The WallStreet Journal has published a fabulous article on the dynamics between Bill Gates. It reveals how a clash between Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer laid the foundation for the current transition of power. But for me the most interesting aspect of the article was the revelation that Microsoft had come up with the idea of Web based alternative to Microsoft Word as far back as 2001. Here is what is says :

In one case, two vice presidents clashed over the future of NetDocs, a promising effort to offer software programs such as word processing over the Internet. The issue: Because NetDocs risked cannibalizing sales of Microsoft’s cash-cow Office programs, some executives wanted NetDocs killed.

Messrs. Gates and Ballmer were unable to settle on a plan. First, NetDocs ballooned to a 400-person staff, then it got folded into the Office group in early 2001, where it died.

NetDocs was being developed in 2001 - that’s four years before the launch of Writely. Google later took over Writely (in 2006) and relaunched it as Google Docs. So, if Microsoft had gone through with their plans then they would have been ahead of their competition by quite a margin and possibly be market leaders today even in online Office Solutions. Instead they are now playing catchup with Microsoft Office Live. This incident once again showcases the lack of vision and lack of understanding of the dynamics of the web on the behalf of old age companies like Microsoft. And this is perhaps why Microsoft is struggling to emulate its success stories on the web.

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