Microsoft's big nightmare: free online apps
A new generation of browsers is about to make Web applications better than downloadable desktop software. — (Business 2.0 Magazine) — The browser is the new OS. Yes, we've heard this before, and if you're quietly groaning right about now, I can understand why.
Context & Ripple Effects
Microsoft had already been reported to be considering making desktop applications free, an early sign that the company was confronting pressure on the paid-software model. The release of Internet Explorer 7 adds a concrete browser-platform element to the article's argument: richer Web applications would compete for work traditionally done by installed Windows software.
First-order effects
- Microsoft faces pressure to defend the value of desktop software as browser-delivered applications reduce the advantage of locally installed programs.
- Windows users gain a more credible alternative application environment in the browser, shifting attention from the operating system to the applications and services available through it.
Second-order effects
- Microsoft's application pricing and distribution strategy becomes harder to separate from its browser strategy: free desktop software and improved browser capability both address the same Web-based competitive threat.
- Enterprise software-management offerings such as Microsoft's Desktop Optimization Pack must compete with the appeal of applications that require less local deployment and maintenance.
Third-order effects
- If browser applications continue to match desktop capabilities, control over the application platform shifts from the operating system toward browser standards, online services, and the providers operating them.
- The commercial center of software would move from one-time desktop licenses toward service delivery and the recurring relationships that accompany it.
The trend: The browser is becoming an application platform, forcing desktop-software vendors to rethink both distribution and how they capture value.