Hugh's ramblings: SmartDocuments and InfoPath

Hugh's ramblings: SmartDocuments and InfoPath: "I've done a little SmartDocuments development, and don't find it easy to share his enthusiasm completely: the developer documentation is difficult to parse, and the experience wasn't a whole lot of fun. I do think the concept is powerful and important, and opens some fascinating possibilities - just a note of caution if you're thinking of diving in with both feet.
The potential of SmartDocuments is quite interesting, really. It appears to be part of a very broad 'reclaim the desktop' strategy, where integration traditionally seen as 'enterprise-scale' -- workflow, content management, legacy systems context -- becomes part of the Office experience, instead of stovepiped into separate desktop- or browser-based application interfaces. Which is a smart strategy, both in terms of an Office hegemony and enhanced user experience."

Thanks for the kind words, Hugh. I agree -- you have to be something of a patient investigative reporter to find all the details you'll need for the expanded smart tag SDK.