- - Can MS deliver ?. If so how ?
- Deliver what? The ability to deliver web services, or web services themselves? Will web services and subscription fees appeal to businesses? Consumers? As far as allowing others to provide web services, I see it being yet another forum for MS to continue it's current business practices - who really believes that any '.Net playing field' won't be changed so "Lotus won't run"?

What I am think of here is can MS deliver on the promise to provide a full-blown XML enabled, Web Services fullfilling suite of tools, browsers servers etc: etc:

The MS effort is gargantuan - Java J2SE & J2EE etc: were a gargantuan effort *but shared* across many very large as well as small companies. So how can MS who are now openly anti-open source efforts going to do it on their own - fact is they can't & won't.

IBM (arguably the world's largest software developer) adopted the strategy of promoting Open Source for the least profit making elements of their strategy (also the areas where they had lost dominance) & seems to be showing real signs of succeeding in that strategy.

Sun also harnessed the open source community partly with Java & fully with OpenOffice - that seems to be working for them as well.

Also both IBM & Sun co-operated intently to expand the Java base frameworks to the point that they are (certainly for our corp) the new Enterprise standard for web development. It is clear that MS are trying to play up web services as a replacement for Java but that is of course not really true - some parts of Java can in concept, partly be displaced but funnily, Java is better placed to handle those changes which really only amount to updates or further extensions (XML handling, SOAP Servers, WSDL handling - EJB as middleware vs Web Services as middleware).

Web Services is very much an IBM initiative - ebXML (Web Services big brother), was architected by an IBMer from Watson Research Ctr (see www.oasis.org) - Web Services itself is a QAD sub-set of ebXML and designed and promoted by both IBM & Microsoft.

XML was first conceived by Sun (derived from SGML & W3C stuff) & Sun invited MS to get involved - MS quick to see the power of XML concept grabbed the opportunity but then started to try & take control. IBM got heavily into XML but kept it somewhat low profile. XML and what it can do are already and will continue to reshape IT as we know it.

My fear is that MS will lie their way along, use the vapour-tiger tactic but take years to deliver and then only deliver very sub-standard products. The market for IT technology at times seems like a rabbit caught in car headlights. Trapped & doomed. We all know MS doesn't exactly tell the truth, we all know they keep promising but don't often deliver on the promises - but we keep listening ("maybe they've changed", etc: etc:). What is it with the pro MS camp that they want & believe (or don't care) if MS just keep repeating the same less than honest strategy & delivery promises.

MS tactics certainly keep them in the spotlight. Is that how they succeed ? - just keep making noise & promises & threats & throwing tantrums but always make sure people keep saying the name 'Microsoft' !!!!.

I agree with Andrew Grygus when he implies that customers will accept being lied to & misled as long as they think MS is cute & that in balance the stuff more or less works & that MS provides a comfort zone no matter what one thinks of the actual technologies they deliver.

Cheers

Doug Marker