Guest Post from Matt Bramer: HTML5 is changing more than the web
The other day, Matt Bramer (@iOnline247) and I were discussing the Microsoft /web distribution of applications on the LAMP stack. Much of what he was saying was out of my realm, so I offered to have him do a guest post here. Without further ado, Matt’s thoughts! (You can also read this post on Matt’s blog.)
This is more of an observation of what I see the internet will be in the next 10 years. Think back to 2000 and how the web used to look then, compared to now. It’s almost a laughable matter. I would’ve never been able to pull of my Twitter Marriage Proposal. ^_^ HTML5 will change how software is developed, with database caching and drag and drop being the biggest catalyst.
Microsoft has dedicated itself to creating a browser that is capable to handle HTML5. Lucky for us it’s the next iteration of Internet Explorer. And yes if you opened the last link up with IE8, it doesn’t work that well unfortunately… With everything computer related, there is always a better way to do it. That’s why the HTML5 standard is so important. It’ll open so many possibilities. One major capability will be to run applications from the cloud and have direct access to everything when you aren’t connected. That’s absolutely HUGE! I see the ability to use a computer without ever installing an application natively. This could work so well, that this may never be an offering again…
How will Microsoft compete?
Currently there are licensing costs for Microsoft’s OS as well as SQL Server for that matter. With the transformation of the web, Microsoft will have to rethink how they license their software in order to position themselves as the web platform of choice. LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) servers can be downloaded freely and setup with relatively no costs. There are compelling reasons for using these types of deployments for the web (e.g., here and here) Did I mention it’s free? Because it’s free… That doesn’t mean there isn’t any hope in securing the top spot. Microsoft has been focusing on allowing new startups to compete for relatively no costs as well. It’s also making it very easy to deploy major applications on top of IIS.
Licensing, Licensing, Licensing!!!
One of the most compelling reasons for using a LAMP deployment is licensing. Costs can make or break companies these days. How to get off the ground with little costs is a question I’ve asked myself. Maybe you have too… There are many entry level ways (as I’ve shown above) to get up and running with Microsoft but scaling those out to handle millions of connections can become very expensive, very quickly. MySQL is so popular because it’s scalable without the hefty price tag of SQL. For licensing revenue to continue rolling in for both OS and SQL, they’ll have to compete in this market as it exists today.
As the web grows…
You’ll continue to hear more stories such as “Cloud Computing” and “I only watch TV online”. You’ll also see Microsoft persuade young developers more and more that it’s the platform of choice for the web. Making IT personnel more comfortable with hosting their web apps on Microsoft is only the start in my eyes. I’m sure this hasn’t been overlooked within the walls of Redmond either. Either way HTML5 is pushing this forward.
I’m excited to see what’s in store over the next 10 years and expect my life to be easier because of a server side app, not a client side app…
~Fin