Dead horses (fanbaby can't spell)

Can be beaten still more

Oh Silverlight, to think that you scared me *****less. [hey, i was buying Microsoft PR that we'll see Silverlight everywhare. Scott Gu, Scott Barnes what do you have to say?]

4 hours ago, fanbaby wrote

Can be beaten still more

 

Oh Silverlight, to think that you scared me *****less. [hey, i was buying Microsoft PR that we'll see Silverlight everywhare. Scott Gu, Scott Barnes what do you have to say?]

If Microsoft didn't feel compelled to take a 30% cut of everything downloaded from a centralized store like Apple does, you would have had far more to worry about than Silverlight becoming a defacto browser plug-in.

Imagine if Windows could download and run XAPs or APPXs or whatever they're called without needing any plug-in at all because the run-time was built right into the OS. Instead of having Bing serve up web pages, it would just serve up URLs for application package files that would download and run in some sandboxed application stack (i.e. no need for hosting the application in a HTML page).

Yeah I bought into Silverlight for a short period of time (during the SL1/beta 2 days) because I thought Monolight would be able to keep up. But when it was obvious that wouldn't happen, I started seeing it as a threat to an open web. I don't think I was alone in that either. And yeah it did seem like SL would be huge back then. Amazing how quickly the tech industry changes. Nothing is certain.

Why would anyone want to run their app in a browser plug-in? Watching people reminisce about the good old days of Silverlight is like watching a wormed dog itch its bum on the family room rug. Sure it's entertaining, but in the end it is just systematic of a greater problem; the lack of focus on the future.

-Josh

1 hour ago, JoshRoss wrote

*snip*

in the end it is just systematic of a greater problem; the lack of focus on the future.

-Josh

Yeah too bad Microsoft ADD'd their way through WPF and then to SL and now to WinRT so quickly. No focus there...

Better on the phone front? WM then to WP7 then to W8... Lot'sa focus there too.

@DeathByVisualStudio:

37 minutes ago, DeathByVisualStudio wrote

Yeah too bad Microsoft ADD'd their way through WPF and then to SL and now to WinRT so quickly. No focus there...

Better on the phone front? WM then to WP7 then to W8... Lot'sa focus there too.

With the timing of product life cycles, someone must have noticed years ago, that things were really screwed up. I hope the recent division reorganizations were designed in such a way as to eliminate much of this nonsense.

As far as phones go, it was more of a blessing, than a curse, to have a clean break from the pile of steaming crap that was Windows Mobile. That's a one in a lifetime opportunity.

@JoshRoss: As for the phones I'd understand if it were WM => WP7 but the extra stutter to W8, and for me the last nail in the coffin of SL, was overboard IMO. I'm sure the next Xbox will expunge the last bits of SL from Microsoft's "actively being developed" portfolio. I sure hope they do better with metro under W8 than they did with WP7...

But Microsoft still has XAML right? If you read that interview it seems that Microsoft is on its own there.

@Bass: Here is my favorite quote from Crockford: "Microsoft was blindsided by the web a second time"

That interview is funny, if you have several minutes watch it.

8 hours ago, JoshRoss wrote

[...funny image...] Sure it's entertaining, but in the end it is just systematic of a greater problem; the lack of focus on the future.

-Josh

How, do you think, is Microsoft [Ballmer] envisioning the future? I cannot see this playing well with the web [in other words the web was, and still is kinda in conflict with Microsoft's business.]. The good time lasted (and is still lasting) from circa 1990 to a few years more.

4 hours ago, fanbaby wrote

*snip*

How, do you think, is Microsoft [Ballmer] envisioning the future? I cannot see this playing well with the web [in other words the web was, and still is kinda in conflict with Microsoft's business.]. The good time lasted (and is still lasting) from circa 1990 to a few years more.

I would surmise Ballmer has been lost in knowing where to go with Microsoft and these stutters we've seen with their technology switches is part of that. I would however wholly disagree about web vs. xaml. While the web does have a vast array of open source APIs, libraries, etc. that can be useful people still prefer regular apps for their shiny iPhones rather than web apps. I abhor Google Docs with its wonky nature (even on Chrome) and much prefer desktop apps (even Open Office) over it. From a developer's perspective I much prefer xaml/C# over html5/JS. From what I've heard about the html5/JS/WinRT stack it doesn't get any better when coupled with a framework specific to the OS on which it's run.

I think we will see the web die in a few years, replaced by smart clients and service-oriented architecture. People prefer apps over web sites. The internet will still be a huge part of everything, and the HTTP protocol will still be there, but people will eventually transition from using web browsers to running local apps displaying remote content.

I agree that Ballmer appears lost. MS bet big on stylus-based tablets and completely missed the boat on consumer smartphones. Windows 8 will make or break them in the consumer space. If it fails, I predict they'll retreat into a more business-oriented model and sell server OSes and Office. If it succeeds, I predict that they will rule the tech world once more.

1 hour ago, spivonious wrote

I think we will see the web die in a few years, replaced by smart clients and service-oriented architecture. 

[....]

LOL

The reason that was funny is the following (please seek to 8:00, watch till 8:40, but the entire interview is funny):

1 hour ago, spivonious wrote

I agree that Ballmer appears lost. MS bet big on stylus-based tablets...

"big"? Really? If you consider their bet on stylus-based tablets "big", how would you describe their current bet on Windows 8 touch-based tablets? Is there even a word hyperbolic enough?

@fanbaby: Ha, yeah I watched that before I posted. I just think Gartner's prediction was a few decades too early. As shown by the popularity of apps on smartphones, people do prefer local apps when given the option.

@cbae: Do you purposely find my posts to counter them?

MS did bet big in the sense that they all but ignored finger-based touch until the iPhone came out. I used a Windows XP Tablet PC and was amazed at how awesome it was. The devices were just way too expensive, the battery life stank, and they weren't portable enough. I think the future of tablet input is a combination of touch and stylus: touch for navigation and interaction, and stylus for handwriting and drawing. I wish I was still a student, because I would have loved to carry a WIndows 8 tablet instead of pencils, notepads, and textbooks.

12 hours ago, spivonious wrote

@cbae: Do you purposely find my posts to counter them?

No. Don't flatter yourself.

MS did bet big in the sense that they all but ignored finger-based touch until the iPhone came out.

So, if I bet $1 on one horse, I'm "betting big" because I bet nothing on another horse? You consider this $1 a big bet even though I could have placed a bet of thousands of dollars if I really wanted to? Seriously?

9 hours ago, cbae wrote

No. Don't flatter yourself.