consumer and business apps via a browser.

At the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference (PDC) this week, Microsoft rolled out its strategy and plans for Silverlight 4, the version of its browser plug-in that is slated for final release by mid-2010. Silverlight 4 is adding support for data binding, enterprise networking and printing, and lots of other features that are likely to make the platform more appealing to folks writing not just single-function, lightweight Web apps, but enterprise apps, as well.

Silverlight is a slimmed-down, cross-platform version of Microsoft’s Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) programming model. Each successive iteration of Silverlight includes more and more WPF functionality (and vice versa).

Some day — Microsoft won’t say exactly when — Silverlight and WPF are going to merge into one Web programming and app delivery model that, most likely, will be known as Silverlight, Brad Becker, Director of Product Management for Microsoft’s Rich Client Platforms, told me this week at TechEd. Now that the two share the same compiled assemblies, tools and the like, that idea isn’t really so far-fetched. Until that happens, Microsoft plans to continue to offer both WPF and Silverlight, steering developers of more complex, resource-intensive applications toward WPF and Web-centric app developers toward Silverlight.

When Google execs were asked during this week’s press conference where they shared more information (but no code or systems) about the Chrome OS as to whether Silverlight would be able to work on Chrome OS, they said no comment. Maybe they see Silverlight might be more foe than friend of the Chrome OS.

I understand Silverlight is not an operating system. But some Google watchers are questioning whether the Chrome OS is actually an operating system, either, or just a glorified browser. Unlike Silverlight, which can run on a variety of PCs and soon, phones, Google OS is going to be a dedicated Linux-based netbook OS that will only work with certain predesignated peripherals. Microsoft already offers a netbook OS — Windows — which doesn’t force you to run all apps inside your browser — and which works with lots of different devices.

Would you go so far as to say the Chrome OS is going to be more of a Silverlight competitor than a WIndows one? I’m thinking right now that may seem a bit far-fetched, but as more and more apps are designed to run in Silverlight, maybe not….?

November 18th, 2009

Pivot: Microsoft's experiment to 'view the Web as a web'

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 3:10 pm

Categories: Corporate strategy, Internet Explorer, PDC 2009, Research

Tags: Web, Microsoft Corp., Pivot, Channel Management, Marketing, Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft’s Live Labs — its Research and MSN mash-up — fielded a new test project on November 18 known as “Pivot.”

Pivot (not to be confused with Microsoft’s recently renamed PowerPivot) is meant to combine search, browsing and recommendations to create a more unified Web experience, according to a description on the Live Labs Web site.

Another way the team is describing the goal of the Pivot project is to enable users to view the Web as a “web” rather than a series of isolated pages. Pivot is to allow users to visualize hidden patterns so they can “discover new insights while interacting with thousands of things at once,” according to the Web site.

Microsoft is making a limited technical preview of Pivot available to a set of invited testers. The team is counting on developers to extend the “Collections” that are central to the Pivot technology. Collections, as the Pivot team explains on the Web site, are combinations of large groups of similar items on the Web that allow users to “begin viewing the relationships between individual pieces of information in a new way.”

Collection files are CXML and Deep Zoom-formatted (DZC) images. According to the site, “depending on whether the user browses web pages or collections, the Pivot client will either use the embedded IE rendering engine (Trident) or the collection browser to display the files.”

The download site for Live Labs’ Pivot is here. Pivot “runs best” on a Windows 7 PC with Aero Glass enabled and requires .Net 3.5 Service Pack 1 and Internet Explorer 8, but it also runs on Windows Vista. It is available in English only for now.

The fine print: “Intel integrated chipsets cannot run this application and you may see a failure during install or once you are using Pivot. Other graphics cards that are not new or do not have dedicated VRAM may show unpredictable behavior including crashes, visual artifacts, or failures in installation. We may not be able to do much about these failures if you hit them with this build, but tell us about what you are seeing and we can prioritize improving this area for the future.”

Update: One of my tipsters said Pivot is the project that was formerly codenamed “Seahorse.” I’ll ask Microsoft and see if they’ll confirm or deny. Sounds like I have some very good sources, as one of my Talkback posters (Live Labs chief Gary Flake) says himself.

November 18th, 2009

Microsoft shares a few tidbits on IE9 and (lots) more on Silverlight 4

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 11:20 am

Categories: Corporate strategy, Development tools, Internet Explorer, PDC 2009, Silverlight (wpf/e), Windows client

Tags: Microsoft Silverlight, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Microsoft Corp., Web Browsers, Internet, Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft shared some information about what’s coming in Internet Explorer 9 and Silverlight 4 during its November 18 Professional Developers Conference (PDC) keynotes.

If you want to see a real example of the difference in disclosure policies between Microsoft’s Windows unit and its Developer Division, the level of information provided by execs with each division today made that quite clear.

As expected, Microsoft Windows President Steven Sinofsky shared a few tidbits about Internet Explorer (IE) 9. Sinofsky emphasized that Microsoft will continue to play up privacy, user choice and responsible development with the next IE release. But he offered no information on when the team is planning to release a test build or the final version of the browser.

Sinofsky said during the Wednesday morning keynote that the IE team is about three weeks into the IE 9 project. (I’ve been getting tips that there already is a build of the product out there that is being used inside Microsoft, but it’s not available to external testers yet.)

Sinofsky noted that Microsoft is fully aware that it needs to keep pushing on the standards front. He noted that IE 9 is currently passing 32 of 100 Acid3 tests (compared to Firefox at more than 70 and Opera at 100). He also made it clear that Microsoft is aware it needs to continue to do work to improve JavaScript performance with IE.

Sinofsky said IE 9 will support hardware-accelerated rendering and rounded borders, but didn’t say a whole lot more about it. There are a (very) few more specifics about IE 9 on the IE Team blog today.

Scott Guthrie, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President for .Net, had lots more to say about Silverlight 4, the next version of Microsoft’s browser plug-in that competes with Adobe Flash.

Microsoft is making a public beta of Silverlight 4 available for download today, November 18. A single, near-final Release Candidate will follow and then the final version of Silverlight 4 will be out in the first half of 2010, according to Guthrie.

Guthrie said Silverlight 4 will be a major new release of the plug-in. He said the upcoming version will incorporate nine of the ten most requested features by developers.

Guthrie itemized and demonstrated some of the new features of Silverlight 4 — which include everything from its support for webcam and microphone access, to the ability to run Silverlight inside the Google Chrome browser. Silverlight 4 also will include full support for Visual Studio 2010, native multicast support and improved printing, networking and reporting capabilities, company officials said. Silverlight Program Manager Tim Heuer has a full list of those Silverlight 4 features on his blog.

I’m interested in hearing from anyone who manages to download Silverlight 4 (servers are crawling, I hear) about what you think of the new beta of the product. Feel free to chime in in the talkbacks….

November 18th, 2009

Microsoft PDC Live Blog Day Two: IE, Silverlight 4.0 and more

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 8:17 am

Categories: Corporate strategy, Internet Explorer, Office, Office 2010/Office 14, PDC 2009, Silverlight (wpf/e)

Tags: Microsoft Silverlight, Keynote, Blog, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Windows, Blogging, Web Browsers, Microsoft Office, Operating Systems

The second day of keynotes at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference is about to begin, and expectations are running high that MIcrosoft might share some details on what’s coming with Internet Explorer 9, Silverlight 4 and Office 2010 Beta 2 today.

A bunch of us Microsoft bloggers will be live blogging this morning’s keynote, which are expected to feature Microsoft Windows President Steven Sinofsky, Senior Vice President of Office Kurt DelBene, .Net Corporate Vice President Scott Guthrie and more.

Join in with us on CoverItLive and discuss the keynotes live, starting at 8:30 am PT, along with ZDNet’s Ed Bott, LiveSide’s Kip Knicksern, Within Windows’ Rafael Rivera, Windows Supersite’s Paul Thurrott, istartedsomething’s Long Zheng and myself.

November 17th, 2009

Microsoft to share some details on IE 9 at PDC show this week

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 10:18 am

Categories: Corporate strategy, Internet Explorer, PDC 2009, Windows client

Tags: Microsoft Internet Explorer, Microsoft Corp., Web Browsers, Internet, Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft is on tap to share some information about its Internet Explorer (IE) 9 browser at its Professional Developers Conference this week, but isn’t yet ready to deliver any bits.

Microsoft will be providing “a bit of conversation about IE” during the keynote at PDC on November 18, but isn’t yet ready to deliver even a Community Technology Preview (CTP) of its next-generation browser, a company spokesperson said.

Microsoft officials have declined to say anything but the broadest promises of more standards compliance, better security and better performance as its planned set of deliverables for IE 9.

Even before IE 8 was released, developers and users already had a long list of feature improvements that they are hoping the Microsoft IE team includes in IE 9.

Microsoft released IE 8 to the Web in March 2009. The team has been on a mission to deliver new releases of IE more rapidly, but it’s unclear whether the IE team will be able to get a new version out any faster than every two years.

I continue to hear developers and customers hoping that Microsoft will reverse course and deliver a WebKit rendering-engine-based version of IE. Microsoft officials have said no way, no how. I don’t think this is something we’ll be seeing any time soon… and definitely not in the IE 9 timeframe…

Me? I’d just be happy if my IE tabs hung less with IE 9. What about you? What are you hoping makes it into the next version of IE?

November 12th, 2009

PDC 2009: Tune in for our live blogging frenzy next week

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 6:31 am

Categories: .Net Framework, Azure, Corporate strategy, Development tools, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Big Brains, Multicore/distributed computing, Office 2010/Office 14, PDC 2009, Red Dog, Research, Silverlight (wpf/e), Utility/cloud computing, Virtualization, Visual Studio 10 ("Hawaii"), Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 /("Windows 7 Server")

Tags: Microsoft Corp., Professional Developers Conference Keynote, Blogging, Internet, Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft’s Professional Developers Conference (PDC) 2009 kicks off the week of November 16. Like we did last year, a handful of us Microsoft watchers will be live blogging the keynotes as a group.

The PDC keynotes are slated for Tuesday November 17 from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. PT and Wednesday November 18 from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. We’ll be using CoverItLive to blog, so the more of you who chime in and comment along with us, the merrier. Your group-blogging hosts (besides me) will be Ed Bott, Kip Kniskern, Paul Thurrott, Rafael Rivera, Tom Warren and Long Zheng

Come back here next week and watch along with us as Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie; Server and Tools President Bob Muglia; Kurt DelBene, Senior VP of Microsoft’s Office Business Productivity Group and more talk about what’s coming for developers in the next year. (I’ll post the CoverItLive viewer on my site during keynote viewing hours next week.)

There will be new info on Microsoft’s Azure cloud operating environment, .Net 4.0, Oslo, Office 2010, Silverlight, SQL Server and more. And more than a few of the “Big Brains” — Microsoft’s Technical Fellows — are on tap to present during the four-day confab.  I’ve already posted about some of what’s on tap (and not on tap) for PDC 2009 over the past few weeks. Expect lots more PDC news on my blog throughout the week next week.

Hope to see you (virtually) and/or live in Los Angeles next week!

November 5th, 2009

Browser rivals to register official complaints about Microsoft's ballot screen proposal

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 6:49 am

Categories: Corporate strategy, Google, Internet Explorer, Legal

Tags: Opera Software ASA, Ballot, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Microsoft Corp., Web Browser, Web Browsers, Internet, Mary Jo Foley

The deadline for official comment on Microsoft’s latest rendition of the browser-ballot — the screen the company has proposed to download to PC users in order to appease antitrust regulators handling the Opera vs. Microsoft antitrust case — is next week. (It should be November 10, if the one-month comment deadline the European Commission set for itself is still in place.)

Google, Mozilla and Opera are preparing to weigh in separately with their suggestions, according to a November 4 round-up in the New York Times. These three Microsoft browser rivals still aren’t happy with the revisions Microsoft has made to its proposal. If the Commission decides their complaints have merit, more ballot testing and delays in implementation will ensue.

Mozilla execs already weighed in publicly (via a blog post) about their beefs, which include Microsoft’s suggestion that users see a screen which presents the top browser choices presented in alphabetical order by vendor (Apple, Google, Microsoft, Mozilla, Opera). Mozilla officials have said they aren’t keen on Apple’s Safari for Windows being No. 1 because it doesn’t work all that well on Windows. Mozilla officials haven’t offered publicly an alternative way to list the browsers on the ballot. I’m sure they’re trying to find some way to justify Firefox being listed first.

Opera officials aren’t keen on the Microsoft logo being at the top of the ballot, fearing undue influence on users (who already opted to buy a Windows PC, mind you). Opera’s CEO also said he wants to bar Microsoft from displaying a warning if and when users choose to download rival’s software.

There’s no word in the New York Times piece about what Google’s objections are. But I bet Google hated even getting a mention in the Times article, since that Google (like Microsoft) prefers back-room politics.

I’ve been a fan of the idea of Microsoft providing a browser ballot since the EC first floated the idea (and Microsoft opposed it vehemently). I was surprised Microsoft changed its tune and embraced the ballot, but I guess that seemed the least of all possible evils and a last stab at attempting to avoid a fine. (A fine is still a possibility; there’s no word on what the EC’s final remedy will be in the case.)

I liked the browser-ballot proposal because I’ve never bought into the idea that IE should be considered part of the operating system. Many less-savvy PC users don’t know there is more than one browser out there; they just assume IE is all there is. While many Softies and Microsoft backers have noted that Microsoft has done nothing to prevent users from choosing other browsers, the bundling of IE did make it unlikely that many PC users would know they had choices or how to get access to them.

I have to say, however, that this round of complaints by Microsoft’s rivals seem like nothing more than an attempt to keep Microsoft’s lawyers busy.

Microsoft has been losing browser share in recent years for a variety of reasons, including user security concerns (given IE is usually hackers’ primary browser target); failure to comply fully and in a timely manner with Web standards; the long lag time between browser updates from Microsoft; and problems with IE 8’s performance, especially on older operating systems and PCs. (I am basing that last reason on feedback from my readers.)

Being forced to compete for the love of users who actually understand they have a choice of browsers might do more to spur Microsoft to be innovative, timely and standards-compliant with IE than anything else would. That’s why I say bring on the browser ballot, but for users’ sakes, not for those of Microsoft’s competitors.

October 7th, 2009

Microsoft makes changes to browser ballot screen; user testing to commence

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 5:00 am

Categories: Channel, Corporate strategy, Internet Explorer, Legal, OEMs, Resellers, System builders, Vista, Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows client

Tags: Microsoft Corp., Web Browser, Ballot Screen, Web Browsers, Microsoft Windows, Internet, Operating Systems, Software, Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft is making changes to the ballot screen that it proposed to the European Commission (EC) as a way to ensure more browser choice on Windows PCs.

The company announced on October 7 details of the planned changes, and EC regulators said they’d begin testing those changes among European consumers. Here’s a screen shot of the newly modified ballot screen:

The inclusion of a ballot screen — which will be delivered to XP, Vista and Windows 7 PC users in Europe via Microsoft’s Windows Update patching mechanism — is one of the concessions Microsoft made to try to appease the European antitrust regulators in their investigation of Microsoft’s practice of bundling Internet Explorer (IE) with Windows. The investigation was the result of an antitrust suit brought against Microsoft in 2007 by Opera Software.

Microsoft revealed its initial ballot screen proposal in July of this year. On Wednesday, Microsoft officials said they’d modify this screen to make it more palatable to regulators and its competitors, a number of whom have said the proposed screen fell short of the mark. In addition to providing an initial screen that describes what a browser is and to verify a user is connected to the Internet, the second actual ballot screen under the new proposal includes several modifications. These include changes to:

• Make it so competing browsers can be downloaded from the ballot screen more quickly and easily
• Ensure equivalent placement on the Windows 7 taskbar for Internet Explorer and all other browser icons
• Add introductory information, improving the design of the ballot page about each browser to help users make more informed choices
• Alphabetize the list of browsers so that the five most popular are listed first (by vendor), followed by the next seven most popular (also alphabetically ordered), so that 12 choices are displayed in total
• Provide the browser ballot to users for five years

Microsoft officials said they are planning to use Windows Update to push the browser ballot to Windows PCs, including Windows 7 machines which go on sale on October 22, so as not to require PC makers to preload anything additional on new machines. Under Microsoft’s proposal, PC makers also will be free to bundle browsers other than IE on new machines, as well as turn off IE all together.

Microsoft officials also pledged on October 7 to do more to share interoperability information regarding Windows, Windows Server, Office, Exchange and SharePoint with other software makers. The company also said it would address security software vendors’ concerns by disclosing “certain programming interfaces addressed by Microsoft’s own security products.”

Microsoft agreed to provide Windows users a choice of browser via the so-called “ballot screen” option — something the Commission originally advocated — as part of its settlement talks with the EC.  Microsoft originally was dead-set against the ballot screen option; officials said the company would rather ship Windows 7 with no browser included at all than to ship one with a ballot screen. Microsoft scrapped plans for a browser-less Windows 7E earlier this year.

The EC still has yet to issue its final findings, remedies and fines (if any) in the Opera antitrust case.

The EC is giving interested parties a month to comment on Microsoft’s updated browser ballot proposal. What’s your two cents? Is the modified browser ballot going to help consumers make more informed choices?

September 24th, 2009

Microsoft plays the security card in response to Google's Chrome Frame

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 6:21 am

Categories: Google, Internet Explorer, Security

Tags: Google Inc., Card, Malware, Microsoft Corp., Google Chrome, Plug-in, Exec, Web Browsers, Cyberthreats, Spyware, Adware & Malware

I was doubtful that Microsoft execs would have anything to say about Google’s introduction this week of a plug-in that allows users to run the Google Chrome browser inside Internet Explorer.

But I was wrong.

A day after I asked Microsoft execs for their take on Chrome Frame — which Google is promoting as a way to bring more advanced features (like HTML 5) to IE 6, 7, and 8 users — Microsoft responded. A spokesperson sent me the following statement:

“With Internet Explorer 8, we made significant advancements and updates to make the browser safer for our customers. Given the security issues with plug-ins in general and Google Chrome in particular, Google Chrome Frame running as a plug-in has doubled the attack area for malware and malicious scripts. This is not a risk we would recommend our friends and families take. For a deeper look at how the browsers stack up in security, take a look at the latest phishing and malware data from NSS Labs.”

Do you think Microsoft execs have a valid point here or are grasping at straws to try to thwart anything with a Google label on it?

September 22nd, 2009

Google gets more aggressive than Microsoft at moving users off IE 6

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 12:49 pm

Categories: Corporate strategy, Google, Internet Explorer

Tags: Google Inc., Microsoft Internet Explorer 6, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Microsoft Corp., Google Chrome, Google Chrome Frame, Web Browsers, Internet, Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft officials have said they want to encourage companies running older versions of Internet Explorer (IE) — especially the very non-Web-standards-compliant IE 6 — upgrade to a newer browser version.

But Google has gone a step beyond that by introducing a plug-in that runs Google Chrome inside IE.

The new Google Chrome Frame is designed to work on IE 6, IE 7 or IE 8. But it seems to be especially targeted at IE 6 users, who are running an eight-year-old browser.

As Microsoft and other company watchers have noted, many companies won’t allow their users to move off IE 6 because of internal standardization and deployment policies. (The “if you are running anything other than IE 6, you’re on your own” school.)

Tech Crunch talked with a couple of the Google engineers behind the project. From Tech Crunch’s write-up:

“Yes, it’s both hilarious and awesome (or hilariously awesome, if you will) that Google seems to dislike IE so much that it has spent its own time improving it. Google claims its goals are noble. Talking to Group Product Manager Mike Smith and Software Engineer Alex Russell, they tell us that they simply want to make a more seamless web experience for both web users and developers. That said, they are only targeting one browser, IE, right now.”

(Tech Crunch doesn’t mention that Google Chrome’s market share is hovering under three percent.)

Microsoft has taken a cautious approach to getting IE 6 users to upgrade — understandable given the large percentage of IE customers who are corporate users. But there’s no question the Redmondians would love to have to support fewer different versions of IE, too.

From an August blog post by IE General Manager Dean Hachamovitch:

“We’ve blogged before about keeping users in control of their PCs, usually in the context of respecting user choice of search settings or browser defaults. We’ll continue to strongly encourage Windows users to upgrade to the latest IE. We will also continue to respect their choice, because their browser is their choice.”

Microsoft recently has been offering to donate the equivalent of sixteen meals to the poor every time someone upgrades from Internet Explorer 6 to Internet Explorer 8.

I’ve asked Microsoft whether the IE team has any response to Chrome Frame. No word back yet. (And I’ll be kind of surprised if there is any….)

Google’s Chrome Frame introduction, in spite of its engineers comments, is anything but an altruistic act. Do you think Chrome Frame will get Chrome much new traction?