Microsoft to Release New Developers Tools (AP). AP - Microsoft Corp. is releasing several new tools to help developers build software applications that work with its online search and communication products. [Yahoo! News: Technology News]

Fascinating seeing competition changing the marketplace. A year or so ago I considered some business ideas that were heavily dependent upon the ability to map data through some sort of web GIS. At the time you could either buy a very expensive product that you ran on your own servers, serving rather craptacular raster graphics, or you could sign-up for MapPoint Web Services (MWS). MWS was very expensive (I can't remember the details, but I believe it was something like $50,000 up front, and then a considerable per transaction fee - considerable relative to the extremely low yield of most web ventures, though it would have been very worthwhile for many internal asset tracking style apps). I abandoned the idea as it was too speculative.         

Of course now countless sites are popping up utilizing Google Maps as their GIS back-end system. That seems like a very tenuous decision to me (at least until Google figures out their mapping revenue model), but the result is some outstanding graphical mapping apps that look spectacular and respond fantastically. I find it remarkable that Google Maps offers a more responsive (and more aesthetically pleasing) experience than running a thick-client MapPoint app locally.