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What do Android, Visio, Flash, Hotmail, Google Analytics and Powerpoint all have in common? Can you guess?
The answer is: None of them were created by the companies who now own them. They were acquisitions.
These products have continued to develop at their new homes, but the seed of innovation that sparked an actual, new product came from the outside. The key word here is innovation.
Windows 7 has been heralded as a genuine success for Microsoft. It’s apparently been selling like cupcakes and has received a much more positive response than its predecessor, Windows Vista.
It’s also been able to generate public interest in a way Vista was never able to do. Compare the two and Windows 7 comes out on top with a bruised and battered Windows Vista laying at its feet, whimpering.
The world of search is moving quickly, with promises of big advances in 2010.
From augmented reality to personalized results, here are ten trends and changes you can expect to see in search in the next year. 2010 will for sure bring lots of new technology and changes to the table for search.
Ask yourself this: “What would I use a tablet for?” Regardless of the recent drama surrounding the Crunchpad’s untimely end – and the disappointing Fusion Garage Joojoo tablet taking its place – it seems that the entire tech industry is ready to embrace tablets with open arms. There’s the never-ending hype about the possible Apple tablet, Microsoft Research’s Courier project, and netbook companies like Asus announcing they’re developing tablets in the coming year. We’re also seeing articles predicting 2010 as the year of the tablet, and others espousing why tablets signal the end of netbooks.
Microsoft’s iPod competitor, Zune, has been revived with the newly announced Zune HD. But in spite of positive reviews, the overall response from consumers seems to be… well, lukewarm to say the least.
To give you an idea, let’s look at the search volume (via Google Trends) to measure interest for Zune compared to the market-leading iPod over time.
The consensus is in on Windows Mobile 6.5: According to the likes of Engadget and Gizmodo, it’s a stop-gap solution by Microsoft meant to bring some slight user interface polish and touch-screen friendliness to their aging Windows Mobile platform. It doesn’t bring Windows Mobile anywhere near the level of accomplishment that we’re seeing with the iPhone, Palm Web OS, and Android phones today – for that we’ll have to wait for the release of version 7 sometime in late 2010. Simply put, 6.5 is the Windows Me to WinMo 7’s Windows XP.
When small companies and startups look for development tools, they often look to the open source community to cut down costs. Given the choice to spend nothing on licensing for a LAMP configuration compared to thousands of dollars in Microsoft licensing fees, it doesn’t take an MBA to realize why Apache’s market share is 46.6% compared to 21.9% for Microsoft IIS. Those numbers might be about to change thanks to a new Microsoft seed program, WebsiteSpark.
It’s an exciting time for those looking forward to the rise of tablet computing devices: Not only are the rumors running rampant about Apple’s potential tablet, we’re also finally seeing what Microsoft is bringing to the table with their Courier project.
Even if the final products that hit stores aren’t exactly what we see today, it’s worth considering what these early stabs could represent for the future of tablet computing.
Since the dawn of technology people have been arguing about which technology is better. As with all such debates there are usually no simple answers and it often comes down to personal taste.
These discussions tend to be very infected due to the almost religious belief shown by the most hardcore supporters of a technology, a thorough conviction that all other options are inferior. Sometimes the technology creators themselves also add fuel to the fire by joining the discussions.
This is what Microsoft’s homepage looked back in 1994 when it was first launched, and its evolution during the following years.
Keep reading for a closer look at the seven first versions of Microsoft.com and some very retro web design.
