Office Live and Windows Live November 1, 2005
Written as a “quick response” to a question about the launch of these two services, the below is my initial notes on the above, based on reading an assortment of the blogs out there (noted at the end of this).
- There is no cost data yet. Office Live won’t be in beta until early next year, for instance.
- Office Live is supposed to launch in Q1 next year. This is not a replacement for Office - it’s a different type of product (Rahesh Jha).
- Currently isn’t cross-browser compatible. They’re working on this.
- Windows Live - will help push RSS out to “the public” quite substantially. Also photo sharing and social networking features - that seems very home-user friendly; not clear yet whether the total focus is meant to be home use.
- The initial focus of Office Live is the ~28 million worldwide businesses that have less than 10 employees (Tom Warren @ Neowin.Net)
- Windows Live is a split of MSN, with MSN equalling content such as MSN.com and MSNBC.com. WindowsLive is services, such as Live.com, Mail and Instant Messenger.
- Michael Gartenberg at Jupiter Research: “There’s been a lot of chatter about how this is a response to Google or how it’s Microsoft being dragged into offering these type of services at the expense of losing it’s traditional market for Office apps. Well, that analysis is all wrong. Microsoft has been planning this for quite some time, long before it would appear as a response to Google or anyone else.
- These new services recognize the importance of connectivity and the near ubiquitous nature of high speed access but also combine with the richness that you can only get from traditional model. These are not replacements for Office or Windows but extensions of them.”
- Michael Sampson at Shared Spaces: http://www.shared-spaces.com/blog/2005/11/thoughts_on_win.html. Sample quote “Office Live ain’t about what most people call Office … I know Microsoft is trying to extend the Office brand to all sorts of things, and that’s fine, but Office Live isn’t about Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, which is what most people associate with that term. These announcements aren’t an attempt to offer a Web-based office productivity suite, like the much vaunted but yet-to-be-seen Google Office. “
- Windows Live will be primarily ad supported. Does not kill off MSN.
- Office Live is “internet based services for growing and managing your business online”. There is an ad supported level, and an additional tier above this that will require subscriptions.
- Live.com is going to be the new default page for IE7 and Vista.
- SeattlePI.com - “As currently envisioned, for example, the company said you wouldn’t be able to create a Word document or Excel spreadsheet solely by using the Web browser in Office Live.
- The company will morph its MSN Messenger instant-messaging and Hotmail e-mail services into “Windows Live” services. MSN exec David Cole said the company will still maintain the MSN.com portal for people who want pre-programmed content.”
- Ray Ozzie - Windows is completely separate from Windows Live. Interaction through documents only.
Links used for note taking:
http://tech.memeorandum.com/051101/p50#a051101p50
http://www.crunchnotes.com/?p=18
http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelarrington/sets/1267546/
http://thomashawk.com/2005/11/microsoft-turns-web-20_01.html
http://www.neowin.net/comments.php?id=31270&category=main
http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/001048.html
http://microsoft.weblogsinc.com/entry/1234000020066099/
http://www.shared-spaces.com/blog/2005/11/thoughts_on_win.html
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/index.php?p=2097
http://www.netcrucible.com/blog/Microsoft+And+Live.aspx
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archives/100348.asp?source=rss
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=2098
http://weblogs.jupiterresearch.com/analysts/gartenberg/archives/011607.html
What is GTD?
(This is a replacement post. I’m having some issues with the category selection aspect of the wordpress.com client. This is part of my efforts to work around that).
GTD is the acronym, and common nickname, for Getting Things Done, a time and personal organization management methodology, written by David Allen. The book of the subject can be found at Amazon here, David Allen’s company is here, and his own explanation of what GTD is can be found here.
I personally use the GTD methodology, with a few minor tweaks to my own circumstances and preferences, as is common to many practitioners of it. I use a Blackberry as my primary communications tool; it often becomes my always-available capture device (read the book…), as it is always with me. But, depending on the circumstances, I may also use a HipsterPDA, again, modified to my own purposes (which is the whole point of the hPDA), or Microsoft OneNote, or MindJet MindManager — the important thing, in GTD terms and techniques, is that no matter who I create actions or record information, everything ultimately ends up in one Inbox, for later processing. In my case, I use Microsoft Outlook, and the NetCentrics GTD Add-In.
The book retails for less than ten dollars. There are a multitude of sites, blogs and discussion groups around the web discussion the application of the methodology; you could read those without having read the book first, but the maximum benefit comes with the book. It’s an easy read, although actually implementing the processes for the first time may require you to set aside a weekend, or a series of evenings (everyone’s circumstances are different). If you only read one organizational management guide book, this would be the one I recommend.
The rest of the “GTD” category on this site will have comments about specific situations and scenarios relating to the implementation and use of GTD, and any relevant articles about the topic I see and recommend. The separate “Time Management” category will contain more general observations and links.
Check it out, let me know what you think - comments are always welcome.
(Sidebar: This is a backdated post. I’m actually writing it at 12:20 on November 20th. I want to put this into the early part of the GTD category as an explanatory post, as I intend to refer someone to this, and the whole category block. I’m also interested to see if the post, being backdated like this, turns up correctly in the RSS feed, if at all, as a basis for future knowledge).
Technorati Tags: Time Management, GTD