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F.Y.I. -- Microsoft New Media Solutions
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To: www-rdb@w3.org
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Subject: F.Y.I. -- Microsoft New Media Solutions
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From: tsaltd@panix.com (Technology/Systems Advisors)
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Date: Fri, 01 Sep 1995 02:14:27 -0400
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From tsaltd@panix.com Fri Sep 1 02: 31:15 1995
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Message-Id: <199509010630.CAA27603@panix.com>
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X-Sender: tsaltd@panix.com
www-rdb is my favorite mail group -- Here is my first posting:
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The following is the full text of an article now appearing in the September
issue of the New York New Media Association Newsletter:
NYNMA Newsletter
August/September1995
Contents:
· Sizzling Summer Sees Execs Shuffle
· Microsoft Interacts with Developers
· CD ROM Titles in the Doldrums
· Import-Export Trade on the Internet
· Microsoft Interacts with Developers
by Steve Mintz
Over 2,500 corporate technology planners, new media moguls, and an
impressive crew of software developers attended the Microsoft Interactive
Media Conference in Long Beach, California in mid-July. With the launch of
Windows ‘95 and the Microsoft Network (MSN) only weeks away, the conference
provided attendees with three full days of keynote speeches and breakout
sessions focused on those emerging platforms. Special interest sessions
were also on the agenda covering the Microsoft Interactive Television
(formerly TIGER) and Broadcast PC initiatives, the CD Plus platform, and the
Windows Game SDK.
For the Microsoft interactive applications vision to succeed, a hardware
base of Pentium-class machines must reach wide acceptance in the home.
Any concerns over when that critical mass will materialize were confidently
disregarded by Mr. Bill’s evangelists. They easily mesmerized attendees
with impressive demonstrations of the 32-bit, feature-rich,
multi-tasking/multi-threaded operating system. Gates’ own presentation
featured demonstrations of two Win95 dazzlers: Toon-a-rama, a “mid-band”
(ISDN-based) juke-box of classic cartoons with a Saturday Morning TV look
and feel and 3D-Movie Maker -- a $40 build-your-own-virtual -world desktop
authoring system for children. Blinking will be a severe handicap for
those of us attempting to keep a sharp focus on this Brave New World.
Content providers were shown a full range of tools for developing custom
applications for MSN. Applications for that platform are hosted by a
Windows 95 intelligent browser that dynamically retrieves both program code
and information from the service’s severs to the desktop PC. Online
MediaView, an enhanced version of the current MediaView authoring tool, was
presented as a cross-platform authoring solution for both CD-ROM and MSN
based titles. Attendees were given beta copies of another, more
forward-looking product : “Blackbird" the code-name for Microsoft’s new
tool for designing, authoring, distributing, viewing and searching online
applications. Blackbird and OnLine Media View communicate with MSN via a set
of OLE interfaces and OCX controls that enable functions such as connecting
to MSN, activating file transfers, and enabling chat and mail services.
Since “Blackbird” is a true client/server architecture, net-aware titles
written using the tool will require a “Blackbird” server on the back-end.
At its initial release (Q4 ‘95) only MSN will have that server platform.
However an extended version of the server, scheduled for release in Q3 ‘96
will support the authoring of Internet applications.
The company’s solutions for electronic commerce shared equal billing with
development tools and operating systems. Demonstrations of the MSN order
capture and billing systems revealed a well-thought out plan for technology
and services supporting the implementation of mission-critical business
services. The privacy of transactions between subscribers and electronic
merchants on MSN will be enabled using a “Public Key/Private Key” encryption
technique. Those transactions, initially processed using MAPI (e-mail)
protocols will eventually be supported by a network pipe to database
servers. In late 1996 enhanced authentication and processing of
transactions is scheduled to go live with bi-directional, realtime order
generation and placement, integration with merchant order systems, and a
bullet-proof charge card authorization process co-authored with Visa.
While the first round of MSN applications will run from Microsoft’s own data
center, the company’s longer-term strategy is to provide MSN affiliates with
the ability to provide network services from their own sites. At that point
in time, Internet access to and from MSN will become more seamless and the
distinction between MSN and Internet/WWW applications will become nearly
transparent. If Microsoft can deliver on this vision, their solutions will
put them well on the way to establishing their back-end platform and
front-end tools as the standard development environment for our industry.
Steve Mintz is Technical Director of Technology/Systems Advisors Ltd -- a
Manhattan-based consulting organization specializing in technology planning
and the implementation of networked business and personal computing systems.
*******************************************************************************
Be sure and visit the NYNMA site at. http://gate.okc.com/nynma/news/news.html
T/SA Ltd. delivers technology briefings, Windows programming, and
client/server architecture solutions.
tsaltd@panix.com
(212) 343-0209
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