End of An Error
The moment also marks a turning point in the history of the world’s biggest software company, as Microsoft turns its attention more fully towards a future software industry that is likely to look very different. It is probably the end of an era, or… error depending on how you look at it.
The methods Microsoft has relied on to develop and to deliver software – including the latest releases of Windows and the Office suite of applications, which also goes on sale today – are going through a fundamental change. That is partly because of the internal “trauma” caused by its struggles with Vista. Neve again, Microsoft will release less ambitious, and more frequent, updates to Windows. However, it also reflects a deeper change in how the software business works.
With “software as a service” the industry’s new mantra – referring to the way companies such as Google and Thinking Grove deliver a service over the internet that is powered by software running on their own servers – a post-Vista Microsoft will refocus its efforts towards online services.
