WebTV (1997)
Set-top boxes don't need to be dumb, and for the past few years, the move has been on to embed new technologies and extra smarts into them, including DVR functionality, two-way communication, Web surfing, and more. Microsoft bought WebTV back in the late nineties, relabeled it MSN TV, and eventually spun it off as a separate company. One could argue that the market has reached its zenith with Internet-connected set top-boxes like the Xbox 360 and Apple TV.
Tablet PCs (2002)
Rather than typing on a PC, why not write on it as though it were a pad of paper? And have the CPU interpret your chicken scratch, sort your notes, and generally work in a much smarter way? Based on sales, it seems the world still isn't ready for the Tablet PC. Nevertheless, Gates is convinced you'll eventually love this system.
WinFS (1990s)
Bill Gates, in his own words: "There is a famous quest of mine called integrated storage, where you have not just a file system but more of a flexible object-type database: Things like your contacts, calendars, favorites, your photos, your music—and how you rate those things—are stored in a structured environment." WinFS was this system, the next-gen underpinning to Windows, and it was planned as part of Cairo, the code name for Windows 95. It's still a great idea. But making it happen? Not so easy.
Sidewalk.com (1997)
In the heady days of the dot-com era, Microsoft rolled out a mammoth project: local Web sites for every major metropolitan area in the country. The plan? One easy-to-remember location for all the local information you could ever need, from a plumber or restaurant to the local chamber of commerce. Although the sites crashed and burned as the bubble burst, it's clear that local information is what we all want from the Internet—on our phones, perhaps?
OS/2 (1987)
A joint project between IBM and Microsoft, OS/2 was simple, elegant, and very, very advanced. It was intended to be a multitasking, object-oriented replacement to the world of Windows. But Microsoft abandoned the project to IBM, and turned back to its own OS. Then something funny happened on the road to OS/2. Microsoft Windows emerged as a dazzling multitasking operating system that OS/2 was still struggling to become.
Passport (2000)
It's basically your Windows Live ID now, and grants you access to your Xbox gaming account, but before that it was Passport, and Microsoft wanted it to serve as a universal log-in key to the Internet. Great idea! Never happened, primarily because of fears that Microsoft would end up controlling the Internet, in addition to our desktops. The Liberty Alliance, founded by Sun Microsystems, eventually accomplished a few of Passport's original goals.
Windows Live Spaces (2004)
Microsoft created Spaces back in 2004, to allow everyone a personal corner of cyberspace—and to gain a toehold in the emerging world of social networking. Sure, people used it, but Spaces never gained the popularity of, for example, the similarly named MySpace.
.NET (2002)
Runtime compiled, and featuring Net-connected apps back when people were laughing at the idea? You go, Microsoft! Go people did…to Java. Microsoft keeps improving the .NET framework, and people do build apps based on it, but it has nowhere near the scope that MS had envisioned back in 2002.
WinG (1993)
WinG was an attempt to allow applications—mostly games—to access video, audio, and game-controller hardware directly from within Windows, much the way game developers had done with DOS. WinG arrived on Windows 95, but failed to gain traction. Many of the concepts later appeared in DirectX, however, so while WinG wasn't a success in itself, it spawned the later technology and made high-performance PC games possible for Windows.
Sidewinder Freestyle Pro (1998)
Long before the Nintendo Wii made the concept of force feedback fun again, Microsoft added to its line of popular game controllers an early game pad with a tilt sensor, for the PC. Fun? Sure. Popular? Not particularly.
Set-top boxes don't need to be dumb, and for the past few years, the move has been on to embed new technologies and extra smarts into them, including DVR functionality, two-way communication, Web surfing, and more. Microsoft bought WebTV back in the late nineties, relabeled it MSN TV, and eventually spun it off as a separate company. One could argue that the market has reached its zenith with Internet-connected set top-boxes like the Xbox 360 and Apple TV.
Tablet PCs (2002)
Rather than typing on a PC, why not write on it as though it were a pad of paper? And have the CPU interpret your chicken scratch, sort your notes, and generally work in a much smarter way? Based on sales, it seems the world still isn't ready for the Tablet PC. Nevertheless, Gates is convinced you'll eventually love this system.
WinFS (1990s)
Bill Gates, in his own words: "There is a famous quest of mine called integrated storage, where you have not just a file system but more of a flexible object-type database: Things like your contacts, calendars, favorites, your photos, your music—and how you rate those things—are stored in a structured environment." WinFS was this system, the next-gen underpinning to Windows, and it was planned as part of Cairo, the code name for Windows 95. It's still a great idea. But making it happen? Not so easy.
Sidewalk.com (1997)
In the heady days of the dot-com era, Microsoft rolled out a mammoth project: local Web sites for every major metropolitan area in the country. The plan? One easy-to-remember location for all the local information you could ever need, from a plumber or restaurant to the local chamber of commerce. Although the sites crashed and burned as the bubble burst, it's clear that local information is what we all want from the Internet—on our phones, perhaps?
OS/2 (1987)
A joint project between IBM and Microsoft, OS/2 was simple, elegant, and very, very advanced. It was intended to be a multitasking, object-oriented replacement to the world of Windows. But Microsoft abandoned the project to IBM, and turned back to its own OS. Then something funny happened on the road to OS/2. Microsoft Windows emerged as a dazzling multitasking operating system that OS/2 was still struggling to become.
Passport (2000)
It's basically your Windows Live ID now, and grants you access to your Xbox gaming account, but before that it was Passport, and Microsoft wanted it to serve as a universal log-in key to the Internet. Great idea! Never happened, primarily because of fears that Microsoft would end up controlling the Internet, in addition to our desktops. The Liberty Alliance, founded by Sun Microsystems, eventually accomplished a few of Passport's original goals.
Windows Live Spaces (2004)
Microsoft created Spaces back in 2004, to allow everyone a personal corner of cyberspace—and to gain a toehold in the emerging world of social networking. Sure, people used it, but Spaces never gained the popularity of, for example, the similarly named MySpace.
.NET (2002)
Runtime compiled, and featuring Net-connected apps back when people were laughing at the idea? You go, Microsoft! Go people did…to Java. Microsoft keeps improving the .NET framework, and people do build apps based on it, but it has nowhere near the scope that MS had envisioned back in 2002.
WinG (1993)
WinG was an attempt to allow applications—mostly games—to access video, audio, and game-controller hardware directly from within Windows, much the way game developers had done with DOS. WinG arrived on Windows 95, but failed to gain traction. Many of the concepts later appeared in DirectX, however, so while WinG wasn't a success in itself, it spawned the later technology and made high-performance PC games possible for Windows.
Sidewinder Freestyle Pro (1998)
Long before the Nintendo Wii made the concept of force feedback fun again, Microsoft added to its line of popular game controllers an early game pad with a tilt sensor, for the PC. Fun? Sure. Popular? Not particularly.
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