ATOM Feed
The Sixth Platform
#
Sunday, December 28, 2008
How many different hardware platform styles have we seen in the history of business computing? Let's count.
First were mainframes, appearing in the 1960s. Next were minicomputers, which got popular in the 1970s. Desktop computers were next, in the eighties, followed by servers based on similar technology. I'd also argue that mobile devices, especially phones, qualify as an important platform style.
Mainframes, minicomputers, desktops, servers, mobile phones: That's five platform styles in a little less than 50 years. New kinds of hardware platforms for business computing just don't appear very often.
Yet one is being born right now: The cloud is the sixth platform.
New platforms don't replace what came before--they add another option. Just as mainframes weren't wiped out by minicomputers, desktop machines, or anything else, so the cloud won't eliminate any of the earlier platform styles. It just provides another choice for us to use.
Given how rarely new platform styles appear, we're all lucky to be here when one is emerging. For anybody who cares about technology, it's a great time to be alive.
6 comments ::
An Interview on Cloud Computing and Azure
#
Friday, November 21, 2008
Last week in Barcelona, I sat down for a chat with Mark Dunn. We talked mostly about cloud computing and Windows Azure, but our conversation also wondered into a few other areas. Mark's an engaging interviewer--he was a founder of
.NET Rocks--and if you're interested, the video is available
here.
0 comments ::
Upcoming Speaking Schedule
#
Thursday, November 06, 2008
I'm spending much of the next few weeks flying around Europe. If you're in any of these cities and the topic sounds interesting, feel free to stop by. They're all public presentations, and most of them are free:
- November 10-14, Barcelona: Talks on the Azure Services Platform, Microsoft's Oslo and Geneva technologies, and other topics at TechEd EMEA
- November 17, Lisbon: Presentation on cloud platforms and the Azure Services Platform
- November 20, Geneva: Presentation on cloud platforms and the Azure Services Platform
- November 21, Amsterdam: Presentation on cloud platforms and the Azure Services Platform
- December 1, Brussels: Presentation on cloud platforms and the Azure Services Platform
- December 2, Milan: Keynote at Microsoft TechDays
- December 4-5, Moscow: Talks on the Azure Services Platform, Microsoft's Oslo and Geneva technologies, and other topics at Platforma conference
- December 8, Dublin: Presentation on cloud platforms and the Azure Services Platform
- December 9, Oslo: Presentation on cloud platforms and the Azure Services Platform
- December 10, Stockholm: Presentation on cloud platforms and the Azure Services Platform
- December 11, Helsinki: Presentation on cloud platforms and the Azure Services Platform
- December 12, Vienna: Presentation on cloud platforms and the Azure Services Platform
15 comments ::
Introducing Geneva
#
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
The move to claims-based identity continues. Making this approach real requires infrastructure, however, which the vendors need to provide. Without it, a claims-based world won't materialize.
Microsoft's Geneva technology family provides one example of this infrastructure. First made public at last week's PDC, it has three parts:
- The Geneva server, which is the next release of Active Directory Federation Services and more
- CardSpace Geneva, the next release of Windows CardSpace
- The Geneva framework, providing a foundation for developers to create claims-based applications and other identity-oriented software. (This technology was originally announced under the code name "Zermatt".)
"Geneva" is also a code name, and all of these technologies are still in their initial betas. Still, to help people understand what they're all about, I've written a Microsoft-sponsored Geneva white paper, available
here.
I believe that claims-based identity is a terrific idea--it can make life so much simpler both for developers and for the people who use the apps they create. I look forward to a world where this approach is the norm.
2 comments ::
A First Look at WF 4.0, Dublin, and Oslo
#
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Lots of interesting new technology is on the horizon from Microsoft. Among it is a set of interlated things from the company's Connected Systems Division. This group includes:
- WF 4.0, which is the next release of Windows Workflow Foundation
- Dublin, a new server for WF applications and others
- Oslo, a modeling platform that can be applied in lots of different ways.
I've written a Microsoft-sponsored white paper introducing these three, attempting (as usual) to paint the big picture. If this picture sounds interesting to you, the paper is available
here.
0 comments ::
Introducing the Azure Services Platform
#
Friday, October 31, 2008
Big news this week: Microsoft at last announced its broad cloud platform. I've written a Microsoft-sponsored white paper that provides an overview of this new technology, available
here.
All three of the obvious cloud platform providers--Amazon, Google, and Microsoft--now offer something that lets customers run their apps in the cloud. All three are different, however, and they differ in interesting ways. As always in a new technology area, nobody really knows what the best approach will be, and so a hundred schools of thought are blooming.
It's a great time in our industry: A new kind of platform is coming into being.
0 comments ::
