Microsoft recently announced it's Hailstorm
initiative. In a nutshell, Hailstorm is a storage system for the
personal information of its users.
That in itself is not a real big deal. Yahoo,
Hotmail,
and any number of other companies offer calendar, notepad, and
address book services. Some
companies, even offer application suites that can be used over
the web.
However, because Microsoft is slowly but surely extending its
control over the Windows desktop, Hailstorm, coupled with their
Passport
service could mean a fairly large breach of a Windows user's personal
security.
In another nutshell, Passport allows Microsoft to track you as you
cruise the Web. After you sign in with Passport, Passport watches you
as you go from Passport site to Passport site and communicates your
surfing habits back to the Passport server. While Passport is
currently restricted to the sites that use it, that number is growing
all the time. Passport, of course, is not restricted to Windows user.
We Mac lovers can sign up for Passport if we want.
Ostensibly, this is a service that many users would love to have.
I currently have different passwords and logins for many different
sites. A single piece of software that manages all those identities
would greatly simplify my surfing and online shopping.
The problem is that Microsoft can quite easily build a fantastic
profile of Passport and Hailstorm users. Your information would
essentially belong to Microsoft, because it resides on their servers.
Even now, if you have a Passport account, when you click "I agree" to
the Passport services you are agreeing to let Microsoft do what
they want with your information. This includes using, modifying,
copying and distributing the information you post, upload or input.
Don't believe me? It's all in the Microsoft Passport Terms
of Use. Yep, right there under "LICENSE TO MICROSOFT".
With Hailstorm,
Passport, and .NET
neatly tying all the MS user's information into one controlled
location you've got to wonder what users are thinking.
Where does Apple fit into all of this?
Well, with a brand new, fantastically stable and robust operating
system, Apple could easily capitalize on the uneasiness of the
Windows user. Full integration of Hailstorm, .NET, Passport, and
Windows XP can't be far down the road. If MS has its way, I'm sure
that you won't be able to buy XP without taking on all the other
"services." In a worst case scenario, Windows users will be signing
over full control of all of their personal information to a large,
faceless corporation just to use Windows software.
This is, of course, an opportunity for Apple. If they can position
themselves as the operating system of choice for users who want to
maintain control of their personal information, I suspect that a fair
number of users would make the switch. If given a choice between
handing Microsoft the keys to their personal information or learning
a new and improved Mac OS, new users would likely flock to Apple.
Apple already provides a keychain
to manage passwords on your Mac. Apple has also already gone
through the backlash of a user license that was a little too biased
toward the corporation. Remember the
iDisk brouhaha?
While people are getting more and more comfortable sharing their
personal information, it looks like Microsoft may be stepping over
the line. Apple should be waiting on the other side of the fence with
open arms.
Stephen Van
Esch is the founder and president of
the
E-learning Foundry, an online training
resource for Mac users. Steve loves the Mac and is doubly bilingual,
since he's also fluent in Windows and French.
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