"I see a lot of similarities with the early days of the Web, when people published sites out of self expression. The commonality between the two was that in their infancies, neither required Windows. The company has reason to be concerned [about blogging], because it's an information infrastructure that doesn't require Microsoft technology."
The issue is complicated by the fact that Google, a company many see as a growing competitor to Microsoft, is pushing blogging. Last year, Google purchased Pyra Labs and its Blogger, and just last week refreshed the Web publishing tool.
Both Microsoft and Google are active in or exploring the same areas, including search technology, e-mail, and blogging. Microsoft, for instance, is developing a search engine for its MSN service, and plans to introduce sophisticated search tools within the next generation of Windows, dubbed Longhorn. Google, meanwhile, is pushing into Microsoft-dominated territory like free Web-based e-mail with its Gmail service.
It's no mystery why Microsoft and Google are competing, said Wilcox.
"There's a tremendous synergy between search and e-mail and blogs. There's no reason why Microsoft shouldn't be looking at those technologies. It's already stepped up its efforts, and its e-mail anti-spam efforts are trying help users get to the information they want rather than have to wade through messages. A natural extension is blogs."
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