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Applications Featured Articles
May 05, 2008
Developers: Microsoft Web 2.0 Program Edges Google, Rest of Competition
By Michael Dinan TMCnet Editor Software developers say Microsoft’s MSN/Live Windows developer program is better than similar programs offered by Google (News - Alert), eBay, Yahoo!, Facebook or PayPal, according to a new survey from a hi-tech market intelligence firm.
The Web 2.0 developer program was rated highest across 13 categories, according to the Evans Data Corporation “Web 2.0 Developer Programs Users’ Choice” survey. Those categories included application program interface functionality, blogs, marketing assistance, documentation, forums, ongoing communications, support, tools/software development kits and Web services.
John Andrews, president and chief executive officer of Evans Data Corporation, said Microsoft (News - Alert) distinguishes itself by working harder than its competitors in developing its program.
“Those efforts have paid off in a decidedly higher level of user satisfaction than we saw last year,” Andrews said. “Google, as well as eBay (News - Alert), Yahoo and others have several areas of strength for developers, but Microsoft has much more experience in developer programs and it shows. Cultivating a development community is strategic as Web 2.0 moves from consumer-facing social applications to a business-to-business strategy for many companies.”
Web 2.0 is the term given to describe a second generation of the World Wide Web that’s focused on the ability for people to collaborate and share information online. The term became widespread after the first O’Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004. Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but to changes in the ways software developers and others use the Web.
In the survey, users of each developer site rated their own corresponding developer program, according to Evans Data. Microsoft’s site edged past Google’s in developer user satisfaction, the survey said.
Evans Data provides its so-called “Users’ Choice” reports to the Internet technology community for free. The reports cover different areas of satisfaction and interest to developers and IT managers, such as integrated development environments, application lifecycle and source control management, application servers and scripting language.
Michael Dinan is a TMCNet Editor. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
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