I'm talking hybrid computing here. Definition of Hybrid Computing: Apps and utilities that work locally AND in the Cloud.Quoting from one of my fav columnists, "Microsoft currently is the only company that gets this right while everybody else fails miserably at it." I agree.
He cites a case in point: 'You want to use a service that provides reliable email, instant messaging, contact, file and calendar management. You want it all to work no matter what computer you're on. You want something that is accessible on the web, as a local client and on your mobile device.'
'And', as he says so correctly 'you want it all for free'. Too right.
So, where do you go? The answer: to Microsoft and their Windows Live service. It does it all, and it does if for free. More, it works, it works and it works fantastically well. Here they are. These are the apps, utilities and service you get all in a package, or standalone.
- Hotmail: for email
- Windows Live Messenger: for instant messaging.
- Hotmail again: for contact management.
- Skydrive: for files (25 GIGS WORTH!)
- Calendar management: with, you guessed it, Hotmail again.
All of the above work on the web, sync seamlessly with the Windows Live Mail client and, if you prefer to stay with Outlook, syncs smoothly with Outlook's Calendar via Outlook Connector. And wait, there's more! All this PLUS 100% accessible via your smartphone/Windows Mobile equipped PDA/Phone as well (I use Palm's Treo 700wx and have full access with Windows Mobile Pocket MSN.
As my columnist asks, in words to the same effect, 'who else does it with anything like the same smooth efficiency?'
- Google? Not even close.
With Google you must stay in the browser completely –Gmail is browser based. You can download and send email via Outlook Connector (Microsoft to the rescue please note!), bu NOT your contacts. Further, there is no way to make use of Gmail "labels" using any other client. I must add, I am a fan of many things Google, not least of which is Blogger, on which this is being published (!), yet even more so, I, as a consumer, love competition even more. This blog will hopefully serve to stimulate the folks at the big 'G' to turn up the heat yet again for you and me. After all, in the end, in a democratically and enterprise based society (the Net), we vote with our feet! (or is fingers as we type?) - Apple? Nah. You have to pay. MobileMe cost ya. How much? US$99 yearly just to have it.
- Yahoo? No again. Yahoo offers no local client access and POP cost again. Microsoft wins again because Hotmail's POP access is now free since March 2009. Can't beat that FREE! Then again, just like Google you must stay in the browser to achieve full functionality.
So, as Dave states, 'In the end, Microsoft's Windows Live is the only sensible choice for true hybrid computing. You've got your local and your cloud within easy reach.' And, he adds, 'it's also stupidly easy to backup your mail and contacts using freely available software.
So, let's hear it for Microsoft, so often the recipient of boos and brickbats, on this occasion they definitely earn the laurel wreath of victory in this age when the aerial battle for web dominance is being fought way up in cloud-sphere.
More bad news for the other combatants: Microsoft Office will be integrated into Windows Live in 2010. Wow!
Is that laughter in Redmond I hear?
Ref: Dave Risley, PCMec.com
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