Why Microsoft is Doomed, Part 459

Michael Robertson may not be a well-known name, but he's had a remarkable career. Companies that he's founded include MP3.com, the original online music store, and Linspire (formerly Lindows), an interesting commercial distribution of GNU/Linux. Both companies have had huge run-ins with other companies - the music biz and Microsoft, respectively. Now he's got a new venture, called ajaxLaunch - no prizes for guessing what it does.

But what's impressive about the site is that it is concentrating on the core apps: word processing (ajaxWrite), spreadsheets (ajaxXLS) and graphics (ajaxSketch) - though there's also a music app, ajaxTunes, with an interesting concept called sideloading, to keep you entertained during all this hard work. These office apps are consciously imitating Microsoft Office so that most people can do most things they need, but online - and ironically, only using Firefox.

If you didn't get the message about independence from Microsoft - you can use any OS platform for which Firefox is available - Robertson is also coming out with ajaxOS, which seems to be a complete pseudo-operating system that runs on top of the Internet, so that you can access all your office files anywhere, along with the ajax apps mentioned above to work on them.

It's a bold and brilliant vision - and one more nail in Microsoft's coffin. For most people these tools are likely to be good enough, which means that for work on the road, they'll be popular. But once you try them, you might well decided to use them on your desktop. And then you might stop using - then buying - Microsoft Office. Certainly, a few power users will cling to their Excel macros - but we all know how dangerous they are.

And the more that alternatives to Microsoft Office appear - ajaxLaunch, OpenOffice.org etc. - the weaker the Office empire becomes, and the bigger the hole in Microsoft' profits. It looks like Microsoft workers are about to become even more disenchanted.