Michael Gartenberg poses the question:
Will Web 2.0 kill Windows?: "
Answer: NO.
Comparing Web 2.0 to Windows is like comparing Apples and
Oranges!
The Internet displaced Windows (long time ago!). The effect of
this reality is simply working its way through Geoffrey Moore's
Bell Curve - in "left to right" fashion. By the way, there isn't a
single thing Microsoft can do about this beyond accepting this
reality and gearing itself up to compete as best it can in this new
reality.
The Internet is the Operating System for the New Computer -
aptly coined: "The Network" by Sun years ago (unfortunately a blind
preoccupation with Java has completely obscured Sun's fundamental
vision regarding this matter).
Web 2.0 provides the Windows API equivalent for the
InternetOS.
The real message in today's well publicized memos from Bill and Ray
is a realization on the part of Microsoft that they can no longer
bet the house on Windows; Integrated Innovation will no longer
imply: covert ways of locking unsuspecting customers and partners
into Windows. In short, Microsoft is wrestling with its
Local Max.