Microsoft Moves Forward Into The Past

In researching Microsoft’s new “Desktop Optimization Pack,” I found the following very helpful explanation and perspective from Mitchell Ashley:

http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/42310?source=NWWNLE_nlt_microsoft_2009-06-02

What really caught my attention was his explanation of what it’s about:

“Here’s a summary of what MDOP is about or virtualization (there’s actually a lot more than what I’ve listed here.)

• Apps centrally managed and delivered from the server to the desktop, a.k.a the Citrix XenApp/XenDesktop/XenServer strategy
• Apps decoupled from the host desktop operating system
• Apps delivered as virtual service, distributing load onto servers rather than desktops
• Greater administrative control over the desktop, locking down and controlling apps, their installation, access and execution”

I remember when Microsoft was touting the liberating benefits of having independent desktops that didn’t rely on “mainframes” (servers) that served up applications to terminals (desktops). It took an IBMer – my friend Ed Iocobucci, to found Citrix and create the technology that lets one PC access another remotely, which technology is now being used to essentially move back to the centralized control paradigm.

I’ll bet that’s a tough pill for Ballmer to swallow, after all those years of bashing the very paradigm that market forces are now apparently forcing him to adopt.