Wednesday 3 November 2010

An open letter to Microsoft

Over the past 5 years there were a number of things I learned.

I learned about Microsoft Social Network Services. I could give a great sales pitch how Microsoft would release, by 2007, tools to support companies forming social networks and developing social computing solutions. Groups I spoke to loved the idea, and could understand how this tool would promote finding needed information and people.

Later I learned PerformancePoint, spending several weeks learning just how to install it.

I learned PopFly and produced dozens of MashUps using the Microsoft tool.

I created a Windows Office Live workspace to manage my own files.

All of these came to nothing, and now it seems pretty clear Silverlight is being crashed.

The thing is I got wise already. I spent a few days learning Silverlight but when I saw it was trash compared to Adobe Flash I stopped learning it. I also didn't bother to learn Vista.

You see I am getting wise to being let down. Its not so bad that I have been let down again and again, but beyond the promised products not being very good I have had the problem of lost effort and lost content.

Frankly I really would not trust Microsoft Cloud right now. When my Windows Live files were taken away and suddenly I had SkyDrive I was happy I kept my Google Docs page. And I am very happy I got off Microsoft Live blog in 2005 and kept with Blogger.

When I got caught in Indian floods this summer I learned the hard way that Hotmail will not work now unless you have very good Internet. With the Internet very weak because of the flood I was happy to have a GMail account to let people know I was okay.

Anyone see a pattern here? My career is predicated on SharePoint technology and things still look good, but I am looking more and more at PHP based systems, and I keep an eye on Apple, Google and Linux.

Microsoft I need you, but I don't trust you any more.

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