Seinfeld is one my favorite TV shows – ever. When I'm feeling a bit tired and want to decompress after a long week, or even just a seemingly extra-long day, I can either throw in a DVD from my Seinfeld collection or watch it on Crackle, depending on which media is most convenient. Ask my wife, I can rattle off a Seinfeld quote for just about any situation. There's nothing like sitting back having Jerry, George, Elaine, Kramer, and even Neumann, fill the room with their antics to make the day's events blur and my mind exhale. But, even as such an avid Seinfeld fan, I have a confession to make that is somewhat embarrassing: I really didn't start watching the series until the fourth season. Gasp! Yes, even though I can give you the mixed premises and storyline crossovers for each and every episode just based on its title, I didn't become a fan until much later than everyone else I know. To my credit, I caught up quickly and anyone who knows me would never guess that I was so late to the game.
In this way, I am very much like Microsoft. Or, maybe, they are very much like me.
Over the last decade, Microsoft has been late to the game with almost every aspect of technology. This has allowed companies like Google and Apple to take advantage and advance their products, solutions, and brands everywhere while Microsoft just sat back and watched. One of the largest companies in the world, Microsoft seemed sluggish, almost disinterested in the industry growing up around it. At least that's the way it seemed.
I am still reeling from the announcements made at TechEd 2013, and still getting my mind around how quickly Microsoft has recovered. They have a way to go still, but just like the Netscape/IE days of old, the sleeping giant has been poked one too many times and is flexing its dormant muscles and clawing its way back into relevancy. With Windows Server 2012 R2 and System Center 2012 R2 on the near horizon, Microsoft is catching up faster than could have been imagined a year ago.
In the past, we were used to Microsoft moving slowly and we'd say things like: "the next couple years should be interesting." But, with their accelerated release schedule firmly in place and features and products being updated at a hare's pace, we have to consider that each month will now produce something new and interesting.
I look forward to it.
