Yesterday I wrote an entry about the fact that given Microsoft is such a big player in the software market there is the perception [whether correct or incorrect] that once Microsoft enters a technology or product space then smaller players in the market will lose out as customers migrate or Microsoft outmarkets/outspends/outcompetes them. The post also dwelled on a related topic, the perception that Microsoft is fond of vaporware announcements to hinder progress in prospective markets.

After writing the post, I deleted it after it had been on my blog for about 5 minutes. I wasn't happy with the quality of the writing and didn't feel I properly expressed my thoughts. However just the process of writing stuff down made me feel better. Having seen the effects of the Microsoft entering smaller markets on existing participants at a personal level (at least one person has claimed that the fact that I created EXSLT.NET lost him business) as well as at the product unit level (the various technologies the SQL Server Product Unit comes up with from ADO.NET to SQL Server to core XML technologies) there were various thoughts bubbling within me and writing them down helped me understand then come to grips with them.

I definitely need to get a personal journal. I'd have loved to read that post one, five and ten years from now. However it wasn't really for public consumption.