I am currently at tech-ed 2007 - and have been attending many diverse presentations about how to use technology best.

What I have noticed however is that I think that there is a slow paradigm shift about how software is viewed and how software developers develop.

Personally, I do not mind having many different programs, using specific things that I require to get the job done. For example, I have different image editors, depending if I want something lightweight, to do technical tasks, to watermark and another for miscellaneous tasks. This has never seemed like a problem to me. As A professional I see programs as tools to be used to get the job done. With a proficiency I have gained after looking at software since I can remember a new tool is not something challenging or difficult for me to learn.

I think however that I would be in the minority in terms of overall software users in appreciating and enjoying this challenge. The paradigm I was referring to above refers to having seamless integration of functionality into environments that people already work in and know about. It seems that this shifting between applications may cause users to be less efficient, having to change mindsets and focus on the technology rather than the task at hand. The shift seems to be to put the technology as a second consideration to the task.

Comments have been made that some of the best technical innovations are not in the software itself but the processes that are implemented to govern its use. I am tending to agree, that the ways that humans have developed means that a single seamless platform is the way to go.

If one looks at a piece of paper, one can add up values, create a work of art or write a letter to someone, shouldn’t we be able to go to one place on our computer to achieve the same goals?
I think that software developers need to stop advertising their software and the fancy functions that it is able to do and focus on what it all means for the end user. If an end user does not need to open three different programs to get a task done then this process change is what should be emphasised rather than the new wonderful piece of work that introduces yet another layer and complicates the process.