Research? What Research?

By James Gaskin, NetworkWorld.com, 07/07/06

Microsoft spends billions (with a b) each year on software research. Every few months another feature article goes on and on about all the brains hard at work in the "secret" research labs scattered around Microsoft.

Yet many experts who watch Microsoft much closer than I are starting the same questions I have: if you have all that research, why is so little in Microsoft Vista new? And why are the two most exciting new parts copied from Apple and Linux?

Large chunks of "Vista Features" have hit the trashcan in Microsoft's rush to be only amazingly late with Vista rather than incredibly late. What's more damning to Microsoft's Research Department is the two new features that get all the press: Aero (interface) and UAP (User Account Protection) are routinely tagged as copied, not developed.

Who owns the title for cool interface looks and style? That's right, Mr. Turtleneck, Steve Jobs. People have claimed for years Microsoft only copies Apple interfaces rather than develop their own. If that's true, Gates and Ballmer should purge some researchers and cut some payroll. Nothing in the new Vista operating system look and feel convinces critics Microsoft did anything more than copy Apple yet again.

Which operating system does UAP correctly, giving a standard user plenty of rights to run applications but not enough to mess up any system settings? Linux, for about a decade. In the new Xandros Home Edition Premium I’m testing, the installation demands you set up at least one user separate from the administrator. When I'm logged in as the user and try to change something on the system, even as trivial as the screensaver, I have to provide the administrator password. Simple, quick, reliable, and completely normal in Linux.

Both of these "new" features in Vista will help (or at least look nice). I'm not complaining about those features. I'm just wondering about all that research and why we don't see any.

If you use something from Microsoft that came from their research department rather than their copy department, let me know. I'd love to see some examples.

Those of you interested in online word processors should start checking your circle of friends for anyone already registered with Writely, the company recently gobbled by Google. They're offering invitations, but just like with GMail, you need to know someone and the secret handshake. But at least this product shows some clever thinking, and dare I say, research, behind the development process. New and cool is always better than old and stodgy (at least according to my teenage daughter).

Speaking of Google, let's take a quick look at what happens when big companies start defending their Internet turf: eBay Bans Google Payment System. This stinks, because eBay helps many small businesses in many ways, as does Google. If one service or the other started treating credit card payments to them like regular card payments, where you can get your money back when defrauded, I'd immediately put all my business in their shopping basket.

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Comments

Copied stuff has been market-tested.

Brand new research still has not been. Apprantly MS prefers to put in proven features from other companies than new features from research.

Also I got the feeling reading all the stuff about Myrvhold that MS was trying to build up a reputation in the academic world, AND maybe just adding to its patent arsenal rather than setting up the R&D area to actually generate new products.

After all, remember Bill Gates' definition of "innovation" - fold/bundle features developed by potential competitors into the OS (basically a re-definition of "anti-trust bundling" into "innovative bundling"). Doesn't take a lot of R&D to break the law & invent a new name so you can claim you're not breaking the law.

Posted by: Sam on July 7, 2006 03:57 PM

Linux with "xgl" has some slick features
that are available now.

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=xgl

Posted by: cyber_rigger on July 7, 2006 05:32 PM

"What research?", indeed.

And what's more, it's nothing new. That's what made their anti-trust defense against the DOJ so laughable. "Freedom to innovate" was their tagline, but Microsoft hasn't shown much innovation in years.

DOS was purchased from Seattle Computer. Windows was the result of collaboration on (and borrowing from) Mac OS and IBM OS2. Windows server appeared after MS collaborated with Novell. The list goes on, with the accompanying litigation that resulted in some instances

The sad part is that few consumers demand anything innovative. They just want easy and uniform. Though Microsoft is the biggest offender that comes to mind, other popular software is not exempt from being painted with the same brush. To me, Firefox 1.5 looks and operates an awful lot like Opera 3 (circa 1998.)

Vista will likely be a big success, and the few who know and care that most of its "innovations" were either purchased outright or shamelessly ripped-off will be dismissed as anti-Microsoft extremists.

Posted by: Joe on July 8, 2006 03:11 PM

Do you think all the R & D budget goes to Vista? What about Office 2007, Sharepoint Portal Server, W2K3 Server Exchange 2003, etc? Those are execellent apps available today. I know Vista is very important for MS, but is not the only app or OS they do...

Posted by: DV on July 8, 2006 07:06 PM

Glad to see that others are noticing this as well...

Posted by: Omar Tirado on July 10, 2006 10:29 AM

Typical biased article with typically biased feedback. Is Network World no longer platform neutral now? If so Ill look elsewhere for my info as I dont need another righteous evangelist preaching to me.

The easiest cheap shot by MS Bashers is the cliche "what research?!?!" crap.

MSR is very long term thinking and is very deliberalty separated from the product teams. Maybe this isnt the right approach for MS, but it is how it is. They work on things like speech recognition, MMI, advanced imaging, etc.

One thing with direct practical application that they were pulled to work on was the AD replication algorithm in Win 2003. The result was a MASSIVE boost in efficiency over Win 2000.

Of course why am I even bothering to post this? This is somehow the Temple of Linux now and nothing short of "Bill Gates is satan" and "MSFT should be burnt down and its employees hung" will be suffered on these pages! What garbage.

Posted by: quantum flux on July 20, 2006 11:21 PM