The Second Coming of Microsoft!

If you take time to read all IT related news every day, you will probably notice how Microsoft strategy has changed, or should I say evolved to accommodate new market forces. Consequently, product releases have been sped up from several years to several months, concept of software as a service has been embraced through Live suite of services, and Web 2.0 is not just another catch phrase at Redmond these days. In media world we are seeing traction as well. Needless to say recently Flash has captured all the headlines, mainly due to the phenomenal success of YouTube who is using Flash video. However, Windows Media is making the comeback! Zune portable media player will be officially released on November 14 and today X-Box division announced video download service via X-Box gaming consoles. So what's the big deal you might say? The answer is that Microsoft has realised that key to its technologies is not to push everyone and everything to use a PC, but rather to embrace the products consumers really want -- gaming consoles and portable media players -- and compliment them with compelling content. If you want to play content on your PC, that's fine but PC can not be the primary vehicle in all instances! Bundle some cool content with X-Box Live service and make it easy to watch on TV -- yes TV is still the key to our entertainment rooms! Now, if only they would have some cool tools to convert any content to desired high-quality Windows Media content and make process of posting that content to the web easy?!? Secondly, how about the live content? Windows Media hands down beats competing codecs, in scalability, features and cost. Moreover, how about better APIs so video can be easily integrated into web pages and player controls to work seamlessly!

Overall Wall Street has certainly took notice of what Microsoft is doing. Stock [NASDAQ: MSFT] is up 20% from its five year high despite announcements of increased spending in R&D. Yet again, in the mist of competition, people, as do companies, either flourish or perish!