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Ok. So the Web 2.0 Portal, OS and application space really starts to hot up. I’ve been tracking Windows Live, Netvibes, PagesFlakes in the Web 2.0 Portal space and have commented on each one individually in the past. Live continues to be tweaked, but for me is still very slow and I’m still not convinced about the ‘infinite scrollbar’ on the search page. (See my comment on the Scobleizer’s blog. Indeed most people comment on the implementation of the infinite scrollbar. For me, good idea just poorly executed at the moment.

PageFlakes goes from strength to strength. After an initial age to load (would you really wait all the time for Windows to boot up only to have to wait for your web pages to boot up?) the interface is crisp and simple and really works! It’s a real viable alternative to a client based RSS reader, all be it without the notifcations of new postings.

Netvibes is also coming on strong.

So these guys are hoping to bind together some disparate services once again. Portal dashboards resurface, but now appear to be far less cluttered and ‘pull’ driven rather than ‘push’. Having been close to Portals from a corporate perspective for some time I have mused on their value. Microsoft obviously attach a lot of value to this area and appear to be investing quite heavily. By using the Windows brand name they almost imply ‘web based operating system’. Indeed that might be one of Ray Ozzie’s tasks according to articles in Fortune Magazine. Web based applications and services is more like it and possibly even those that have typically been more difficult to do like Office productivity suites.

Will corporates stomach it though? Microsoft offer Live Meeting (was Placeware) as a web based application service at the moment, but the next version is going to be something that corporates install within the boundaries of their network. Will Salesforce.com bundle their offering and allow corporates to run their own server? I think it’s going to be a combination of the two. Choice is always the key. Security, control, cost, flexibility, support and performance will drive this market just as they have all others.

The user may be king in the Web 2.0 world, but cost is still his queen.