January 1, 2001

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Redesigned Infrastructure Will Mark Microsoft's .Net Move

By Aaron Ricadela

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s companies grapple with managing complex networks of PC software, thin-client applications, and mobile computers, Microsoft is rethinking the way it builds its own infrastructure and application software. Aligning technical groups within Microsoft around its new .Net initiatives is director of business development Charles Fitzgerald, who spoke with InformationWeek senior writer Aaron Ricadela.

InformationWeek: What's changing about the nature of client-side software?

Fitzgerald: Very broadly, we have lots of computing power on the edge of the network. Over the past five years or so, people were either building apps that sat on a browser, which were optimized for ease of deployment and reach, or they built apps optimized for rich functionality. To a large extent, Microsoft created that trade-off. For example "DLL hell" caused developers to pick one platform or another. With the slowing of Internet stocks, people want to differentiate themselves through functionality rather than reach. You'll see more applications where the power is at the edge of the network.

InformationWeek: How does that change Microsoft's role as a technology supplier?

Fitzgerald: Look at apps that leverage the power of the Internet and the client, like instant messaging or digital media. You could argue that America Online's success was predicated on having a sophisticated local client. The emergence of peer-to-peer computing, too. Our business has always been about providing the plumbing to help people build these apps. We're making investments to help people write code so they can concentrate on writing business value. The .Net idea is, how do we build distributed apps on the Internet?

InformationWeek: How are your products changing?

Fitzgerald: In Office 10, for example, we have Smart Tags--having the local device be smart about the content running on it. The software can recognize that [a document] is a legal case citation and look up the case. We've had this world [that separates] where you look for information and where you create information. The opportunity is to bring those environments together, so there's not this big switch.

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Illustration by Gerald Bustamante

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