Microsoft’s “Live” Services – The Power is in Smart Clients, not AJAX
There has been quite a bit of noise lately over Microsoft’s recent “Live Services” announcement, most of which was caused by Microsoft’s choice to use AJAX, a cutting edge technology if you happen to be stuck in 1998. Those of us currently residing in reality, also known as the end of 2005, remember that client-side Javascript is more browser slight-of-hand than an architecture on which to build enterprise applications. But the fanfare went on and the browser addicts once again felt justified in killing off usability in the name of a myth called “ease of deployment”. Even Rob Howard, a generally very smart guy, is ready to call for the end of Smart Clients. But if you take a closer look at the functionality of Microsoft’s Live Services what you’ll find is that the real power comes from Smart Clients, not AJAX.
| Site/Service | Description | Technologies |
| Windows Live (Beta) | This is Microsoft’s portal page allowing you to install your own gadgets from www.MicrosoftGadgets.com. The Gadgets site has a pretty good collection of portlets but the two I tried to install came complete with Javascript errors. As for a general portal page, I have found that www.CodeZone.com is MUCH better, at least for .NET developers. | HTML, AJAX |
| Windows Live Mail (Beta) | This is Hotmail in new CSS styles with functionality taken directly from Outlook Web Access, which is still a better email implementation. Oh and by the way, OWA has had Async Javascript for years. Yet nobody seemed to notice until Google used it (poorly). | HTML, AJAX |
| Windows Live Safety Center (Beta) | This site has three services; virus checking, disk cleaning, and disk defragmentation. While these apps are browser based, they don’t use AJAX. Instead they use that other old Microsoft technology, everybody’s favorite security hole ActiveX. Why? I truly don’t know. This so clearly should have been a smart client application. | HTML, ActiveX |
| Windows Live Favorites (Beta) | This site allows you to save your favorite links in an organized list. It also allows you to import and export your links to your desktop. | HTML, AJAX, ActiveX |
| Windows Live Messenger (Beta) | This will be the next version of Windows Messenger and will include lots of new features including shared folders (P2P) and VOIP client software. While the nature of this application is Internet communications, it does function in a limited capacity without a connection, therefore it qualifies as a Smart Client application. | Smart Client |
| Windows Live OneCare (Beta) | This is an application that combines antivirus, automated backups, performance tune-ups, and automatic downloads of updates from Microsoft for Windows and Office. This application installs on the desktop and runs with or without a connection, so it is clearly a Smart Client. | Smart Client |
| Windows Live Search Beta – Mobile | This is a specialized version of MSN search that returns movie listings, restaurants, etc. based on a mobile phone user’s location (as entered, too bad they can’t use the GPS from the E911 service to do this). This is a specialized web page that while it isn’t a smart client, it’s not AJAX either. | xHTML (WAP 2.x) |
| Office Live | Contrary to what many people are thinking (or dreaming), this is unlikely to be a web based version of Word or Excel. This will be a site that allows small businesses to create a web presence (web, email, DNS). It will also offer some business services such as customer and project management (collaboration ala SharePoint I would assume). Most of these features will require Office installed on the desktop. | HTML, Smart Client (Office), ??? |
| Xbox Live | This is an online gaming platform for the Xbox console. While not traditionally considered a smart client, an Xbox game that has multiplayer features through Xbox Live is in fact a smart client application. | Smart Client |
If you take the time to see past the AJAX parlor tricks, there’s actually something really important going on. The promise of web services, or software as a service, is starting to actually be realized. Much of the software in the future, in my opinion the most useful software, will be smart client applications; applications that provide a rich UI while leveraging the power and resources of millions of desktops (and laptops) all over the world. Those applications may use the Internet as a means of deployment but more importantly will be able to extend their functionality through the use of web based services. And that is what is at the heart of Microsoft’s Live Services.