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Microsft.Net
July 2000
| Authors: |
Ed Christie
Paul Di Senso
Michael Gold
David Rader |
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About This Report
This report was prompted by Microsoft's recent announcement of a major strategy shift—one that promises to use the Internet to integrate seamlessly the worlds of PCs and non-PC devices. After receiving several queries from Media Futures clients about the meaning of and implications surrounding the announcement, we determined that the potential impact of such a new strategy was important enough and broad enough to warrant a quick-turnaround analysis by the Media Futures team.
Readers looking for a brief synopsis of the key issues and implications surrounding the Microsoft.Net strategy should read the report's first section, Summary: A Networked-Computing Milestone. Details of the new strategy, near-term Microsoft plans, and the role that Microsoft's announcement will play in the development of Internet-mediated network computing are in the next three sections, Microsoft's New Vision, Microsoft's Announcement, and The Announcement's Role.
The following section, Cross-Platform Networking's Emergence, discusses Microsoft's early strengths and weaknesses, industry reactions to Microsoft's early moves, technical and business enablers of cross-platform networking, and the pace of developments in cross-platform networking applications. The final two sections, The Path, Not the Destination and Implications for Industry Sectors, discuss potential company opportunities and implications for five different industry sectors.
We welcome feedback about this report and the program, and we encourage you to contact us with any questions or suggestions. For more information, please contact Michael Gold at telephone: +1 650 859 6354; fax: +1 650 859 4544; e-mail: mgold@sric-bi.com. We appreciate your support of our program and look forward to working closely with you as a Digital Futures sponsor.
Table of Contents
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| About This Report |
ii |
| Summary: A Networked-Computing Milestone |
1 |
| Microsoft's New Vision |
5 |
| Microsoft's Announcement |
7 |
| The Announcement's Role |
9 |
| Cross-Platform Networking's Emergence |
11 |
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Weaknesses and Strengths |
11 |
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Company Reactions |
12 |
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Necessary Enablers |
14 |
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Pacing of Developments |
16 |
| The Path, Not the Destination |
18 |
| Implications for Industry Sectors |
20 |
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Consumer and Industrial Electronics |
20 |
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Telecommunications and Mobile Services |
20 |
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Network-Equipment Manufacturers |
21 |
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Internet Service Providers |
22 |
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Software Developers |
22 |
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