Joel Spolsky does a fabulous job of explaining the problems with Live Mesh, Microsoft’s recently announced cloud computing platform. And blasting Ray Ozzie, Microsoft’s chief software architect, along the way.
It’s been interesting to see the reaction to Ozzie. He kinda came out of nowhere when Groove got bought, and next thing I know he’s taking over Bill Gates’ position? What, exactly, does he do?
Apparently syncing software. Read Joel’s post first. Then read the announcement on dev.live.com.
Last summer, we tested Microsoft’s Live @ Edu platform, which turned into our Fall quarter launch of Chokermail. Basically, it’s a rebranded Windows Live account. With anyPassport Passport.NET Hotmail Windows Live account, however, participants get access to many of the web-based tools that frame the Live initiative. Here’s a few you might not know about.
* Skydrive. Launched last year, Microsoft offers 5 GBs shared space with your account. That dwarfs the 10 MBs offered on our Novell servers for student accounts on campus. Plus, you can access it at home.
* Office Live Workspace. Sharepoint on the web, basically. Not too shabby, but you benefit the most when you also install the little Office 2k3/2k7 add-in to open from the HTTP location.
* Calendar. In beta now, a snazzy new calendar to complement your Chokermail.
Of course, we continue to offer Chokermail email, Spaces, and Instant Messenger. And if you’re interested but have questions regarding these three services I outlined above, let me know or stop by. I’m happy to answer any questions you’ve got.