Microsoft Demonstrates new Web 2.0 Enabling Technologies

Web and Application/SharePoint hosting is not a true "utility", like many seem to refer to our industry as. It's an evolving set of technology enablers that allow for the constant evolution of Web content and productivity applications to be developed. I can't think of any utilities that innovate at the rate that hosting companies, and the platforms that we enable for our customers, do. Both Microsoft and the open-source community continue to evolve the tools, frameworks, languages and applications that hosting customers use to develop new Web sites and applications.

Web 2.0 is here and many say Web 3.0 is here or just about to start. Web and application users around the world are becoming more sophisticated and have become accustomed to very rich interactive experiences as they interact with Web sites and Web applications. Today Web content needs to be interactive and driven by the AJAX experience. Web applications must be easy to use and engage the user. No longer will simple HTML pages and forms with frustrating validation interaction models suffice.

Yesterday I attended an event that Microsoft is sponsoring in three cities. (You may still be able to attend in Denver or Los Angeles). The massive Web 2.0 strategy that Microsoft has in place was neatly presented in a one-day event. There is no doubt, in my or the attendees' minds that Microsoft is just finishing the launch of the key technologies for the next generation of Web based experiences. Microsoft is once again re-invigorating the world of the designer and developer. The new Web 3.0 tools that they have recently launched are revolutionary. Silverlight, ASP.NET Ajax, IIS 7.0, the Expression Studio and its applications, some of recent plug-ins for Visual Studio 2005, and the pending next release of Visual Studio (code- named ORCAS), all have the potential to create a whole generation of Web sites and applications.

The toolset may just be the biggest enabler of the future. Designers and developers have always worked somewhat independently. For example, Photoshop and Visio designs and mock-ups did not always make it to a live implementation. But now with the Expression tools, all of these foundational technologies are accessible by both designers and developers, enabling them to work together. The new workflow that these tools enable between these two very different disciplines has the potential to bring about a whole new model for how Web sites and Web-based applications are developed. The beneficiaries of the results will be the Web hosting customer.

New beautiful and engaging Web sites. New beautiful and engaging Web-based applications. All to be hosted by Web hosts.