“個人電腦時代已經(jīng)讓位于以網(wǎng)絡(luò)作為我們的體驗中心的時代,”微軟首席軟件架構(gòu)師Ray Ozzie在一份微軟上周發(fā)布的備忘錄中寫道,“在這個新時代,我們的使命就是利用軟件的魔力在全球的各種設(shè)備上創(chuàng)造結(jié)合了互聯(lián)網(wǎng)強(qiáng)大功能的引人注目的無縫體驗?！?p>

Live Mesh目前僅僅提供給有限的測試者,它看來就是完成這一使命的主要組成部分之一。這個平臺將讓人們能夠輕松和自動地在個人電腦或設(shè)備上與網(wǎng)絡(luò)以及任何其它的個人電腦或設(shè)備同步內(nèi)容以及數(shù)據(jù),與其他人共享內(nèi)容和數(shù)據(jù),并利用客戶軟件和網(wǎng)絡(luò)服務(wù)軟件的結(jié)合,遠(yuǎn)程訪問各種聯(lián)網(wǎng)設(shè)備。它還將讓開發(fā)商能夠創(chuàng)造離線功能以及用于網(wǎng)絡(luò)應(yīng)用的、不需要瀏覽器的體驗,把在線體驗拓展至離線應(yīng)用,以及對兩者進(jìn)行同步的功能。然而,Live Mesh僅僅是微軟透露的一件產(chǎn)品。

在Ozzie的備忘錄中,他指出微軟正在采取重大業(yè)務(wù)方式的調(diào)整,以利用向網(wǎng)絡(luò)轉(zhuǎn)移機(jī)會。“兩年多以前,當(dāng)我撰寫題為‘互聯(lián)網(wǎng)服務(wù)破壞’的備忘錄時,大多數(shù)公司仍然把重點放在把Office 2007以及Vista產(chǎn)品推向市場,”O(jiān)zzie寫道,“那完全是軟件,而不是服務(wù),而服務(wù)才是最高精神境界?！?p>

微軟早就創(chuàng)造了把軟件和服務(wù)結(jié)合起來的產(chǎn)品,如Exchange和Outlook,這兩種軟件均具有客戶和網(wǎng)絡(luò)體驗；而Office則推出了Office Online提供幫助以及定制模板。然而,只是最近公司才開始為它的一些現(xiàn)成應(yīng)用軟件創(chuàng)造完全基于網(wǎng)絡(luò)和服務(wù)的體驗,如SharePoint Online和CRM Online。

微軟在給像Office這樣的應(yīng)用軟件添加在線協(xié)作功能上有點行動遲緩,這種功能目前僅僅限于Office Live和Office Live Workspaces。該公司在網(wǎng)絡(luò)廣告以及搜索上也遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)落后于谷歌,這也就是微軟最近豪賭幾十億美元謀求吞并雅虎的原因。

Ozzie的備忘錄并沒有作為對微軟的某種記過,但是,與此相反,它展示了公司在跨越多個設(shè)備進(jìn)行網(wǎng)絡(luò)信息鏈接上的偉大想象力,從而使協(xié)作成為可能,賦予業(yè)務(wù)和客戶選擇他們希望的部署其應(yīng)用軟件的方式,并提供各種開發(fā)工具。

翻頁查看英文原文:

Microsoft admits Web, Not PC, is now central to computing

In announcing Live Mesh, a broad software, services and development platform that aims to use the Web as a vehicle to synchronize and share data and content among devices and people, Microsoft has finally admitted that the PC is no longer the central element of everyone's computing experience.

"The PC era has given way to an era in which the Web is at the center of our experiences," Microsoft chief software architect Ray Ozzie wrote in a memo to the company that Microsoft released last week. "It is our mission in this new era to create compelling, seamless experiences that combine the power of the Internet, with the magic of software, across a world of devices."

Live Mesh, which for now is only available to a limited number of testers, appears to be one of the major parts of this mission. The platform will allow people to easily and automatically synchronize content and data on one PC or device with the Web and any other PC or device, share content and data with other people and remotely access Internet-connected devices with a combination of client software and Web services. It will also allow developers to create offline capabilities and out-of-browser experiences for Web apps, online extensions to offline apps, and synchronization capabilities for both. But Live Mesh is only one piece of Microsoft's admission.

In his memo, Ozzie notes that Microsoft is making significant adjustments to the way it does business to take advantage of the shift toward the Web. "More than two years ago when I wrote the memo entitled The Internet Services Disruption, much of the company was still focused on bringing our Office 2007 and Vista products to market," Ozzie writes. "It was truly 'software', not 'services', that was top of mind."

Microsoft had long had functionality that mixed software and services in offerings like Exchange and Outlook, which have both client and Web experiences, and Office, which polls Office Online for help and custom templates. However, only recently has the company begun to create full Web and service-based experiences for some of its applications available, such as SharePoint Online and CRM Online.

Microsoft has also lagged a bit in adding online collaboration capabilities to applications like Office, which are for now limited there to Office Live and Office Live Workspaces. The company has also fallen far behind Google in Web ads and search, which is one of the main reasons Microsoft recently bid billions in an attempt to acquire Yahoo.

Ozzie's memo doesn't serve as any sort of mea culpa from Microsoft, but instead lays out the company's grand vision for its role on the Web linking information across multiple devices, enabling collaboration, giving businesses and consumers choice about how they want to deploy their applications and providing development tools.

（電子工程專輯）