Office Newswire :: APIs, APIs, APIs!
Holy Embrace of other platforms Batman! This is the news we’ve been waiting for!
Bill Gates has said over and over that Office is a development platform, and he has always been correct. But, as technology has progressed, Office has remained largely the same (as a desktop productivity suite and a development platform). Sure, the Office team has embraced the web with the Office web apps and the Apps for Office model. But, they were tied to a Windows first strategy. No longer.
Satya Nadella is sincere when he says Cloud First, Mobile First. But how does this even make sense? How can two things both be first? I’ll leave that explanation to the MSFT CEO. It’s why he earns the big bucks. My explanation is 1000 words summed-up in the following illustration:
Okay, I’ve rambled-on long enough. Let’s get to the major news items of the last few weeks.
The Microsoft MOJO is upon us.
We’ve seen hints of the MOJO’s return. I’ve discussed it before and I’ll say it again…
Microsoft is a software company!
They are not a Windows company. Yeah sure, Windows is my primary OS. But, I use OS X as well and I’m beginning to dabble with iOS and Android (via Xamarin). It’s great to see MSFT show signs of "getting it" and that Mr. Nadella is giving free reign to the Developer Division to build tools for "developers, developers, developers!"
- The Empire Reboots :: From Vanity Fair which, by itself, is interesting.
- Is Microsoft making a comeback? :: Hell yeah they are. Is it enough? Too little too late? Oh the drama! My money is on Microsoft.
- Microsoft surpasses Exxon :: This is news worth noting even though the stock market is too often a lagging indicator. Will MSFT stay there? It depends on the success of Mr. Nadella’s strategy.
- It really is a new Microsoft :: Ed Bott’s thoughts & opinion regarding the recent wave of MSFT news.
Sometimes change is good, even if it should have happened sooner. I’m very interested to see how Mr. Ballmer does with the LA Clippies in the coming years.
I love the above creativity and the irony. Here is the full history of the joke.
The Office 365 APIs go GA GA
GA…as in Generally Available… ready for use in production environments. From what I’m seeing, Microsoft has made the investment to enable us to start using them (aka lots of code samples).
- Getting familiar with the Office 365 APIs :: Chakkaradeep Chandran tells you what libraries you need and how to include them in your projects.
- The ultimate link roll for getting started with Office 365 APIs :: I started to make my own link roll, but then realized I had been out-done. I mean, this one is the ultimate link roll… there can be none after it.
- Hands on with Microsoft’s new APIs :: One man’s tale of his first attempts to use the Office 365 APIs.
- Jeremy Thake’s thoughts on the recent wave of Office News :: Jeremy is the new Office Developer evangelist at MSFT (relatively new, < 1 year). I have not seen this much enthusiasm from his position since John Durant. This is a good sign. Keep it going Jeremy!
- A good video to show you how to use them :: Who better than Scott Hanselman to show you how it’s done? The guy’s a good teacher.
- Also – get going with Xamarin and Office 365 APIs :: Agghhh. I need to find more time for all this fun new stuff.
You know what, NON-Windows platforms are not so evil after all
As it turns out, darn near everyone is using a non-Windows OS (or two).
- It’s Nadella’s Microsoft now as the company decouples Windows and Office
- Microsoft releases new Outlook for Mac, other Office updates coming in 2015 :: I have this on my laptop. It’s a beautiful piece of software. I’d like for it to have a powerful extensibility model as a I miss using add-ins available on the Windows version.
- Microsoft to open source more of .NET, and bring it to Linux, Mac OS X :: No way I’m doing an Office Newswire without including something from Mary Jo Foley. She cuts through the information overload and tells you just what you need to know.
- Announcing .NET 2015 Preview: A new era for .NET :: Included for those of you that want the information overload.
- Opening up Visual Studio and .NET to every developer, any application :: I want Visual Studio to run on a Mac.
- Short videos demonstrating what’s new in Visual Studio 2015 Preview for C#, VB, and F :: Something to fill your lunch hour… Heaven forbid you leave your desk.
- I’m not dead yet!! — The Roadmap for WPF :: Turns out it’s mostly dead.
Major Office news? Queue the Google Docs comparisons
- Battle of the Mobile Office Suites: Microsoft Office vs. Google Docs :: The battle is real… at least with the web version of the apps.
- Facebook will reportedly challenge Google and Microsoft in the office :: This is out of Left Field.
- iPad Editing App Faceoff: Microsoft Word vs. CloudOn :: I don’t edit docs on mobile devices. That’s why a desktop or a laptop exists. But I’m over a certain age and the kids dig the mobile devices. Therefore, it is good that Microsoft’s mobile investments are receiving favorable press.
- But can the competition Sway? :: No. No they can’t. I’m keenly interested in this app. It can help turn a boring business document like a proposal into something compelling.
MSFT news grab bag
A handful of links worth including that didn’t fit under any of the above headings.
- Introducing Skype for Business :: Did only the name change? Or is there more?
- Is Windows now completely irrelevant? :: I think this is a personal decision. But, this is a question we are all thinking through now.
- 6 entertaining games made entirely in Microsoft Excel :: Bookmark this article for use during tax season. It will help you in your hour of desperation.
- Meet Kip Thorne, the man who crafted the artful science of 'Interstellar’ :: You need to see this film. If you want to know what Texans are like, please don’t look to Matthew McConaughey. He’s Texan but he talks funny.
That’s it and that’s all.