Perhaps you’re wondering why Microsoft is spending its time trying to make WordPress successful. I think there are three answers to this question:
- Love of technology
- Love of web developers and designers
- Smart business
We Love Our Technology
I’m a PHP-bred Technical Evangelist at Microsoft, and I love the fact that PHP now runs great on Windows, SQL Server, Windows Azure and SQL Azure. It’s exciting to see how Microsoft technology can light up WordPress, whether it’s through Silverlight image gallery plugins, Bing Maps integration or future opportunities with technologies like our information service, Dallas.
We Love Our Web Developers and Designers
Microsoft’s success is tied to the success of developers targeting our platform. The popularity of WordPress and other open source PHP apps like Drupal means that lots of web developers and designers are building their businesses around these apps. We believe our platform is the best option for these folks.
Smart Business
There are TONS of WordPress sites out there. We’d like as many as possible to run on Windows, Windows Azure, SQL Server and SQL Azure. This will increase license sales and familiarize developers and designers with our technologies.
And there you have it. My perspective on this fairly controversial topic.
This is great news. It will be fun to test out SQL Express!
Why is this a “fairly controversial topic” as you so put it? What””s the BFD?
@Derek, You’re right… It’s no big deal
How about an install for MySQL and WordPress MU? I””ve had all sorts of issues on Windows 2008 with hosting MU.
umm no thanks I think I””ll stick with linux
@FurfurRising,
We definitely aren’t trying to push our technology on anyone so you are more than welcome to stick with Linux.
I’ve run and built PHP apps on Linux and MySQL since the 90’s but when I joined Microsoft a few years ago I was impressed to see the focus on making PHP run great on Windows and making SQL Server connectivity a top priority. I like developing PHP on my Windows 7 notebooks and using Hyper-V with Windows Server to run a variety of configurations for different projects.
I also like using WordPress and now that it runs on SQL Server I’m all set!
I””m confused. I””ve always been running sites on a windows server. I””ve ben using WordPress for quite a while, and don””t have any issues with compatibility. I””m using php and mysql for other sites outside of WP too.
The only problem i have is wth ””pretty urls””.
Not sure what the big issue that they are trying to fix??
Andy,
This is good feedback and sorry for the confusion. A lot of the times when I’m at PHP events and I tell people I work for Microsoft the first question out of their mouth is “Why are you here?!?!” This post was an attempt to explain that we care about PHP and WordPress because we are passionate about technology, designers and developers, and its smart business. It sounds like you already know this
Specific to WordPress one of the things that’s unique about this site is you can find information about running WordPress on SQL Server and SQL Azure which was made possible by a database abstraction layer built by OmniTI.
The issue you are having with “pretty urls” has been resolved as of WordPress 2.8 with IIS URL Rewrite.
If you are at WordCamp SF this weekend and want to chat just let me know… It would be cool to get more of you feedback on this site and our work with WordPress.
Damon,
The easiest way to install WordPress with MySQL is through the Web Platform Installer (WPI). We worked with Automattic to get WordPress into WPI. I’d suggest reaching out to them letting them know you’d like MU to be available as well. Luckily with WordPress 3.0 the code bases are merging so this won’t be an issue in the future.
[...] spiega direttamente Microsoft in questo blog, ovviamente realizzato con [...]
Hi,
My client has SQL Server 2003, will this work on it?
Yes, agree Andy, its great news, very interesting to see WordPress with SQL!!!
What””s the plugin wich get avatars from Twitter, FaceBook, Gravatar? Tanks!
What about DNN? Guess it””s to move onto products people like and use.
@eavasi – It is called Incarnate. You can find it at http://visitmix.com/labs/incarnate/ or from the Downloads page on this site.
[...] on Microsoft. Now, you might ask why the BLEEP is Microsoft doing this? But that is answered here: Why the BLEEP is Microsoft doing this? You might also ask how is Microsoft doing this? The answer to that question is here: WordPress on [...]
[...] on Microsoft. Now, you might ask why the BLEEP is Microsoft doing this? But that is answered here: Why the BLEEP is Microsoft doing this? You might also ask how is Microsoft doing this? The answer to that question is here: WordPress on [...]
I recently installed WordPress on a Windows 7 virtual machine that I am using for plugin development using the Windows Platform Installer. It worked really well but I noticed that once PHP is installed it doesn””t include PEAR or the go-pear.bat script. Any idea why this was omitted?
I have WordPress running since ages on windows. Works perfectly with the Apache Webserver and the MySQL Database.
I””ve been trapped in Microsoft Products long enough, so I can only stress the point here, that the main goal should be to redruce proprietary software as much as possible. No need to re-invent the wheel all over again – come to the free and open side.
This is sheer marketing here. Azure Bla.
@Joe, the patch has been tested with SQL Server 2005. We””ve tested it with Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 but I don””t see any reason it wouldn””t work with Windows Server 2003 using FastCGI and IIS 6.
@Mike, I also like using VM’s for dev work… I’m not sure why PEAR isn’t included; I’ll ask around and see if I can get some more info for you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_and_Lesbian_Employees_at_Microsoft
this should answer all your questions about Microsoft
, about respect to it and all similar inquiries
Quote, “… spending its time trying to make WordPress successful.”
Ahh no offense MS, but so far WordPress hasn””t needed you at all to become extremely successful.
Kudos for the efforts but adding options like SQL and Azure seems to only appeal to those very few with $$ to burn and massive WP sites that aren””t already engaged to a CDN. Good luck though and I””m sure your work is much appreciated.
[...] ¿Por qué Microsoft apuesta tan fuerte por hosting de PHP? Pues aunque como siempre tiene varias interpretaciones (¿Quién dice que no es un “si no puedes con tu enemigo, únete a él”?), es innegable que se están preocupando mucho porque PHP funcione bien y rápido bajo Windows… [...]
Man… You know when surfing net you always accidentally find a solution to a problem… How i ended up here I forget but dang glad I did. I am going to put up WP site on Win/SQL 2008 platform for sports/celebrity auction company I designed and developed the auction site, DB and all (one man show). They have a group of authenticators flying under banner of 100% Authentic which authenticates for auction house for and needed to publish certificates of authenticity as they are issued. Perfect as a custom blog post for each item. And now since I can run WP with SQL Server DB can automate it all to push data on same db platform… Was looking into linked server and other means but this will be a cake walk now….
Setting up my 1st WP with SQL Server DB… Did a diff on all files in your patch files to WP distro. Not a whole lot needed done on the existing files.
@Sam,
That’s great to hear!!! There’s a developer contest for PHP and SQL Server/SQL Azure being run right now with a $10k prize. Sites running WordPress on SQL Server are eligible to win so I’d recommend entering the contest here (http://www.myappisbetter.com/).
Good luck with the site and let us know if you have any questions. You can get in touch with me directly from my blog (http://english.zachskylesowens.net/contact/).
@Zach
Yea I see latest now ntext… Will check out the prize…L8R
But dont you think you are late.
Anyways, welcome to family.
[...] on Microsoft. Now, you might ask why the BLEEP is Microsoft doing this? But that is answered here: Why the BLEEP is Microsoft doing this? You might also ask how is Microsoft doing this? The answer to that question is here: WordPress [...]
[...] WordPress: Why is Microsoft doing this? [...]
[...] database has been separated from the rest of a company’s data if they are a Microsoft shop. Zach’s blog goes into more detail on why Microsoft made the [...]
[...] [...]
i love to make money that is why i focus both in online and offline business investment””,~
That””s good having WordPress option running on Windows!
I have IIS 6 and SQLServer 2005 on Windows Server 2003. I will be upgrading to II7, SQLServer 2008, and Windows Server 200x shortly. Unfortunately, I need to get WordPress running on this machine before I can upgrade. Is there anyway that can be done?
Hi! I just successfully installed a WordPress site on a Windows Server using a MySQL DB on Windows. There were a few bugs along the way but nothing serious in preventing me from using WordPress in a MS environment. I am looking forward to getting something entered in this $10K contest!
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[...] Thankfully, Microsoft have jumped onto the WordPress bandwagon and have developed a set of tools that allow PHP/MySQL applications to seamlessly run on your Windows-based Servers. You can read more about this move on the Ubelly Blog and from a great old post over at the ‘WordPress on Microsoft Blog’ titled ‘Why the BLEEP is Microsoft doing this?!?!‘ [...]
[...] Thankfully, Microsoft have jumped onto the WordPress bandwagon and have developed a set of tools that allow PHP/MySQL applications to seamlessly run on your Windows-based Servers. You can read more about this move on the Ubelly Blog and from a great old post over at the ‘WordPress on Microsoft Blog’ titled ‘Why the BLEEP is Microsoft doing this?!?!‘ [...]
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