Appatic

File Search Engines are nothing new. Before, they were just Custom Google Search Engines with a few filter scripts. A good example of that is Shufs. But now they are getting a lot more sophisticated and they now index, catalogue, filter and trend their own searches and the file searched like actual real search engines. A prime choice of that new improved custom search engines would be FilesPump. But even if they specialize in a single vertical as it is file searching, some kind of files need even more filters to yield the results you want as fast as you want them.

Music and Files is just like FilesPump but it specializes in Music related files first.  After testing it with a dozen different queries, the results were really good i must say.  With Music and Files you can search the biggest Online File Sharing Sites around and that is why the results can vary from good to excellent depending what you are looking for. I do must state that the way you use it and the content you download while using it falls under your own judgment and responsibility. By following the link below in this post, i consider you aware of that very fact.

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Music and Files

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Cyclur is a feed widget generator. It lets you do everything from a well designed single page. The main hook of it is that it is iframe based so it will work everywhere while remaining light. The problem to this is that it is subject to fail to load more easily than a JavaScript widget.

Cyclur: A Simple Customizable Feed Widget Generator For Blogs via Bloggeratto 

A good option if you want to integrate content lists from other blog or even your own blog into a link list in under a minute.

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Cyclur

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The .NET Framework multiple releases contain lot of files and in the case of version 3.0 and 3.5 there are even shared files between them. This is usually one of the ways a .NET Framework install can get corrupted or malfunction causing problems when executing .NET apps.  This is rare, but if .NET apps start failing on you then it is time to verify your .NET Framework installs. More if you happen to also have installed beta versions releases.

The . Net Framework Setup Verification Tool is a small utility that will quickly tell you what releases are installed in your computer and will check up all the files in them to verify they are all in working order.

You can check a detailed guide on its usage from the Developers website if you are interested about the usage of the App. It only support up to the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1, so don’t be surprised if the .NET 4.0 Beta releases don’t appear listed yet.

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.NET Framework Setup Verification Tool User’s Guide <—Info From The Developer Blog

.NET Framework Setup Verification Tool  <—Direct Download Link

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toRSS is a very good solution to make sure that you keep track of your E-mail and also serves as a way to have more than one way to remind yourself of that. The way toRSS does that is by letting you take all your incoming E-mails from your inbox and convert them and list them into a RSS feed. This way you can read your mails as you read the news for your favorite sites and services.

Why would i want to do that?

One reason would be so you do not forget to answer your E-mails and another because you can keep a better track of your E-mail this way. While i don’t use toRSS myself. I use a desktop-to-web solution to archive the same thing. Unless you are using Outlook or Evolution, you usually cannot set e-mail handling rules. These can be handy because you can set that all incoming e-mail has to be seen twice to be considered “Read” or you can set a timer so every amount of hrs all e-mails are declared “Read” but never before that time even if you have seen them already.

So if you are not using a E-mail Desktop Client you have to rely on your preferred web E-mail provider. Having a RSS feed of your E-mail allows you to read your E-mail before you hit your actual inbox if you like me prefer to read the news first that E-mail. So if you have already read your E-mail in your FeedReader, once you do see all the incoming E-mails in your actual inbox. You will already know which ones you want to read again, reply, delete or disregard but keep. I think it makes for a better E-mail workflow and if you agree with me, then toRSS is a good way to check if it also works for you.

In my case i can also harvest all my E-mail via the IE8 Feed Reader. Given the IE8 Feed Reader can be tweaked and enhanced with Plugins, you are able to keep and save all your e-mail that way and even back it up and export it to different file formats if you desire it.

How do i use toRSS?

It could really not be simpler. You only have to fill up a service form. Clicking on the icon of your web E-mail provider in that form will actually pre-fill the form with the settings needed for your provider, so you only have to add your Username and Password.

                (Example showing common settings for Windows Live Hotmail)

Once you have filled up the form, just click “Generate Feed” and you will be given a RSS Feed for your incoming E-mail. Just don’t share that feed publicly or lose sight of how you are using it. If you do, then just change your  E-mail password and that feed will just stop working.

Conclusion

I think toRSS is a great solution given it eliminates the learning curve and technicalities of having to maintain a Desktop to Web solution of the same like i do and because of the possible benefits it can bring to your E-mail handling. The only actual price to use it. Is that you need to trust toRSS  with your E-mail account credentials and to have clear that you must use it with care. Even then i still Recommend it.

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toRSS

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Sometimes trying to search for a specific file in Online File Sharing sites like Rapdishare  results in nothing but a waste of time. There are many other file search engines like Shufs that can help to get better results. Most of the times they are just Custom Google Search Engines with some Filter Scripts.

FilesPumps goes beyond that by adding search trends and tracking what is being searched and then indexing the results that are getting clicked. This way it is able to offer what is being downloaded, what is being searched the most and in the end it means you are more likely to get the file you want.

In my quick testing i found it yields way better results than the common file search engines i mentioned above.  FilesPump also offers Plugins for both Internet Explorer and Firefox. So that also gives it points in being something actually useful, you can use more than just once in a while and then forget all about it. I do must state that the way you use it and the content you download while using it falls under your own judgment and responsibility. By following the link in this post, i consider  you aware of that very fact.

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FilesPump

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*Update 1* (04/08/10): Looks like the domain has been seized by the USA government. What it is interesting about that. Is that when such thing happens is because it was seen a reported organized crime operation. It looks like it was managed from New York and with a USA domain register by Immigrants, as ICE is the seal put up front in the strikedown statement label. as it can be seen by visiting the domain.

I do not reproduce it here, because it seems it is actually nebulously illegal to even show one of these strikedown statement labels that carry official agency logos. Just so you know.

But don’t worry much. As a clone of filespump is already up and running.

*Update 2* (18/09/10): FilesPump clone looks to be down because its database has crashed. I ignore if it will rise again or not. If you are still looking for something similar to FilesPump, the only other working option right now would be Music&Files.

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PDFmyURL is a online single purpose tool that lets you convert any web url into a PDF file instantly.

It can be used in 3 different ways:

1.-Casual web service:

You go to the website, load up a url and off you go with your PDF file.

2.-Bookmarklet tool:

You add the bookmarklet to your browser and each time you want to save a web site as a PDF, one click and you are ready to with your PDF file.

3.-On demand web tool:

You can add PDFmyURL as a service to the homepage or postpages of your Blog or Website. you only need to set it for automatic url selection for post pages or as a static link for a single url like this:

<a href=http://pdfmyurl.com?url=www.Appatic.com>download this page as pdf</a>

Some Notes:

You can also do more specific configurations on how do you want PDFmyURL to render a url and convert it to PDF, but you need to read the guide in the website to check if it is something you would want.

The service is simple and it works very well as i tried it out with several pages. It was also very fast too. Recommended.

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PDFmyURL

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There are many Image Hosting and Image Sharing Tools around, but what if you want to share a image with someone and you would prefer that the image was only up for a set amount of time?. Many image hosting do have the policy of erasing images every month or even every week. But not many let you directly erase a picture or set the time you want it to be available for consume.

That is the idea behind Upload Pie. They let you share a image or set of images (as a PDF) up to 3mb big and you then set the time for the picture to be available for viewing. The images are only available for as long as a pie can get consumed. Given that a pie usually gets consumed at the end of a meal, the smallest amount of time a image can be available is 30 minutes. And given that most pies only can last a week even if  in refrigeration, that is the longest you can share a picture. Very clever way to associate the name with what the tool does don’t it?.

Once you have uploaded your file, you are then given a Upload Pie short url for you to share the picture. That is pretty much it. The idea is simple and sound, the website got a very pretty design and it could not be more straight forward. Pretty much the only thing i wish it had is that the picture share had a landing page instead of just loading the image and that it gave you a way to share the Upload Pie short url to Twitter, Facebook or a E-mail right away after it gives you the url. So i hope they add those features to make the site even better. Still a nice little online single-purpose tool worth of a bookmark.

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Upload Pie

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OpenPDF is a simple Google powered custom search engine with some filter scripts that lets you search for all kind of PDF files. So you can search for a E-book, a document or a magazine and got a better chance to find it.

I previously posted about Search-PDF-Books because that is the one i personally used. I still like that one better, but OpenPDF does got you something different to add and that is a integrated PDF viewer. The PDF viewer is taken from Google Docs and it loads embedded in-page. The problem is that it don’t works half of the time. But it is a good idea to have that for those who don’t want to load a full instance of their PDF Reader or they can’t for one reason or another.

But overall the experience is good and it is a nice alternative to have if you are constantly searching for PDF’s.

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OpenPDF

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I wanted to do a very broad range predictions list for 2010. This is a year with lots of potential ups and downs and i want be able to look back to see where i had my mind pointing to when it get to look back at it in December.

2010 Tech Predictions:

1.-Adobe will be pushing their Open Screen Project very hard, but it will be a very time consuming endeavor that will consume most of the year. The reason being brands and builders demanding personalized satisfaction.

2.-Adobe should be seen having to seriously upgrade their security as they become Hackers and Crackers new preferred target. Some will blame and mock Adobe because of their lack of 64 bit versions and their slow reaction to ensure security patches.

3.-Adobe should be able to stop its decline from 2009 but the stiff competition from Microsoft is going to end in a year with very small gains.

4.-Palm will be the subject of offers from more than one venture. The most likely and most appropriate suitor should be Blackberry as it would be the one that can better absorb and integrate it. Nokia will weight in out of principle and to make Blackberry or whoever acquisition as expensive as it can. Without blowing its cover since Nokia pride is too big to admit defeat with Symbian and Maemo. However Palm don’t wants to be acquired and will resist as much as it can.

5.-Palm should be able to see a uptake year. Thanks in the most part to Palm taking out ideas from Palm Hackers as Apple did with the iPhone 1 Hackers.

6.-Palm will be getting full head on in the bet for WebGL and OpenGL among other unfinished standards as a cry for web nerds empathy and to save the face of the pretty but weak WebOS.

7.-Blackberry will try to acquire Palm. in the case of failing will have a look to Asia as a way to branch out.

8.-LinkedIn will see a lot of more success as it updates it interface, releases apps for the big 5 smartphone ecosystems and does some acquisitions. Will try to go for Yammer, a flailing Plaxo and will also try to get into the GEOlocation game with a business angle. What will acquire i don’t know. but it will acquire more than one thing.

9.-Oracle will ultimately be able to finalize its acquisition of Sun Microsystems. In the case of finding obstacles it will force arm the EC into compliance thanks to the USA government intervening and Oracle pumping money to European politicians and sending public messages to European Consumers who are not actually pleased at all with the EC. In the end Oracle will own Sun Microsystems.

10.- JavaFX will get new releases, will be seeing the light in Mobiles too. The platform will prove to be good and powerful as it has already been proven. It will be hyped a bit in the Tech Spheres. But will end up as a distant 3rd place to the arms race of Adobe vs Microsoft.

11.-IBM will branch out in a Competition-Cooperation race with others as it sees big strong enemies popping in VMWare, Oracle, Microsoft and even Adobe and Google. Should be choosing doing business with Amazon, the new powerful Comcast, Cisco and Salesforce. IBM is here to stay and will just adapt to the new times. But will be still doing business with frenemies like the Microsoft Enterprise branch and the Sun branch of Oracle.

12.-Cisco will continue to acquire at least 3 companies more as it extends its power of being the infrastructure backbone of technology. Will find a favorite frenemy in the new Comcast. Both and other media and telecom companies will be very interested in keeping Google at bay to who they see as a threat. Will gladly do deals with the likes of IBM and Oracle in shared interests.

13.-There will be a lot of consolidation and acquisitions in/from the OpenSource World.

14.-There will be rumors of a Red Hat – VMWare merger than in the end will probably don’t happen. It will still make nervous all the other Big OpenSource companies. If it were to happen possible mergers could include Debian – Canonical. If so, Novell would simply choose to acquire some small nascent companies.

15.-Red Hat will be the target of rumor acquisitions. Most likely suitor being IBM and most unlikely being Cisco.

16.-Some will try to acquire VMWare who don’t wants to be acquired.

17.-VMWare will become the defacto winner in virtualization solutions for everything. will release Mobile virtualizations. Will get interested in Virtualized Environments, Remote access to them via browsers and App Streaming. All 3 last areas being things Microsoft is also interested, researching and developing on. Microsoft will become VMWare pretty much only competition in most areas.

18.-The New Comcast will put everyone nervous, will find lots of opposition but in the end will still exist unless something really surprising and unexpected happens.

19.-Disney will launch a new channel geared for Boys and Teens to compete with Nickelodeon Networks. Based in Content from Marvel and new series. Writers working at Marvel right now will end up commissioning lots of proposals for new content that will get nowhere most of the times but end up as comics.

20.-Marvel will be getting new lines for kids, teens and commercial tie-ins now that Disney is the new owner.

30.-Big Social Networks will concentrate in differentiating themselves from Facebook in what years ago would have been considered niche verticals.

31.-Facebook will integrate Friendfeed features into the status updates stream.

32.-Facebook will separate in 2 Flavors: Standard and Lite post to the new interface update.

33.-Facebook Connect will continue to advance, as it gets to be used in new improved ID Badge Widgets from Facebook trying to persuade users to use it as their new online ID card.

34.-Facebook Payments will launch but will concentrate in-facebook transactions for 2010.

35.-Facebook Payments will be used in a new business opportunity that will come out of business facebook based pages, listings and mini stores. it will also be used as a way to test geolocation that will riff on Foursquare, Twitter and Blippr.

36.-Facebook Payments will end up being the new beacon as it will have a opt-in blippr style option that will raise security, privacy and oversharing concerns.

37.-Facebook Listings  (or whatever) will be Facebook based pages for brands and business that will offer deals that can be purchased within Facebook itself.

38.-Facebook Video will become one the top 5 video sites of the world. will branch out a video portal of its own.

39.-Facebook Widgets will be the way of Facebook stretching to the web as they will be embeddable everywhere and they are Facebook Connect enabled.

40.-Facebook Revenue for 2009 will be reported as over 600million.

41.-Facebook profit for 2009 will be around 50-100 million. but it is still well over a billion in the deep because of investments and the fact it didn’t made any profit previously. But Facebook will gloat on been a profitable and advance thinking company. Will boost in new hype most of Silicon Valley will just follow.

42.-Facebook Revenue for 2010 will be over 1 billion dollars.

43.-Facebook Profit for 2010 will be over 300 million dollars. will then only be less than half a billion in the deep. Facebook will gloat even more as if it was not.

44.-Facebook growth in 2010 will slow down but should reach the final plateau of around 500 million by the end of 2010. People will start questioning the stats and wondering what is the real % of active users and what should be considered a active user.

45.-Friendfeed will be closed down or open sourced a la Jaiku. If so, it will still mean that it is dead. Just Zombie dead.

46.-Plurk will either find a monetization road or start facing the question of closing down.

47.-Plurk will continue to grow a lot mostly in Asia.

48.-Plurk, thanks to its API will find more adepts in North America as it starts gaining apps. But these will roll as slow as paint drying. That is unless Plurk starts acting proactively which is unlikely.

49.-Plurk will still remain offended by Microsoft even if it was MSN China. will try to force Microsoft in helping them out to get unblocked in China. Got no clue of what could happen.

50.-Plurk will still be the unsung #2 of Social Messaging. Even if most of the Tech Community in North America will ignore them.

51.-Twitter will go all for GEO thanks to its recent acquisition of GEOapi.

52.-Twitter will open the firehose Api and oAuth for everyone but will present new Paid options for API usage.

53.-Twitter business play will be paid API options.

54.-Twitter will do partnerships with other companies as a way to keep Facebook at bay.

55.-Twitter will do acquisitions but will not be able to buy Bit.ly as it has become too expensive for them. Will instead buy Tweetmeme, a photo twitter solution, a file twitter solution, a video twitter.

56.-Twitter should have at least 100 million of revenue in 2010. but will end up having a poor profit range (as low as 10%) because of acquisitions, development and costs. But they are a good call to keep Facebook and others at bay.

57.-Jack Dorsey’s Square will end up not leading because of fierce competition. Square still should do good and remain a contender. It is possible that rumors of acquisition in late 2010 get to start circulating.

58.-Digg will find success in their advertising approach. Will still want to sell but will deny it. Will follow trends from others. Will remain afloat and doing good.

59.-Revision3 will remain a snail going up a hill. But hey, it is going uphill.

60.-Kevin Rose will try to sell ice to penguins with its twitter directory. The penguin will not bite.

61.-Tumblr will continue to beat Posterous and Soup.io. But Posterous will follow closely enough to keep Tumblr on edge.

62.-The Cloud Wars will be the most entertaining thing for true geeks. Pretty much everyone and their mother will be in it.

63.-Google will find itself with several antitrust problems during the year. will pledge they would never do anything bad. People will start not buying it as more proof of Google way of  “not being evil, just innovative” starts coming up.

64.-Google will indeed launch a Google Phone. it will be more hype than anything else.  Carriers and builders dealing with Google will not be happy.

65.-Google will gain lots of new enemies as it starts pushing Google Voice via VOIP. Will not see the cost of its arrogance. But many companies will start gunning for it politically.

66.-Google wave 2 will be Etherpad googlefied. It will find moderate success that some people will take as the best thing since sliced bread.The majority will remain not amused.

67.-Google Chrome OS will launch and will be disappointing as every single first year Google product. Hype will still follow and will generate a plethora of ridiculous  headlines involving windows in many blog posts.

68.-Google Chrome 5 will be reached and Chrome will finally be a full browser. Internet Explorer and Firefox will get nervous but will counterattack fiercely.

69.-Google Chrome will reach 10% in 2010 cementing its third place for the foreseeable future.

70.-Google will finally do some decent updates to Blogger. yeah, this is more hope than a prediction.

71.-Google will realize that they cannot compete with Office 2010 (Shocking, i know), will try to buy Zoho. Zoho chances of selling are 50/50 based on if Google will be willing to pay well over 1 billion for it.

72.-Google will end up fighting Zoho, Adobe Acrobat, Apple, Oracle and even Thinkfree as the fight for Office in the browser and the cloud gets serious. Only way for Google to stay as #2 is to buy either Zoho or Thinkfree. Adobe want that #2 very very very badly. Also because of the threat of Oracle and Apple getting seriously interested for it. If Oracle get interested in this, they may also want to acquire Thinkfree to ramp up Open Office into a contender. Apple will instead simply build up into iWork.

73.-Google will start getting unfocused and will make lots of mistakes as it figures out that being at the top is bloody hard if people start gunning for you.

74.-Google will lose some marketshare in search and advertising for the first time ever.

75.-Zoho will continue to succeed thanks to their strategy of supporting everything Microsoft and everything Google. The new advances of Adobe, Apple and the prospect of having to compete with Oracle will still make a  dent . And those would be the only reasons they would be willing to sell to Google (or anyone). But only if Google (or anyone) is willing to pay a fair price.

76.-Adobe Acrobat will finally get serious as it unveils their version of Powerpoint and update all of their applications. would still need to acquire Sliderocket and Scribd if they really want to do well in the future. But that is impossible to know.

77.-Open Office will start questioning itself in this new war. Best way for it to thrive would be if new daddy Oracle would buy ThinkFree so they came to play for the OOteam.

78.Apple will get serious with a new release of iWork, iWork.com. Start a new marketing chant of Macs being also good for Office. Windows+Office in Bootcamp or Office for Mac will still be the preferred choices much to the chagrin of Apple. But that don’t means they cannot do a good fight for #2, so they will.

79.-Apple hardware failures will start to ramp up and will become the headache of Apple in 2010.

80.-Apple Mac OS X getting more and more attacked by hackers will be a concern to Apple. Many of these new attacks will be sponsored by Security Companies as they see that the business in the Windows side is drying up because of MSE, Windows 7 64bits and a glut of Free Security Software. Also because they know Mac users will gladly pay for anything.

81.-Apple will launch their Tablet and it will be good i must admit. But will not be alone as new convertible pc’s, tablets and readers from EVERYONE start to come up before and after. It will not be the success that Apple expects it to be at all. Possible hardware and software failure could also be a factor as in every gen 1 device. Should still do OK.

82.-Apple growth will slowdown. Stock will fall or flat out.

83.-JooJoo will be unable to fight Techcrunch fury. The thing that did it will end up being that spiteful remark of “Techcrunch is only a blog”. :P

84.-Meizu will continue to enjoy success in Asia. Engadget will continue to mock regardless of that. Gizmodo may start cheering to go the opposite way.

85.-Sony PS3-PSP-PSN strategy will continue to disappoint Sony and most of Video Gamers. Will end up with #2 of Generation and #3 in general. No, Wii is not part of this generation no matter how much Nintendo Fanboys say it. Should be only counted in general.

86.-Nintendo growth will flat out in 2010. Wii sales will decline.

87.-ReadWriteWeb will continue to be the most even out Tech blog even if some crazy Marshall Kirkpatrick posts get to be and Jolie O’Dell continues trying to be too funny. Ok, i am kidding on the last part………or am i?. RWW will continue to copy GigaOM strategy. It will work.

88.-Mashable will become Adshable, CNNshable and Pollshable. Visitors will take note and comment. Pete Cashmore will ponder on it. Outcome unknown.

89.-Techcrunch will continue to lead thanks to the insane post output, MG Siegler and Paul Carr fueled hate being always in the rise ( if people would only realize that THAT is the game) and it being so branched out. Ironic since Big Mikey tirade on content farms right?

90.-The Next Web will become the new BlogNation but without the fraud. They will grow a lot and will put RWW and GigaOM on edge.

91.-The war for Mobile Browsers will break with new releases of Opera Mobile and Opera Mini vs Netfront, Firefox Mobile 1.0, Skyfire, IE Mobile 7 and even a possible Maxthon Mobile.

92.-Opera will lose the war for the desktop as it falls from the TOP 5. will concentrate on Mobile and Devices. It will prove to be the right call as Opera Mini and Opera Mobile will be under attack from Netfront (vs Opera Mini), Firefox Mobile 1.0 ( vs Opera Mobile) and Skyfire (vs Opera Mobile). Devices (TV’s, Consoles, etc) will be the only place where they will continue to reign supreme for the time being.

93.-Nokia will continue to be stubborn and will stick to Symbian and Maemo. will fall to 49% of Dominance. Even if still being incredibly big and being more than just a Mobile maker, Bloggers in the USA that have no clue about this will call for its death.

94.-Nokia will win over Apple in the patent war. May only get 1 billion out of it. Bragging rights still worth it.

95.-Nokia Maemo devices will do well, but will not advance as fast as the competition.

96.-SonyEricsson  will continue to flounder with weird smartphones and mediaphones.

97.-Mozilla will release 3.6 in january, 3.7 in may-jun and 4.0 in november-december. 4.0 will be awesome. Chrome and the Google ties will still hurt Mozilla morale big time.They seriously need to cut ties with Google. funny that AOL and Ask may end up being their saving grace.

98.-Mozilla Firefox Mobile 1.0 will launch in the top 5 smartphone ecosystems and will prove to be the right call for Mozilla.

99.-Maxthon will beat opera for the 5th place in the desktop thanks to its introduction in the E.C Browser Choice Ballot, their Russian-Asia deals and their China Browser Research Lab.

100.-I will still be getting lots of “Oh, Avatar?, that movie rocks, You are fan of James Cameron?”. These will be summed up to “Oh, Avatar: The Last Airbender?. Love the series, Movie is nice too. You are a fan of it?”. This even if i have the name since 1996. But having passed the hype of Second Life and Xbox Live references, I will be fine. Ok-Ok, not much of a prediction but i had to wrap this list up.

Some Notes

I have added some humor to the predictions. Hope they don’t offend anyone. These are my own speculations and opinion.

Will also take suggestions if i should break this post into several pieces. I know that a 3000+ words post is quite daunting. I promise to never do posts over 3000 words again.

I will be doing updates via comments to this post all year round until i get to look back to it in late December. If you disagree or got your own 2010 tech predictions please comment on this post. If you like it, please subscribe to the feed or twitter.

If you are wondering why there is no Microsoft 2010 predictions, that is because those got their own post:

10 Microsoft Predictions For 2010

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*Edit 1* (04-01-2010 at 1am) Made it more readable

*Edit 2* (04-01-2010 at 1:30am) Correcting Typos.

*Update*(02/01/11) Results for this post predictions have been posted.

2009 was a bittersweet year for Microsoft because it was full of hits and misses. But i think that 2010 should be a better year for Microsoft. Here are my predictions for 2010:

1.-New Money Makers.

When people read on that, a thought is usually associated with Sharepoint. But while Sharepoint will continue to be growing like weed as Office 2010 also hits release. It is not a new thing. It has been Microsoft breakthrough hit for the last 2 years. When i mean new, i mean new in the sense that they may have been doing fine, but from 2010 on they should be doing great or surprisingly great.

I.-Microsoft Automotive

First it started to make car appliances to integrate msn derived services and later it expanded to do some simple car media managers. While most don’t know it, It is quite likely that your car (if it was made in the last 3 years) is running Microsoft Automotive in one way or another. All based around  specially modified Windows CE 3.0-5.0 (usually). But then it came up with Microsoft Sync for Ford to great success and just now it has struck a partnership with Kia called UVO. That is without mentioning the new Carputers based in Win CE 6.0 and Microsoft SYNC 2 that are also going to be released.

But maybe that is just not all of it and new announcements or partnerships get to be too.

So 2010 should be the year where Microsoft Automotive products jump out as something recognizable in people minds.

II.-Microsoft Robotics

It had a actual very good 2009. The SDK has been downloaded already around 1 million times (counting from all sources) and that is a insane number if we consider it is being used to control Robots…it is not a software that anyone but those studying or working in robotics can use.

The reason i say it will have a even better 2010 is because it will be the year when it starts making money based on activity that is going to be mainly centered in Asia. As they are pumping up bigger initiatives left and right, private and public to accelerate as much as possible Robotics development starting in 2010.

III.-Windows Server HPC and Windows Home Server.

Both have done OK, but it is just about to start showing up more and more as something labeled “Of Interest” in the Windows Server part of Microsoft. They are part of the spectrum ends in the Windows Server biz. From the super high scale operations for Windows Server HPC to the personal server for Home ( and Small Businesses too even if not supposedly intended) they are getting new releases in 2010 and they will meet a lot more success that in 2009.

IV.-Windows Media

IIS7 Media Pack, new Media Center services & capabilities thanks to Windows 7, SmoothStreaming, Zune Video, MSN video, Microsoft TV and last but not less important:

Mediaroom.

If Microsoft is finally going to do a hard push for Windows Media is going to be in 2010 as Windows 7 consolidates marketshare, as it prepares Windows Mobile 7, deploys Zune Video, pitches media around Silverlight and it also finally extends Mediaroom into next gen Cable Top Boxes and Internet Enabled HDtv’s.

So that is why i think it should be a big year for Windows Media.

V.Silverlight

This is of course the safest of the predictions in this entry. Silverlight 3 will be consolidated as it passed over the 51% of Marketshare with the Winter Olympics and goes beyond that with many exclusive events that are on the line for each month of 2010 all around the world, New line of business and Enterprise RIA solutions are developed and all kinds of consumer apps go hybrid (they can run in the browser and in the desktop) and cross platform with Silverlight.

Silverlight 4 should reach out in final form by mid year and Silverlight for Mobile could be announced anywhere from CES to Mix010. It is going to be the biggest year yet for Silverlight as a it is also unveiled for devices and Moonlight 3 reaches parity with Silverlight 3 and parts of Silverlight 4.

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These new buzz generators and many things more are the reason why Microsoft is more Future Proof than most give it credit for.

2.-Search War Escalates And Results Add Up Slowly But Surely

The battle for search with Bing will not be a breakout success in 2010 as Google starts fighting back, but Microsoft should be able to reach anywhere from 20 to 30% in 2010 thanks the Yahoo deal and Google getting distracted with Android, Chrome, Chrome OS and the development of their next generation plugins and also because antitrust clouds will start forming over Google.

3.-Office 2010 Will Have Silverlight Based Counterparts For The Most Important Components By The End Of 2010.

The Office Web Apps were first unveiled as Word, Excel, Powerpoint and OneNote.  I think that at least Outlook,  a Sharepoint component and a client to manage Office Live Workplace should get the Silverlight treatment and get released in some form. But publisher and project would also be good contenders to get the makeover too.

4.-It Will Be WPF Breakout Year.

WPF is very cool and while many are calling for its end because of Silverlight 4. WPF is a high scale program platform in both power and looks. Silverlight is not anywhere yet able to replace WPF any time soon.

Thanks to the release of WPF 4.0 with .NET 4.0. WPF will show really great advances and will be seen a lot more. The release of Visual Studio 2010 and Expression 4 (Both WPF apps) are only part of the why.

5.-The .NET Framework Goes Places.

.Net has already displaced Java in the consumer desktop side. Silverlight that is a .NET derivation and simil will allow .NET to displace Java a lot more in the Enterprise via LOB and ERIA solutions. .NET 4.0 with WPF 4.0 will allow it to continue gaining ground in many new ways. .NET CF 4.0, ASP .NET MVC, MONO,Moonlight, etc, etc will also help a lot to get .NET everywhere.

6.XNA in Mobiles, Desktop And The Browser In A Official Form.

It is unclear how, but either via Silverlight or via .NET. XNA and the games from Xbox Live Arcade will start appearing officially beyond Xbox Live. They were already showing up in those places thanks to Silversprite (Browser via Silverlight), WPF-XNA (Desktop via a WPF app) and Mono.XNA for MonoTouch (Mobile in the iPhone)

7.-Windows Live Will Ship New Apps and New Services Besides Solid Updates.

The biggest problem about Windows Live is Brand Confusion and Poor Marketing.

Thanks to the association with Windows 7 and the reorganization in Microsoft that now put Windows and Windows Live together under Steve Sinofsky as the Windows Client and Windows Live Services division. I think that those previous problems will start to dissipate.

I have read and been alert of any kind of Windows Live rumors and they are very disjointed and extreme. But i do believe that 2010 should bring 2 new Apps to the staple of Windows Live and some new web services additions.

I unfortunately got no clue on what exactly they will end up releasing so i will not even try. The Windows Live team have been the most unpredictable group at Microsoft for the past 4 years.

8.-Microsoft Surface 2 Will Get Released in New Forms And Surface 1 Will Be Available For $5K

Microsoft Surface is right now the size and height of a kitchen table because it works with projectors and laser scanners that make it big. Surface 2 according to some rumors comes in more than one form and it will be less that half the height of Surface 1. Minimum price should start below 10K.

Surface 1 units are very likely to get discounted and resold by first buyers for $5k or less.

9.-Microsoft Will Get So Aggressive In The Cloud That Will Quickly Match Or Surpass Everyone Else.

I have read many takes saying that Azure “Is not enough” or that “It is only as good as Amazon Web Services” which is nonsense.  People saying these things are either not technical enough or forget that Azure is not the only thing Microsoft got to fight in the cloud.

Windows Azure is the most important piece. The center of the cloud strategy but people often forget that they got Microsoft Online Services and that they are now getting ready to offer all kind of Software As A Service without the need of native installs. These new kind of app are installed for the session in a way alike to  .NET ClickOnce or Silverlight OOB.

The combination will prove to be enough to gain a dominant role against AWS. Microsoft worry in the clouds don’t lies in IBM, Amazon or Google. They will come from surprising offerings and partnerships that VMWare will come up as it will fiercely join the fight for the cloud, servers and even the desktop.

But whatever happens a price and feature war will be fought.

10.-Windows Mobile Will Be Fine And WM7 Will Surprise.

Looks like almost every big blog is calling for the death of Windows Mobile and its supposed lack of relevancy in 2009. They were wrong in 2009 because it took to the very end of the year for the iPhone to pass Windows Mobile in a set of surveys that got a divided opinion. And as much championing of Android and Palm WebOS as there was. Windows Mobile is still 8 times bigger than Android and over 15 times bigger than Palm WebOS. It is not realistic to say that Android will manage to grow 10 times its size in 2010 and even if it would. Windows Mobile would have to stand flat for Android to be able to surpass it in a year time. In the case of WebOS surpassing Windows Mobile…that, that is just a pipe dream.

Windows Mobile 7 is a big question mark in everybody’s mind. But the possibilities based on the whispers around it are quite incredible and if true it would change the game:

Windows CE 7.0

(Weird because WinCE 6.0 is still fresh)

Silverlight 4 UI-UX based

(Some say that this is the why it was delayed. There is also videos around that show Silverlight 3 based UI-UX development for mobiles)

.NET CF 4.0

(Makes sense, but what this will be used for if it is going to be SL4 based?)

XNA as the gaming platform.

(Would be fitting if it is going to be SL4 based. Both use XAML)

Azure Connected

(How exactly?, maybe is for sync services or it refers to Outlook, Office and Windows Live. No one knows)

Whatever happens i am sure that Windows Mobile 7 will be worth the wait and that it will meet success in the long run.

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We will see how right or wrong i get to be in a year.

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