Ted On Flex: To save Vista, Microsoft chooses Adobe Flash Player!

To save Vista, Microsoft chooses Adobe Flash Player!

DIGG IT! 37 Comments Published Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 9:10 AM .

When a company as large as Microsoft continues to select Adobe Flash Player when they are building a competing technology, you have to wonder why they do not eat their own dog food. This Vista campaign is an ideal opportunity for Silverlight 1.0 or 2.0, so why did Microsoft choose Adobe Flash Player?

The fact is that Silverlight's installation base is less than 10% of computers and Flash Player's proven reach is just too tempting to use because:

Adobe Flash Player just works, 98.5% of the time!
(we think the remaining 1.5% might be robots)

I wish Microsoft would get serious about Silverlight as a platform and start to use it themselves. Check out the site it is great!

Cheers,

Ted :)

37 Responses to “ To save Vista, Microsoft chooses Adobe Flash Player! ”

# William Riggins July 29, 2008 9:40 AM

Funny thing is, I immediately right clicked the content and laughed to myself. Just goes to show, there's a lot more than just Vista that needs marketing dollars. ;)

That said, was that a PV3D render I saw? It sure looks like one!
# e.dolecki July 29, 2008 10:54 AM

Okay - that's just AWESOME that they went with Flash. Nice site to spruce up some simple videos.
# Brendan July 29, 2008 11:02 AM

When they did the pepsi challenge, they weren't like " this is the new coke"... Microsoft is so heavy handed it makes me cringe ( not a mac fan, but when you need to reference the competition in your ads and internal memos... you are giving them free press... and then using Flash instead of silverlight, well, thats just a slam dunk... talk about peeing in the wind...
# Savvas Malamas July 29, 2008 12:46 PM

lol
I am glad that even a/the competitor of Adobe - a company the size of Micro**t can recognize the best option to present something.
The next move would be to use Flash baby Player to advertise.. what else.. Silvelash oups lite.. oups light I mean.
I see this as a good move..
# Samiq July 29, 2008 12:51 PM

ping back from bits.samiq.net

"... To save Vista, Microsoft chooses Adobe Flash Player!
This is what the title of Ted Patrick's latest post reads like, and this is what Microsoft folks should avoid when been just weeks before their Rich Web Client Platform will hit mainstream with an event like the Summer Olympic and NBC's support for content..."

Well played Patrick!
# Tim Sneath July 29, 2008 1:19 PM

Hi Ted, funny post. Thank you for saving Windows Vista for us!

Seriously, I hope that nobody doubts for a moment our commitment to Silverlight. With a company the size of Microsoft, it takes time to adopt a new technology across all our properties, but just a quick glance across our site will show that we're relying on Silverlight all over the place. Here's just a short list of some of the usages of Silverlight on Microsoft properties:

http://www.microsoft.com/
(front page!) and many other localized sites (e.g.
China)

http://microsoftpdc.com/

http://extra.msn.com

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/welcome/demos/

http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/

http://www.microsoft.com/servers

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/products/

http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/

http://www.microsoft.com/Forefront/edgesecurity/iag/

http://www.microsoft.com/expression/

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/embedded/

http://www.microsoft.com/Dynamics/asmartmove/

http://channel8.msdn.com/

http://channel9.msdn.com/

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/serverunleashed/default.html

http://sessions.visitmix.com/

http://www.onten.net/

http://edge.technet.com/

http://www.microsoft.com/heroeshappenhere/events/default.mspx

http://www.microsoft.com/surface/index.html

http://www.microsoft.com/emea/spotlight/

http://www.microsoft.com/digitalwpc/

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/default.mspx

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/possibilities/products/

http://photozoom.mslivelabs.com/

http://silverlight.live.com

http://msdn.microsoft.com

http://www.popfly.com/

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/Search.aspx?displaylang=en

In short, we absolutely believe in Silverlight - it wouldn't be on our home page if we didn't think it was a technology we could rely on.

Warm regards,

Tim Sneath
Client Platform Team
Microsoft Corp.
# e.dolecki July 29, 2008 2:34 PM

That's a lot of sweet SIlverlight content Microsoft. I see mostly rollover buttons, but hey. Flash offered that kind of stuff in it's infancy. So we'll let you bake Silverlight for another 8 years or so until we evaluate again.

This was a weird message I got for one of your Silverlight experiences: "Unfortunately this experience does not currently support the Safari browser." Why?
# Ted Patrick July 29, 2008 2:37 PM

Tim, I call bullshit!

The fact that the Mojave site launched today in Flash and isn't Sliverlight is pathetic. It was intentially made with Flash 9 so that Vista marketing $$$ were viewable by real customers. Choosing Silverlight here would have reached 90% less people. Saying "it takes time to adopt a new technology" is really weak.

Also Tim just FYI, this example that you list on MSN is also Flash Player, not Silverlight.

http://extra.msn.com/people.aspx

Seriously,

Ted :)
# Gianfranco Torlone July 29, 2008 2:39 PM

the list is 80% microsoft site :-D

for write a flash/Flex site Ted must install Oracle DB server !!
# Adam July 29, 2008 3:22 PM

Did anyone check the server headers??

Server Apache/2.2.3 (CentOS)
# Deden Ramadhan July 29, 2008 3:48 PM

Couldn't detect Flash Player 10 installed!
# John Dowdell July 29, 2008 4:21 PM

Whoa, Ted that seems harsh. Makes you sound worried and defensive.

The format of marketing material doesn't seem like it should be so big an issue, such emotional words.

jd/adobe
# Anonymous July 29, 2008 5:44 PM

of all the MS sites listed, this is the best

http://www.microsoft.com/surface
/index.html

LOL
# Hu Shunjie July 29, 2008 7:50 PM

Ted: so is this site
http://www.microsoft.com/surface/index.html

Its Flash, always has been.
# Pete July 29, 2008 10:03 PM

@Ted

the top part of that site renders as Silverlight on my machine.

Unless you mean the video content at the bottom which, for that story, does happen to be flash video. Nothing wrong with mixing them, IMHO.
# Anonymous July 29, 2008 10:27 PM

The real info here is that Silverlight's installation base is not 0%. But those who have installed Silverlight are the adventurous ones, and I suppose they already have Vista. So the ad is not for them.

And indeed, the only technology that's available today for a website, besides IE6's scant CSS and Javascript support, is Flash. As a web developer, I know I can't use anything else; the web developers at Microsoft aren't less knowledgeable than me, so they know it, too.

With Silverlight being launched, the situation might be different in five to ten years. But then again, with HTML 5 and modern browsers' Javascript/CSS capabilities, I'm not sure Flash and Flashlike systems will still be of any use.
# Ryan July 30, 2008 5:34 AM

I think that fact that it's being served by Apache on CentOS is even more ironic. Sure, Silverlight is new, and doesn't have the Flash Player's install base, but what's the excuse for not using Windows/IIS on the backend?
# cosmin July 30, 2008 7:05 AM

Well it's obvious that Microsoft is limiting Flash usage to the mission critical stuff.
But please do use Flex to build Windows 7. It's better suited than Flash for building large scale apps :)
# staceym July 30, 2008 7:09 AM

I'm with JD entirely. The irony isn't necessarily lost by any means, but sometimes its so apparent its counterproductive to point it out.

Tim does raise a good point -
the migration of all marketing material to a different format for a company the size of MS is gonna take a bit of time.

Having said that - the ads remind me of the Coke Zero setup where they want to sue the diet coke peeps :)
# phillip July 30, 2008 7:22 AM

First off--I'm upgrading to Mohave! Second, it's not the most provocative piece of info: "Newsflash, Microsoft uses Flash!"

"They" use Flash for every game I've worked on for MSN properties. The MSN video player is Flash. And so on.

It reminds me of a number of years back when Macromedia was exposed using After Effects to create some vids. Would you expect a similar post if someone found out an Adobe employee used MSWord instead of Buzzword?

I think JD makes a point. My take is that Adobe would NEVER use Silverlight for any purpose but that's just to spite MSFT. In fact, that is a worse policy than simply using the best tool for the job.
# Julian July 30, 2008 7:25 AM

We shouldn't be so quick to hang Microsoft here. Let's try to keep in mind that Silverlight 2 is still in beta and Silverlight 1 is just javascript, so it really doesn't count. It's like saying "why isn't every Flash site Flash Player 10?" Yes it's all humourous for all us developers that they still use Flash, and I am sure it won't be the last time they do. But let's try to be realistic in our comparisons between Flash and Silverlight. Flash has 10 years on Silverlight and I don't think anyone is expecting it to "kill", not that that is the right word for it, Flash in year one. I think the NBC Olympic Silverlight streaming coverage will be a big test for Microsoft and we'll have to wait and see how it performs.

That being said Ted you are preaching to the choir here. I am sure 98.5% of the people who visit your site are avid Flash developers, and the other 1.5% are robots. So evanglise your platform without trying to defame others. I think you should listen to your fellow co-workers and take it easy.
# anon July 30, 2008 7:54 AM

Ted-

Microsoft employs 35,000 people and of that number, I'd say 99.9% of them aren't responsible for building marketing sites for their web properties. I should know, I used to work for WPP and I built several (and most of the time using Flash ;) ).

This site is no doubt the work of Crispin, Porter + Bogusky. They recently won Microsoft business in order to make MSFT = 'cool'. So, in essence, Microsoft didn't choose Flash, CP+B did.

Ted, I have been a professional Flex/Flash developer for some time now, and no offense, but I don't understand why you post flame like this. Is it because you et al. at Adobe are frightened by Silverlight? Is it because you don't have enough to do? This recurring theme of you trashing Silverlight appears to be some sort of deep-seeded insecurity about the Flash Platform in comparison to Silverlight and more importantly .NET. I mean, PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong here, Ted.

This sort of stuff, and again no offense, is just... well... dribble. Sorry, but it is.

Instead of ripping on Silverlight, maybe we could have some productive discussion about the future of the Flash Platform and how we can raise the bar for the applications built upon it?

Also, let's be fair here Ted, Silverlight is a pretty nascent platform. For all of the circa 1990's Flash-esque Silverlight sites, Silverlight has a very strong thing going for it: .NET. Would you care to draw comparisons between .NET (even the watered down version of .NET runtime for Silverlight) and the Flash Player?

Yeah, I didn't think so...

Ted, I'm sorry I'm coming down kinda hard on you here, but seriously, enough is enough. Flash/Flex has enough problems/kinks to worry about so let's try to focus on fixing/remedying some of those, rather than starting a flame war.

Anyway, I've said my piece... Mull it over for a bit...

T
# Chris July 30, 2008 8:08 AM

The right tool for the right job!
# phillip July 30, 2008 8:24 AM

Wait a second, I figured it out! This site LOOKS like Flash, but it's actually Silverlight (with Flash's right-click menu to make us THINK it's Flash). After all the excitement they'll reveal this to us. Brilliant!

If this campaign gets enough air-play I'll be inspired to do a "Why Mojave" vid.
# sam July 30, 2008 1:45 PM

Ok...here's the deal. It is hardly a question the Silverlight penetration rate now, or 100 years from now.

The reason why there is even Flash is due to the browser wars that Micrsoft fought so hard to keep us all chained too. Well creative folks found a way to get around the stubborn giant and brought together animators, programmers and designers who made fun engaging content for the web. Even the most hardcore HTML coders/ and yes Microsoft had to admit after a time that Flash was a viable medium in which creative folks could develop beyond the browser friendly animated gif into a world that humans other than socially awkward cyber dorks could enjoy and grow.

The fact is that dimes to doughnuts Microsoft is not only using the Flash player to advance their online marketing collateral, but I am sure that they are pocket protector deep in the full Adobe Creative Suite of tools.

So in closing like any great tale, the beginning hints to the end, great creative minds made Flash what it is today...they will continue to well into the future, therefore remaining true to the creative ecosystem that gave birth to the whole movement in the first place...for that there is only one game in town. Adobe,the whole package.

So all you lackies over at the Microsoft Photo Editor lab...get back to work. You got a long way to go...just kidding...no really get back to work!

Never Forget-
Browser War Veteran
# cosmin July 30, 2008 2:24 PM

The silverlight site does not use flash at all. The cool menu is silverlight and that's a clear sign that there's no stopping them now. There it says "delivering the next generation of .NET based media experiences and rich interactive applications for the Web". Clearly the Mojave Experiment is a rich interactive application for the Web so it must be the .NET based media experience part that gave them trouble. And anyway it's the next generation not the one right now. Clear as day...
# Burak KALAYCI July 30, 2008 3:50 PM

Sorry Microsoft guys, Vista sucks and neither renaming nor Flash can save it.

BTW, .NET is quite a failure too, considering when it started and how it was to wipe out Java and Vista would be all managed code.

Silverlight may become a weak success like .NET at best, and I hope it does. Because otherwise only option for Microsoft will be buying out Flash and renaming it.

I've been a Windows programmer since Windows 3.0. That's how I earn my living. I have no experience with Linux or Macs. So, if any Microsoft guy is reading this, please accept the truth (even if not publicly) and don't screw up with the next Windows version. Actually I think Microsoft is big enough to spare a small development team to work on improving XP code base and who knows, it may turn out to be better than code based on Vista.
# cosmin July 30, 2008 11:49 PM

No spare developers, developers, developers!
They're all busy working on the new advertisement platform. Haven't you heard ?!
# Eric July 31, 2008 7:17 AM

Ted,

Your creative mixture of sarcasm and truth makes this blog one of the best in the RIA space!

Best,
Eric
# Anonymous July 31, 2008 8:52 AM

@Tim

[Translation] - sorry it's taking so long to assimilate Flash. If it's any consolation, I've called dibs on your website. Until then, please don't disenfranchise your readers (you know how hard it is for us to retain a following). I'm hoping to make a friend someday, and your readers seem really smart and nice.
# staceym July 31, 2008 11:53 AM

Just to correct peeps, this isn't CP+B work. Its too sloppy and they've done it before, they aren't into recycling their own ideas.
# Anonymous July 31, 2008 3:35 PM

Wow... lot of comments, but not sure anyone has nailed it, so here goes my humble opinion:

I suspect Microsoft didn't make a conscious choice for flash, nor did they choose linux/apache. Most likely, they just didn't think about it and the design agency went with what they knew from a competency perspective and what was handy/convenient from a hosting perspective. I read this whole campaign came together very fast. The technology used to deliver the mojave site was probably an after thought.

Left hand, meet the right hand.
# Jay July 31, 2008 10:49 PM

"[...]those who have installed Silverlight are the adventurous ones, and I suppose they already have Vista. So the ad is not for them.[...]"

Wow! A spark of rationality amidst so much emotion!

C'mon guys, cut Microsoft some slack, will ya?

In fact I call for MacBook Air powering the slideshow of the next Vista keynote. Whoa !!
# Anonymous August 1, 2008 7:32 AM

I'm guessing the person(s) at the ad agency just lost their job(s) for this stupidity.

The funny part would be if it was intentional and their employer sues them for ruining their contract with M$.
# Jeff August 3, 2008 2:45 PM

You should not laugh to early, Adobe guys.
First, it is not a Microsoft site but I guess a site designed by a company hired by Microsoft to run the marketing campaign.
Second, I think the reason to use Flash is user base installation. As It told on my blog (http://riadiscuss.jeffmaury.com), wait for the Olympic Games and you'll see a big increase of the Silverlight market shared !!!!

Jeff
# Abdullah Da?l? August 4, 2008 10:06 PM

one day the silverlight will come with windows, then it is the hard day for flash. Because, windows have too many user. Maybe silverlight support the linux systems.
# Jed August 8, 2008 2:08 PM

anyone checked out the olympics site (nbcolympics.com). the player is silverlight. So I bet Microsoft gets a few installs over the next few weeks that-a-way. I guess Subversion isn't just for code.