Microsoft tries to get into the social game with Live Mesh
For Microsoft, the introduction of its new Live Mesh platform is almost an admission of defeat. After many years of taking a proprietary view of software and insisting that PC based applications were the only way to go, to jump into the online social application field is a huge change in tactics for the software giant.
This change in direction is not altogether surprising, considering that Microsoft has been making a concerted effort to increase its presence on the web through a hostile takeover of Yahoo and purchases of a variety of other online companies in recent months. Live Mesh presents a whole new side of the mega company: a software-service application that tries to make working online and working offline seamless.
Live Mesh is the brainchild of Microsoft chief software architect Ray Ozzie. “The PC era has given way to an era in which the Web is at the center of our experiences,” Ozzie wrote in a memo to Microsoft employees. “It is our mission in this new era to create compelling, seamless experiences that combine the power of the Internet with the magic of software, across a world of devices.”
Microsoft’s Live Mesh is designed to create an environment for sharing data, synchronizing data, handling device to device data transfers, remote access of devices over the internet, integration with gadgets like smart phones and PDAs, and work with your laptop to synch across the web. Supposedly Live Mesh will also sync your changes made offline once you log back in.
The Live Mesh platform is currently geared to developers. There are plans to open it up to businesses and IT departments in the future. The problem I have with the Live Mesh interface is how completely uninteresting it is. It may be innovative, but it doesn’t feel that way. It feels like every other crappy Microsoft Windows based interface to come out of Redmond for the last few years. For now I will reserve final judgement until Live Mesh goes truly live, complete with enterprise features. In the meantime, I am underwhelmed so far.
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