Microsoft says the future of TV and entertainment isn't about Windows

Microsoft has posted a blog offering the company's vision about the future of TV, entertainment and the living room, and the big news is this: It's not about Windows. Rather, the company sees the Xbox 360, Kinect, and Bing teaming up to transform entertainment-related technology. It's the right strategy at the right time.

In the official Microsoft blog, Frank X. Shaw, Microsoft's Corporate Vice President for Corporate Communications, wrote The Future of the Living Room. Here's the core of what he has to say:

"Integration of products and services like Xbox, Kinect and Bing is at the heart of our strategy."

Look for the word Windows in the post. You won't find it. Instead, the post and an accompanying video show how you'll be able to interact with your television and communications technologies using your voice and gestures using the power of XBox, Kinect, and Bing.

This is a big change in Microsoft's strategy. There's no mention of Windows Media Center or Windows Media Connector. That's a good thing. Those technologies are not particular simple or easy to use, and have largely failed.

XBox, on the other hand, has been a raging success. Kinect is one of the most remarkable pieces of consumer technology to come along in years. And Bing is a very solid search engine. Combining them, and bypassing Windows, was the right thing to do.

I've written before that Microsoft's reliance on Windows has been holding the company back, because in doing that, it loses out on new market opportunities, where the greatest growth is. Forcing its tablets to be Windows-based means that good tablets won't be available until Windows 8 is released, and by that time, the tablet market will be sewn up.

Using the name Windows for its smartphone OS hurts as well; a recent Gartner report found that Windows Phone 7 suffers from the "Your-dad-uses-it" syndrome: the perception that it's something your dad uses at work.

The numbers bear out that Microsoft's future isn't in Windows. In the company's recent breakout quarter, Windows revenue actually fell, while Xbox 360 and Kinect sales rocketed 30% over the previous quarter.

Steve Ballmer continually says that the future of Microsoft is Windows. That's a mistake. But this most recent strategy change for Microsoft shows that the company may realize that its future lies elsewhere.