Microsoft Corp is set to grab all the attention at today’s opening of the showpiece Cartes ’98 exhibition in Paris by announcing its own entry into the market with its ‘Windows Cards operating system.’ Despite the company’s reputation for quickly dominating any market it enters, delegates from other companies appeared unruffled by the news. David Levy, CEO of Bull Smart Cards and Terminals welcomed the move. Microsoft’s entry will boost electronic commerce activity and will be of overall benefit to the entire industry, he argued. Others in the industry are waiting until they see details of Microsoft’s plans before making any comment. But while Microsoft is developing a version of Windows CE for embedded devices, cynics question the ability of a company whose traditions lie in ‘bloatware’ to come up with an effective OS for the tiny memory of smart cards. Microsoft’s move may however jolt the mood at Cartes ’98. With smartcards yet to take off in the US, companies like Gemplus and Bull have given Europe a leading role in the industry. Microsoft has been working closely with the leading players in the industry for the past two years at the personal computer/smart card PC/SC workgroup. It has developed a standard model for interfacing smart card readers and Cards with PCs, APIs for enabling smart card aware applications and ways to integrate smart cards with Windows and NT applications. Microsoft has been increasingly twitchy about missing out on the growth of non-PC applications. Its CE operating systems suffered a huge set-back when the leading mobile phone makers opted for Psion Plc’s EPOC operating system. Now the success of Java in smart cards must also have sent out warning signals to Microsoft that another potentially fast-growing market was moving out of its reach.
