Why I am not worried about the future of Silverlight or .Net Applications.

The world is a strange place and yet I am not worried. It’s obvious to me that companies like Apple and Google believe the world is all about HTML based “apps”  if you are not specifically writing an “app” for their devices.

The Impact of Google Apps

In fact Google Apps has been a very successful model for creating HTML applications that run everywhere in fact now over 3 Million businesses are said to run on the Google Apps platform, which started with replacement for popular “Office” applications and now include an exploding amount of consumer and enterprise applications. It’s been so successful in fact to stay competitive Microsoft has launched Office 365 to compete with those apps.

Microsoft has an application ecosphere in place but not an “app” ecosphere in place for anything but Windows Phone. Windows Phone Marketplace is as close as Microsoft gets to the “app store” scenario..

The big draw for companies to Google’s enterprise “apps” ? No deployment/support costs. IT departments no longer want to “deploy” and support installations to laptop and desktop units. They want the apps to be there bingo right in the browser right away.. Google “Apps” have been making inroads because they run just about anywhere including mobile devices.

The Holy Grail of Write Once, Deploy Everywhere

The future in many people’s view is a place where the technology lets you write once and have it work on any device wherever you are at. . Many of us don’t agree that it always ends up working like this but it is definitely the market direction. This is the promise of HTML 5 and Google Apps are HTML apps.

The Windows 8 user interface

Am I the only one out there who think the IT community lacks vision and needs things spelled out for them exactly. Many Microsoft centric companies really aren’t looking at Microsoft’s competition out there. Microsoft obviously wants to be able to run any HTML web based applications out there and have now included this in the Windows 8 user interface and the fact that it can do most everything that Silverlight can do “on the surface” is a source of concern for most of those out there that really don’t get Silverlight/WPF/Windows platform applications advantages over an HTML 5 app that probably requires a web server behind it to be very functional.

If you look closely at this video you will see nearly the same platform you see for building apps with Silverlight for Windows Phone. While Microsoft hasn’t said it, it’s very obvious that they could adapt Silverlight for windows phone’s app model in with Windows 8 and graft on HTML apps  to this *VERY* easily. In fact I don’t think it would be much of a reach to provide Silverlight Tools for Windows 8 in the same way that you provide HTML5 JavaScript support., In this new UI model where you have a store/marketplace for Windows 8 the “app” model in place for Windows Phone 7 and now Windows 8’s tablet/shell environment could be extended to offer compilation to .NET or HTML 5 or anything else in fact (including Adobe Flash)..

A STRONG HISTORY OF .NET HTML APPS at Microsoft

A lot of people forget a lot of Microsoft history of product balloons. At one time just before WPF came into being,  Microsoft showed a “labs” version of cross-compiler technology that would take a winforms app and cross-compile it to be a working ASP.NET app. In fact the open source Mono can even do a lot of that today..

Having support for HTML apps even goes as far back to web apps on Active Desktop/Windows 95 and IE 4..

Microsoft will explain all at the Build Windows Conference

http://www.buildwindows.com/

Does this really mean the end of Windows Platform applications and .NET ? Very doubtful. Microsoft hasn’t said anything to me about any of this but it’s rather obvious that they have found ways to target .NET everywhere and it’s likely that the holy grail of write-once deploy everywhere is here. I fully expect Microsoft will offer tools to support HTML5 app developers that hopefully will sway the Google “apps” market to support Windows devices as well, and folks that target .NET development will still be able to target and get the best experience with their apps using the coding skills they already have (that includes you Silverlight folks) who are making such a fuss as noted by a lot of web journalists like Winbeta..  So just relax after reading about “Build” I am sure your jobs, skills, etc. are covered while the platform makes more room for HTML 5 developers as well..

Don’t worry the sky is not falling yet. If Microsoft were going to go fully HTML 5 and not still support their own platforms and most of the inherent advantages they probably would be laying off and getting rid of a lot of .NET folks at Microsoft by now which is JUST NOT HAPPENING.. Windows is safe. This is just another way to embrace new technology while retaining the old *AND* moving towards a more unified future where technologies stacks interoperate together in a better way.. 

My own “guess" at expectations.. And no Google you aren’t a new thought..

So what am I expecting for .NET/Silverlight developers, Windows Phone style developer tools for targeting Windows 8 Marketplace apps sold like Apple is doing in their next Mac OS X Lion update on their own “store” and also room for HTML 5 developers to have apps that work alongside everyone else’s and don’t have to appear as if they are any different than a regular system app.. .NET and Silverlight AREN’T GOING AWAY..

I see Microsoft getting competitive with Google “Apps” in the enterprise. Which is becoming very important especially with Google doing “Chromebook” laptops coming out.

Windows 8 is definitely a new paradigm.. Microsoft has had all of these abilities already just formulated a little differently.  Microsoft LiveMesh and Skydrive have been around for a few literally years now too by the way.. So when you hear Apple talk about iCloud or Google talk about syncing. Microsoft has had this for years.

In fact LiveMesh works great on Macs too letting you even share your files there and on IOS devices over the live mesh web interface as well.. And it’s free..

 

Silverlight and .Net Developers need to JUST CALM DOWN..

Microsoft is still committed Silverlight 5 and new versions of Expression Studio products. If you want the skinny on developing for Windows 8 the answers will all be in Anaheim this year.. Be there..

Especially with this on it’s way out the door.. The Google Chromebook all “Web Browser” based OS..

..and no this isn’t a new thought Google folks, it’s a very old one.. Software as a Service..

There is a reason computers evolved past this…

Editorial Note: Do we really want apps that run on someone else’s computers that we have to pay for like we pay our phone and electric bills or do you want an application that you can own and install and a computing device that is autonomous and doesn’t need the internet ? We got away from this with the PC.

Now someone thinks it’s a good idea for all your applications to actually run on a dumb terminal somewhere else for things we can do perfectly well on our private PCs. With this new model Google and others want to go with it, there is going to be a lot of need for SECURITY experts in the future. I like my files right where they are unless I am sharing them. On my PCs file system where others can’t get at my privacy so easily..I will use local applications where I can for the foreseeable future.. Do we really want to see our PCs become these really glitzy dumb terminals for things that we don’t really need them to do these tasks for ? It’s sure one way to curb Moore’s Law..

It’s all about marketing and “show me the money..” In this economy can we all really afford a future of servitude to web “apps” ??  I have an independent streak in me that says no, and likes privacy and my own hot rod devices. Would people who buy a mustang settle for a hybrid ? Just asking. The collective intelligence possibilities for apps on the web that really need them that can achieve greatness I see a case for. Not for not having your own copy of your word processor installed on your machine..  It’s a question we need to start asking.. What do you prefer ?

Personally I really wish Microsoft would differentiate themselves by not doing a “me too” strategy because I believe the reason we have PCs and Windows today can’t still be matched by these systems. It does service and address needs for enterprise, but is this what you want for your own self ? I hope in reality Microsoft keeps room for both strategies for the foreseeable future..