With the release of Private Folder 1.0, Microsoft starts to make it easier to question whether or not they really do understand the Digital Era. Private Folder 1.0 is free software that lets a person store sensitive data on their home or work computers in a password-protected folder. This is just an example of the software giant ignoring the trend towards the Internet.

A lot of the news surrounding Microsoft has suggested that the company was making an aggressive move to solidify itself as an Internet company as much as it is a Software company. The release of Live.com and the related, Internet-based components is a perfect example of steps in the right direction. So why would the company take a step back with this downloadable, installed software to keep information private? This could have and should have been an initiative integrated into their Live platform and acted as one of next steps the company takes towards integrating the PC experience with the web.

With the obvious market share in OS software, Microsoft must start harnessing that potential userbase and building on their core software business with Internet-based services that work on top of Windows. There are already complaints about the release and its impact on IT Administrators, something that would have been avoided with an Internet-based product, and any time users need to install software there is the potential for headaches.

The general idea is useful, but the implementation is just too 1990’s.

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