Opinion: Windows Reorg Proves Microsoft Still Doesn't Get It

Opinion: Windows Reorg Proves Microsoft Still Doesn't Get It: "The folks at MSN and, to a lesser extent, at Xbox, understand the new world order. It's not clear that Sinofsky has any better understanding of the problems at Windows than he did at Office. After all, this is the man who killed Net Docs, at attempt at bringing office productivity to the Web several years ago. That's right, he snuffed out exactly the kind of software services that Microsoft is now promoting with Windows Live, and he did so not because it had no merit but because it threatened his Office cash cow, which, as I've mentioned, hasn't exactly changed dramatically in ten years. Again, I don't know the man, and I wish him all the best. But I'm nervous that Microsoft is simply putting on appearances and not getting to the root of its problems."

I don't often disagree with Paul Thurrott's perspectives, but I do in this instance. BTW Net Docs didn't get killed; it morphed into XDocs, which became InfoPath -- a product line that will, in Office 2007, significantly expand the types of apps Microsoft-focused developers can deliver in browser clients.