Microsoft has launched a HailStorm aimed at upstaging rival America Online. It has also marshalled new versions of Hotmail, MSN instant messenger, and Passport.
The software giant unveiled a set of software building blocks, grouped under the code name HailStorm, for its .Net software-as-a-service strategy.
Along with HailStorm, Microsoft has marshalled new versions of its Web-based Hotmail email service, MSN Messenger Service, and Passport authentication service.
The software company is positioning HailStorm as a way of enticing developers to create XML (Extensible Markup Language)-based Web services deliverable to a variety of PC and non-PC devices such as handhelds and Web appliances.
Microsoft said HailStorm is based on the company's Passport service and permits applications and services to cooperate on consumers' behalf. HailStorm also leans heavily on instant messaging services provided by MSN Messenger and on Microsoft's Hotmail email service.
Microsoft envisions HailStorm as a way for consumers and business customers to access their data - calendars, phone books, address lists - from any location and on any device. That model closely mirrors AOL's model by which members access AOL's service via a PC, handheld, or a set-top box to retrieve their personal information.
"What Microsoft is doing is linking this to their authentication service, their Passport service," Gartner analyst Chris LeTocq said.
In the past, Microsoft wooed developers with tools and APIs for Windows and Office. Now the focus will be on Passport as a key authentication component around which developers can create Web-based services.
"But I'm not sure how many people are going to be comfortable with Microsoft being the driver's license issuer for the Web," LeTocq said.
