Microsoft tackles Tin Man troubles (and tank cosy)

If only I had a brain. At least I have IT Blogwatch, in which Microsoft remakes itself -- by inserting a new brain. Not to mention a tank cosy...

Not an Aussie Ozzie but Microsoft's Ray Ozzie, the Notes-cum-Groove guy, now CTO at Microsoft. David Hunter strategizes, "David Kirkpatrick pens an interesting profile on Ray Ozzie and his role at Microsoft. I’d take it with a grain of salt since I expect a lot of the 'inside details' have been passed through Microsoft’s PR filter ... gives a flavor of the man and the issues as Microsoft perceives them which are forcing the new push for ad-supported online services. A small sample: 'Ozzie remembers 'vigorous disagreement' over business models based on advertising revenue, vs. those based on transaction fees or traditional licensing. 'It’s clear that in the consumer realm, online advertising is this new economic engine,' says Ozzie. 'It’s not as obvious how that engine is applied in the enterprise market' ... Doing all that is even more ambitious than it sounds. For one thing, it is hugely expensive. Software was once a low-capital-cost industry, but not anymore: To deliver a Web-based product line, Microsoft must build a global network of server farms that will cost 'staggering' amounts of money, says Ozzie.'"

» Erick Schonfeld at B2Day: "Windows Live is just the start ... As I've said before, it's all about the Webtop (software that fuses the Web and the desktop).  But in order to catch up to Google's massive server backbone (estimated at one million Linux-powered servers around the world) Microsoft plans ... to build up its own (Windows-powered) server farms here and abroad to support all of its future online software ...  Microsoft could charge businesses to host these Live Drives for their employees, or offer them free to consumers and serve up ads triggered by the text and metadata of each individual's uploaded documents and files ...  I wouldn't be surprised if Google continues to dominate in the consumer space while Microsoft does better selling online software to businesses ... Microsoft hopes to become a bigger player in online advertising. It sees a big opportunity for advertising-supported software on the Web aimed at consumers ... Yeah, good luck. Instead of chasing Google in an area where it is not a leader (online advertising), Microsoft would be better off playing to its strengths and concentrating more on its plans to host software for businesses."

» eClippings has an interesting thought:  "Looks like I was wrong to worry about Ray Ozzie getting lost in the Redmond vastness ... Well it looks like some folks at Redmond are getting an inside view of what this process looks like. Ballmer never really looked like a successor to Gates...Ozzie does."

» Tech Blabber: "The MSN team is working on a new Windows Live service, code-named Live Drive ... Microsoft archrival Google is developing similar technology, code-named Gdrive, according to information Google accidentally shared with analysts in early March ... Microsoft, likewise, has shared few specifics about Live Drive. Microsoft Chief Technology Officer Ray Ozzie publicly acknowledged Microsoft’s Live Drive plans in an interview with Fortune Magazine."

» Mary Jo: "Microsoft has been eyeing the hosted storage space for at least two years. In 2004, Microsoft was rumored to be readying a hosted backup-and-restore service for SOHO (small office/home office) and consumer customers ... Microsoft would back up users' personal files on CD and/or DVD ... The Microsoft hosted storage service was expected to be available via subscription. It originally was expected to debut in 2005. There are other places where storage figures into the Microsoft Live equation. In March, Microsoft officials described the company's plans for making Live a developer platform in its own right. As part of that strategy, Microsoft is opening up the Live platform to other Microsoft and external third-party developers [developers, developers, developers] ... Microsoft is making available to developers three sets of Live interfaces: contacts, identity and storage. Microsoft is expecting developers to build on top of these when devising new Windows Live services. "

» Amit Agarwal: "Free online file storage services like Box.net or XDrive may soon find the going very tough ... These are certainly good times for the web consumer. We already had unlimited inbox storage, now is the turn for storing all your digital files online and access them from anywhere using any device."

Buffer overflow:

• Richi Jennings: Panda Software has a shill?
• Ranjiva Prasad: The Impact of SOA on the Developers Job Part I
• ITtoolbox: Important Security Patches for Oracle, Apple, Asterisk
• Ars technica:  The RIAA vs. the EFF: who will redefine copyright for the digital age
• TechieDolphin: Tools that Telecommuters and Remote Workers Can't Live Without
• Mike Rothman: My Vote for Inventor of the Firewall
• Mike Barton: Boot Camp does Linux
• John Paczkowski:  What do you call that torture where a steady drip, drip, drip breaks you down?
• Amit Agarwal: Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Express goes free for life
• Todd Bishop: Gates and Hu: Inside their meeting
• Martin MC Brown: 64 gigabytes would suit me fine
• Douglas Schweitzer: What you can’t see can hurt you (Part Deux)
• Martin MC Brown: Your next desktop should be low voltage
• Martin MC Brown: Linksys IP Phone
• Martin McKeay: Military secrets leaking out through flash drives
• C.J. Kelly: There never will be a silver bullet
• Marian Prokop: What would you do with 64 gigabytes of flash memory?
• Jerri Ledford: Master data management: Is it BI utopia?
• Joyce Carpenter: Women in technology ... this week's musings
• Mitch Betts: An information-management breakdown of epic proportions
• Shark Tank: OK, how about $152 and a roll of duct tape?

And finally...  A tank cosy [for the tank owner who has everything?]

Richi Jennings is an independent technology and marketing consultant, specializing in email, blogging, Linux, and computer security. A 20 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. Contact Richi at blogwatch@richi.co.uk. Also contributing to today's post: Judi Dey, our very own Antipodean.