Microsoft Dynamics GP 12 and Silverlight

I was deeply embedded at iSight, our customer conference, over the last two and that gave me opportunity to get some perspective on a little GP 12/Silverlight controversy that popped up without posting rashly.

First MSDynamicsWorld chimed in with Microsoft Dynamics GP 12's Silverlight Plans Unchanged Despite Windows 8 Plug-In Limitations

Then Microsoft clarified with Microsoft Dynamics GP 12 Our Windows 8 Vision.

Here are my thoughts:

• It’s not unusual for the Windows team to be way ahead of everyone else. Even the Office team has gotten caught in the past.
• There is a lot of confusion in the marketplace around what will run on a Windows 8 Desktop vs. a Windows 8 Metro UI interface and what will run on an Intel tables vs. an ARM Tablet (and possibly a phone).
• If every team at MS changed course mid stream every time a new direction was announced nothing would ever ship and to quote Robert Scoble “Shipping is a feature”. The classic example of this is of course the video game Duke Nukem Forever which took a whopping 14 years to release because they were “Forever” chasing the latest and greatest game engine only to see the release immediately panned.
• I think Silverlight is a good choice for GP 12. It’s also kind of funny that after years of picking on Dexterity for being old we now see folks picking on Silverlight for not being new enough.

Frankly, with what I have seen of GP 12 so far, it’s going to do 2 things:

• Totally rock when released
• Well position the product to move forward