Bearfruit

Microsoft has released a product called Microsoft Office Live Small Business which, when viewed from a technical perspective, is quite intriguing. I spent nearly 5 years writing a commercial content management system (aka CMS) called EliteCMS and I still frequently write web applications. I’m always looking for ways to make applications simpler to use and appreciate products who do this well. Office Live is a product with a lot of merit.

Microsoft is a company who has a chequered history. I think they have created several great products (some I particularly love are Visual Studio, MS Office and their keyboard/mice products) but they frequently use business tactics that I just can’t agree with. One popular technique is the “embrace and extend” where they appear open at first and then enhance their product making it incompatible and difficult to migrate from. Because of this I caution you to think carefully before building your business on any of their products.