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Microsoft / Adobe Competition Heating Up

Posted by kdawson on from the ding-dong-front-page-is-dead dept.

MicroAdobe writes "Microsoft has noticed that some of the coolest sites on the Web, YouTube and MySpace included, get much of their flash from Flash and other design programs sold by Adobe. But as Microsoft gets ready to ship its own line of tools for designers and Web developers, the company is finding it must also defend against Adobe on its home turf, the desktop. At the same time, the line between Internet and desktop programs is blurring, and both companies see an opportunity to capture new business." The article focuses on the competition and doesn't even mention that Adobe's CEO called Microsoft a $50 billion monopolist.

13 of 219 comments (clear)

  1. Web developer speaking here by unity100 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Id rather set up shop for doing development business for 386DX33 webservers than jump ship on any web related stuff microsoft puts out.

    so many times we are having to bail out refugee clients running away from microsoft stuff on the web that its not funny anymore. (i wont mention names)

    i wouldnt want to imagine a beowulf cluster of what microsoft would put out. and i dont want to be in an "in a microsoft internet microsoft DEVELOPS YOU !" situation.

    so count me any many devs out.

    --
    Read radical news here
    1. Re:Web developer speaking here by mstahl · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Now hold it down just a minute over there. Join the adult world? Calm down.

      I'm a web designer, photographer and illustrator/graphic artist, and I've been using Macromedia and/or Adobe products of various types since I was in high school ten years ago. They're intuitive, effective, and more importantly than either of those I know how to use them. The key combinations in Adobe Illustrator are the same as in Adobe Photoshop are the same as the ones in Macromedia Fireworks, and I can do them all in my sleep.

      Now, my little pro-Adobe plug there aside, I'll bet that most other designer/photographer/artists out there feel pretty similarly. At this point, so late in the game, Microsoft would have to provide something FAR superiour to these existing products AND at a reduced price. I don't know if that's gonna be easy for them.

      Now, I'm willing to wait and see, of course, being an adult as I am. All I'm saying, and it seems a common notion, is that Microsoft's got a long road ahead of them here. 'Course they've got enough money they can wast^H^H^H^Hspend it any way they so desire.

    2. Re:Web developer speaking here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Why does the quality of Mac or Linux software have to decrease just because Microsoft has a high market share in a particular area? If the product is inferior than they will lose their grip as soon as a better product comes out. I for one am always looking for the best solution and I strongly believe that the only reason a product will gain market share when it is in some way superior. Believe it or not, Microsoft has dominance in the OS market because people have found their product the easiest to use at the right price, not because of the global conspiracy to bring down Linux and OSS. Perhaps the tide is turning, as people are becoming frustrated with Vista it seems. I chose to use a propduct where I see it as being the best choice for the task at hand, not because of my preconceptions about it.

  2. Compatability by digitalunity · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Adobe's CEO brought up what should be the single most important point everyone who is considering a switch to MS products - Microsoft doesn't maintain anything cross-platform.


    They may start out cross-platform, but eventually the mac version will fall behind on patches and then get EOL'd.<br><br>

    For any broadcaster that relies on compatibility and reaching the widest market possible, MS would be a bad choice.

    --
    You can't legislate goodness. Let each to his own destiny, by will of his freely made choices.
    1. Re:Compatability by mini+me · · Score: 2, Interesting

      No one would switch to Linux to run Photoshop

      That's especially true of large design firms, such as Disney. Oh wait...
    2. Re:Compatability by fyngyrz · · Score: 2, Interesting
      You paid for a browser?

      Sure. I have absolutely no resistance to paying for software (especially $15 software) that offers me something I will actually use. I like Firefox, and Safari is OK if a bit dull, but frankly, OmniWeb has a far superior tab model for the way I work and think, as well as other built-in capabilities I don't have to go and hunt down. It just works, and better yet, it just works the way I like it to work.

      I have OmniOutliner too — truly great software. Worth every penny.

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
  3. Spreading thin by Shnyzx · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I don't know about this move for M$. They are spreading themselves thin trying to conquer every electronic related market (zune, 360, computers, etc..). Flash is a well established format that many people are accustomed to using and familiar with. Unless M$ has an awesome solution at hand already I believe that they should consolidate their efforts and try to make some headway one their other fronts instead of moving focus from failing efforts.

  4. BTW by frakir · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Microsoft announced yesterday its "Silverlight", previously named WPF/E:
    http://blogs.msdn.com/tims/archive/2007/04/15/intr oducing-microsoft-silverlight.aspx.
    They call it "cross platform, cross browser plug-in" and it is basically a replacement for flash with wmv lock-in. Oh, and no linux (cross platform means XP+Vista+OSX, I guess)
    One nice feature being HD streaming, I have to give it to them.

    I'll still stay away...

  5. This is an important new battleground by Serveert · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Microsoft views new rich web apps as a threat to Microsoft dominance. Imagine a world where you use a functional web application that doesn't lock you down to Microsoft's .NET / windows OS. Right now people must use a win32 executable for a decent GUI experience, but with these new technologies, you need only to click a link.

    Microsoft wants to lock this up and make this a .NET / non-linux world, adobe is more interested in truly cross-platform work, so MS is acting quickly to make sure we use their XAML, vs the XUL and the open standard SVG. Adobe, too, isn't thrilled about open standards.

    I think the closest thing we have to a great dev environment+rich web app is Google's GWT. It makes GUI and server integration easy. This makes Microsoft scared. I would love to see more open standards in this respect.. Make XUL a standard, create a library, add it to all browsers, all platforms, same with SVG.

    --
    2 years and no mod points. Join reddit. Because openness is good.
    1. Re:This is an important new battleground by nine-times · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The fight between Adobe and Microsoft is, in and of itself, an important battle. Adobe has a lot of control over an entire sector of applications that Microsoft has not been able to control: media software. When it comes to digital print design, Adobe is king. When it comes to Web, Adobe and Macromedia were fighting it out until Adobe bought Macromedia-- now Adobe is the undisputed champion. In video editing, it's pretty much all Adobe, Apple, or Avid.

      Microsoft hasn't really been able to break into any of these markets. Microsoft's tools (eg Frontpage) have long been the butt of jokes. Still, Microsoft keeps trying.

      And so Microsoft is one of the biggest threats to Adobe. They keep trying to make software that will compete. They're trying to make a Photoshop alternative, competitors to Flash and PDF, their own version of Dreamweaver, etc.

      On the other hand, Adobe is a very dangerous player for Microsoft as well. If Microsoft could get Adobe to stop supporting OSX, it would mean a lot of trouble for Apple. On the other hand, if Adobe stopped supporting Windows or started supporting Linux, it could mean *serious* trouble for Microsoft. I know plenty of people who would drop Windows immediately and starting using OSX if they couldn't have photoshop on Windows. Also, while the Linux desktop is advancing in many areas, one of the things that has kept it from many of the areas that I've supported has been the lack of Adobe products. I don't want to get into a whole thing here, but lets just say my Photoshop users weren't content with the GIMP. They didn't much care about the OS-- all they needed was web browsing, e-mail, and a word processor-- but they absolutely needed Adobe applications.

      There are things I like about Adobe and things I don't like, but one thing is certain: they're one of the few software developers left who are still in a position to hurt Microsoft. That's probably why Microsoft is fighting this fight to begin with.

  6. SilverLight, the same old story by paulxnuke · · Score: 2, Interesting

    One of MS's talking points was that there's nothing binary or proprietary: it's all plain text XML. That might be slightly easier to work with than binary flash files -- but it also makes work easier for visitors to "borrow." Decompiling even protected flash files isn't hard either, but it's enough to slow down casual moochers and stop most corporate ones.

    Of course, it's kind of silly to brag about openness when the whole thing is based on a closed source plugin. My big problem with the whole thing is that I fully expect support for "unfavored" platforms and browsers to start slipping as soon as there's some market share. I don't want to become a MS henchman, and pay for the privilege too.

    Maybe that's not what MS has in mind this time, but with their record the burden of proof is on them. Not to mention that it's common sense to tread carefully with first releases of any new technology, even from companies with a track record (unlike MS) of producing quality products.

  7. Re: Monopolists by owlnation · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Even so, I don't believe Adobe has been convicted of (or charged with) illegally abusing their monopoly.
    While that's true... Ask an Adobe customer whether they feel they be charged for Adobe abusing their monopoly and you'll get an affirmative answer.

    It's about to get worse with CS3 too, it's split into Vista style packages so now you have to really pay a lot of money to get the programs you need to do business as a professional in the creative industry.

    Probably the only exception to this is Premiere, cos few - if any - professionals use that. Otherwise, there's absolutely no alternative to Adobe products. (Yes, technically GIMP etc exists, but they aren't industry standard so professionals have no chance of using them.)

    80% of my work is done on Adobe products and I really would like to change that.
  8. On another front by backbyter · · Score: 3, Interesting

    http://www.openlaszlo.org/

    Uses XML/Javascript to drive either Flash or DHTML.

    Some of their examples are pretty good, while other examples could have used a QA person.