Today a memo from Bill Gates himself spread across the Internet. It talks about competitors that challenge Microsoft in the so called ‘online service’ age. Earlier memo’s from former Groove chief Ray Ozzie, talk about missed opportunities for Microsoft. Companies like Google, Adobe, Yahoo and Skype have met the growing need of speed, simplicity and loose coupling. In these
area’s Microsoft has not yet used its full potential and it is necessary to do this as it will change business as we know!
Some examples of missed opportunities:
Microsoft knew that searching would be very important, but through Google’s focus they have gained a strong position despite the efforts of Microsoft.- Microsoft should dominate the AJAX space for their effort in OWA (Outlook Web Access), but again small players with more focus are in control.
Microsoft has a lot of opportunities if it can create a common succesfull service’s platform. The first efforts already look promising as Microsoft Live and Office Live have been announced and for some parts already are implemented.
We all like Microsoft bashing (why 
) make sure and take a closer look, these guys are really putting out some nice stuff. Innovation is driven by companies and individuals with a strong focus. So let us focus on Java technology and keep innovating 
Maybe we will be ready to implement our own services! See you all in the service age 
