Today’s keynote will take more of a UX perspective, focusing on client apps, OS… paradigm shift to embrace “personal computing,” but not just the PC.
We’ve grown from an era when the notion of a computer on every desk was a wild aspiration. Yet, today, we are challenged to imagine not having one on every desk. We trust them with our family memories, our financial information…
The Internet has impacted virtually every aspect of modern life. However, the web and the PC are still two separate things. Leveraging the capabilities of both, but integrating them more tightly, has the potential to greatly increase the value that we provide our customers.
So if we have both PCs and phones, and a desire to make connectivity more ubiquitous, what differentiates the two? PCs have the advantage that both the OS and the application are very close to the hardware. This is an efficient paradigm. We also get multiple, high-resolution screens, intuitive UI (voice, touch), seamless integration between apps, physical security for data.
The web, however, brings connections to the world. It’s a common paradigm, a common location for meetings, interactions, knowledge, services. With phones and PDAs, this connectivity is always available, always within arm’s reach. Spontaneity and lightweight communications are essential components.
Being able to span all three with a simple, integrated experience between PC, web and phone is key for the future. Microsoft is putting a lot of resources into this area.
Microsoft will continue to evolve the desktop OS (Windows 7), desktop runtimes (.NET 4.0, DirectX), browsers (IE 8), web development tools (Sliverlight 2)… web development is being extended to make the web experience more like desktop app.
First up… Windows 7.