Paul Thurrott: I haven't attempted to fully catalog Microsoft's use of the term "software + services," but I know it's evolved over time. Microsoft first began using the term as a way to explain why it wasn't more fully embracing Web-based services and the movement towards Web 2.0 solutions, but analysts saw that as backpedaling and an expression of the company's need to protect core traditional products like Windows and Office.
This year, however, Microsoft shifted gears and "software + services" went along for the ride. As I now understand it, Microsoft plans to provide customers with the solutions they need, regardless of how they're delivered. This plan spans the range from true services, such as Web services that expose functionality via published interfaces but have no GUI in the classic sense, to online services that integrate with UI bits, such as Windows Live Messenger, Hotmail, and the like, and then more traditional PC-based software that speaks back to the so-called cloud.
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