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"HailStorm" Putting People in Control
On Monday, March 19, Microsoft briefed the media on its innovative Project HailStorm, a key part of the company's delivery on its .NET strategy to empower people through great software, any time, any place and on any device.
HailStorm is a set of user-centric services that will put people - not their devices, applications, services or networks -- at the center of their computing experience, seamlessly integrating the technology in people's lives.
HailStorm services will enable 3rd party software developers to create tools that access, for example, an individual's calendar, contact information or documents, from any application, device or service connected to the Internet.
Most important, HailStorm uses an open access model utilizing open industry standards that will allow anyone - including Microsoft competitors - to develop to and/or access HailStorm-enabled services.
The initial set of HailStorm services is scheduled to be available in a broad beta in late 2001, with full release in 2002.
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AOL TW Seeks Government Protection of "Walled Garden"
AOL Time Warner, a $178 billion company with 130 million subscribers worldwide, is clearly concerned about Microsoft's intention to open the Internet. AOL Time Warner executives held a preemptive closed-door meeting with "…attorneys general in the midst of litigating the current Microsoft case to talk about Microsoft's new HailStorm," the week before Microsoft even announced HailStorm, according to Tech Daily, March 22.
The AOL strategy is to preserve its closed, proprietary system and keep its end users in its "walled garden," with access to only a limited set of the content available on the Internet - AOL-Time Warner content delivered through AOL-Time Warner networks to AOL-Time Warner products.
"AOL Anywhere" stands in stark contrast to the Microsoft HailStorm "anytime, anywhere, from any device" approach that puts consumers in control to decide what is and is not part of their personal network, spanning any device, application, service or online service.
For more information about HailStorm and Microsoft competitors' response to HailStorm, go to:
The Industry Standard, "Legal Storm Brewing Over Microsoft's HailStorm; AOL TW and Sun are among the companies quietly talking to antitrust regulators about Redmond's online services project"; http://www.thestandard.com/article/
display/0,1151,22965,00.html
Washington Post , "Microsoft Strategy Focuses on Web"; http://washingtonpost.com/
wp-dyn/articles/A28125-2001Mar19.html
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Make Your Voice Heard
What do you think? Should the government protect AOL, Sun, Oracle or any other company from competition?
Let your public officials know your views TODAY by linking to the Freedom to Innovate Network website at www.microsoft.com/freedomtoinnovate.
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