How Will Microsoft.Net Impact Products?

So, Microsoft wants to turn its PC operating system into a Web operating system. What does that mean for the software everyone knows and loves? Plenty. The company last week laid out plans to virtually rebuild its whole product line to create a software environment that can be sold, distributed, and managed over the Web.

The new strategy, called Microsoft.Net, refers to a future generation of software capable of supporting an application on PCs, corporate networks, Internet servers, wireless devices, and set-top boxes, with Microsoft technology keeping track of changes to programming objects and replicating data across multiple systems.

Here's how Microsoft's Web initiatives could affect key products:

• Windows: New interface would allow interaction with a PC through voice commands and blend elements of Web browsing, E-mail, word processing, and spreadsheet calculations into a single view. The Active Directory would automatically authenticate users for online services such as customer management and storage, and replicate information among various devices.
• Office: Companies could use XML to make corporate data more easily available through Excel and other applications. Users could interact with apps using voice commands, as well as dictate text.
• Visual Studio: Future versions will include more features that let developers deploy applications across mobile computers, PCs, and corporate servers. Microsoft will also bring out rapid-application-development tools for its new generation of Windows DNA enterprise servers.
• MSN: Small businesses and consumers could create a secure online identity that lets them access E-mail, data, photos, video, and music from a variety of client devices.