Why Microsoft is winning

Now, as the managed API gets more mature in Whidbey, and we are actually getting rich functionality available on top of the CLR, I hear that in the Longhorn timeframe it all won’t matter again. Nope, when Longhorn arrives, there will be an entire new way of designing and writing UI code, new languages etc., so I am now wondering what the hell I’m supposed to do? Do I write my applications now, and then find out in less than a year that the tech I’ve been working with won’t be what’s really supported in Longhorn, making me start all over again learning new languages and tools? I know there will be backwards compatibility in Longhorn for everything we write today, but that’s not helping me when I find that my application can’t take full advantage of Longhorn, and if I want to take full advantage, I have to rewrite a lot of code possibly in a different language specifically for Longhorn.

Writing code costs money, and developers don’t want to spend a lot writing their software only to find out within a year that they can basically start all over again. If for example MFC won’t be developed anymore and Windows Forms is the future, Microsoft should stick with it for at least 4-5 years. They can’t lay XAML on us just 1-2 years later, while Windows Forms hasn’t even had the time to mature. In addition Windows Forms lacks so many functionality that MFC has (like command routing etc.) the only way they are going to get developers to stop using MFC is to not support it anymore. And that’ll be very sad.

However I am confident that Microsoft will make up for this with Longhorn and the API’s that will be available for Longhorn. Once again there is a clear and consistent message coming from Microsoft that managed code will be the future, and it is very clear which API’s and technologies are going to play an important role when Longhorn comes out. It is going to be an exciting time to be a software developer for Microsoft’s platforms. As I mentioned before, the thing I like about Microsoft is their holistic approach when they want to realize something. All the features and technology planned for Longhorn don’t stand by themselves, but are part of a clear integrated vision of where Microsoft wants to take things with Longhorn. We’ve seen recently that Apple claims to have released certain features that are promised to be in Longhorn in their new operating system. But if they think they are accomplishing anything by being first to market, they are making a big mistake. Many companies can implement one or two features that are promised for Longhorn in their own products today, but none of them will be capable of doing it the way Microsoft is going to do it in Longhorn. The reason is simply because they lack the vision and holistic approach that Microsoft has. The glue that binds everything together in a way that makes a lot of sense. This is probably the biggest reason why I admire Microsoft: Their ability to keep a clear consistency and vision throughout the entire company and throughout all of their products. And Microsoft is a big company. I don’t know how they do it, but I hope to find out someday.