Is Microsoft charting a new course for its MSN online service? Again? [Ed]
IDC, the big technology research firm, certainly thinks so. In a report posted on Thursday on its Web site accessible to clients, IDC said Microsoft had abandoned its goal of trying to overtake America Online as the largest online service. "MSN," the report states, "has adopted a new strategy — to ultimately become a portal or software company, with customers obtaining their own Internet access from any source." The new plan, the IDC report declared, is "a gigantic strategic shift."
The report's author, Steven Harris, an IDC analyst, writes that Microsoft is not touting the plan as new but more as "a refinement of existing strategy." Yet Mr. Harris added in an interview on Friday that a gradual exit from the business of being an Internet service provider is the logical conclusion to Microsoft's present strategy. That strategy, he said, is to aggressively push its MSN software as the Web site portal into co-branded high-speed Internet services offered by telecommunications companies like Qwest and Verizon.
News source: The New York Times
IDC, the big technology research firm, certainly thinks so. In a report posted on Thursday on its Web site accessible to clients, IDC said Microsoft had abandoned its goal of trying to overtake America Online as the largest online service. "MSN," the report states, "has adopted a new strategy — to ultimately become a portal or software company, with customers obtaining their own Internet access from any source." The new plan, the IDC report declared, is "a gigantic strategic shift."
The report's author, Steven Harris, an IDC analyst, writes that Microsoft is not touting the plan as new but more as "a refinement of existing strategy." Yet Mr. Harris added in an interview on Friday that a gradual exit from the business of being an Internet service provider is the logical conclusion to Microsoft's present strategy. That strategy, he said, is to aggressively push its MSN software as the Web site portal into co-branded high-speed Internet services offered by telecommunications companies like Qwest and Verizon.
News source: The New York Times
Change log:
- Modern UI 1.63: Header bitmap support, new defines to change the description area, single macro for language selection dialog, more!
- New tutorial in the documentation
- define_if_last in Page command also works when a define has not been specified for all Page commands. This fixes the problem with the Modern UI "Click Next" / "Click Install" texts.
- Added SectionSetInstTypes and SectionGetInstTypes
- Reboot command does not force a reboot anymore (allows the user to save work)
- !if[n]def/!else fixes
- LogSet on now really starts logging
- Cancel button available on all pages after the instfiles page but the last page unless /ENABLECANCEL was used in its Page command
- License page: No more limit on RTF size
- LangDLL: Option to auto-count number of languages, shell font support
- Page and UninstPage can not be used inside sections/functions
- CreateDirectory now uses the error flag
- EnumRegKey/Value output_var check fixed
- Updated translations
- Dreaded BSOD after plug-ins enumeration finally banished
- Minimize button and BGGradient and BGImage compatibility fixes
- WriteINIStr with empty value works again
- Added FlushINI
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