Microsoft Web plan takes aim at Google

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But Can We Trust Microsoft?

It's all well and good that the only way Microsoft can compete against Google is to expose their Web APi's in a similar way. But who would put their time, efforts, and resources into building a business based on having to trust in Microsoft APi's? There is a long history of Microsoft promising developers (and their investors) to trust in their APi's, only to discover later that Microsoft routinely trades preferential access to the APi's in exchange for corrupt market splitting considerations ? Netscape being one of the more infamous examples of how cavalierly APi access threats can be ruthlessly used to Microsoft's advantage.

With the 1992 publication of his book, ?Undocumented Windows: A Programmers Guide to Reserved Microsoft Windows Api Functions?, Andrew Schulman kicked off a cottage industry of discovering and disclosing MS secrets that continues to thrive. One of the things Andrew discovered is that there is one set of APi's reserved for Microsoft applications, and another made public for developers and competitors. Other APi's are published and documented for certain uses, but the way Microsoft uses those same APi's to enhance the performance and functionality within their applications differs from the published disclosure.

All of these things are i guess okay, unless of course you might someday find yourself competing against Microsoft. Then your hosed. I can imagine a ?mesh? based service based on MS Web APi's, where say, Aetna Insurance is an important part of the financial aggregated information a mesh service might provide. Imagine the problems if Microsoft decides to take out Aetna and offer their own financial services mesh binding in their ?preferred? insurance and financial partners. If both Aetna, and your ?mesh? rely on MS Web APi's, you're going down. And without ceremony.

My point is that unless Microsoft can provide the marketplace with some reason as to why they should now be trusted, there is an incredible risk for anyone writing to MS Web APi's. Who's going to protect your development investment or guarantee business service continuation if you engage such a mesh? The Feds? Forget it. They have no authority over Microsoft. Chairman Bill is above the law, and everyone needs to fend for themselves. Before engaging a MS Web APi, one needs to carefully consider the risk.

No wonder Open Standards and highly interoperable Open Source components are so prized. They offer low risk - enduring open interfaces along with open messaging and communications protocols. Mesh computing though is something beyond what either Open Standards groups or Open Source communities typically engage in. However, the lesson about risk and the trust one can have in open and transparent processes that invite global participation is important. If Google can figure out a way of engaging an open source community like say, Apache, to provide public oversight for the Google Web APi's, i think they could possibly land Microsoft a knock out punch before Chairman Bill can even get into the ring. Change the rules, forcing Microsoft to fully confront the trust issue, and do us all a big favor.

~ge~

Posted by: garyedwards@...   Posted on: 09/09/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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