1. IE rises from the dead: After insisting that Internet Explorer was an inextricable part of Windows, Microsoft abruptly changed course and decided to develop and deliver a new standalone version of its browser, after all. Nothing like a little competition to open new doors (and windows).

2. MS 'gets' RSS: While some folks were less than overjoyed that Microsoft was tinkering with the "little orange RSS box," Microsoft ended up looking like a company with a clue when it came to outlining its company-wide RSS strategy in 2005. RSS support will be built into not just Internet Explorer 7.0, but also Outlook 12 and Windows Vista itself. Almost all Microsoft blogs and sites have RSS feeds these days. RSS is gospel in Redmond these days.

3. WinFS bits go out early: For some strange reason, the Redmondians refused to admit they shipped the Beta 1 bits for the Windows File System (WinFS) earlier than they originally said they would. Microsoft maintained WinFS Beta 1 was right on time. On-time or early, we were stunned when the actual code debuted in late August.

4. Ray Ozzie takes the Red Pill: Sure, Groove and Microsoft were partners. Microsoft even took a stake in Groove amounting to $51 million, back in 2001. But did anyone really expect Ray "Lotus" Ozzie to become a Softie? And, eventually, the CTO who penned Microsoft's most strategic missive ("The Internet Services Disruption" memo) just a few months after commencing his bicoastal life as a Microsoft employee? We didn't see it coming.

5. Microsoft refuses to take the EC seriously: The U.S. government's antitrust department rolled over for Microsoft. The European Commission did not. But Microsoft seemed to equate the two bodies for some odd reason. After unsuccessfully trying to foist the "Windows XP Reduced Media Edition" name on the version of Windows dictated by the European regulators, Microsoft continued to drag its feet on making interoperability information available to competitors. Now the EC is threatening the company with a $2.37 million (U.S.) per day fine. Wonder if that will lead the Redmondians to change their tune.


6. Microsoft refrains from snatching up a major app vendor: With the continuing ERP/LOB consolidation this year, one might think Microsoft would buy something in this space. But it turned out there was no SAP in Microsoft's future. Nor was there a Siebel or Salesforce.com merger in the cards.

7. Redmond still can't find a way to shake its shoddy security image: In 2005, Microsoft spent lots of time, energy and Webcasts detailing its plans to improve security. But at the end of the year, as security expert Bruce Schneier put it so succinctly: Internet Explorer sucks. Here's hoping Windows Vista and Internet Explorer 7.0 improve things a bit.

8. The Office team opens up (a little): More and more members of the Office team are blogging. Microsoft is pushing its Office 12 XML file formats through the ECMA standardization process. Steven Sinofsky still thinks he is running Fort Knox, rather than a product development team that is supposed to be more open to customer and tester feedback. And Microsoft still isn't talking about supporting ODF. But we definitely saw some surprising progress on the Office transparency front in 2005.

9. No one says no to the marketers: After redefining "Project Green" as a strategy rather than an end-point, Microsoft marketers couldn't stop themselves. Now almost all the Microsoft business applications are being rechristened as "Dynamics." And most of the MSN applications and services are being switched to "Live" (as in Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Search, etc.). That's an awful lot of rebranding to pull off all at once. Just ask Microsoft's confused partners, customers and press corps.

10. Hailstorm reins again: Speaking of Live, Microsoft found a way to dust off its old .Net My Services (a k a "Hailstorm" strategy and make it new again. Windows Live, Office Live, CRM Live, Visual Studio Live – all of the current and pending "software as a service" offerings in the pipeline from Microsoft will be extensions of the company's packaged products. We thought Microsoft had dumped Hailstorm once and for all back in 2002. Looks like those green Softies managed to recycle, instead.

I've never really given a lot about Microsoft. Just been getting some idle bits of information about the release date of Vista, all other news about them clearly fail to make a difference.

But all the same thanks for putting this up. At least people who care for them would find these useful.