rossH - 7:01 am on Oct 11, 2003 (gmt 0)

this whole microsoft future coming up could use a thread or two of its own

it's off topic here, but I wonder, how will the desktop look as a marketing venue when microsoft has the architecture the way it wants it in longhorn?

half the people will use the then-3rd party services like google, the other half are like the pilgrims of today, marks and victims that we want to sell to also.

So there will be two (or three) primary ways to sell to them, for prices that will have to allow ROI even for modest sellers.

How's all that going to look?

maybe it can come back on topic a little - for MS search, I don't think they need a very good one Brett, the kind of people they'll trap inside their experience won't know the difference .. and MS will move according to marketing tides and timetables, not technological

remember, Microsoft are not a technology provider, they're a merchandiser, and always have been. It's the only way to think about them.