Nicely summarized view of how slow Microsoft may be

Jon Udell

TerraServer has been up and running since 1998. But despite Steve Ballmer's infamous monkey-dance chant, developers haven't flocked to TerraServer. What's Google's secret? Web DNA and no Windows tax.

I'm not sure the "Windows tax" part, but it's clear that Microsoft is somehow "slow". TerraServer has a Web Services interface for years, but no real world usage has ever been realized. It may also be a proof for my lack of foresight...

Now, Microsoft (specifically, Jim Gray) is involved in the project called SkyServer, BTW.