Microsoft goes to the Net again.

Bill Gates compares the magnitude of Microsoft_s new online commerce strategy to one of the company_s most seminal moments: the day three years ago it put the Internet at the heart of its focus. That may be an overstatement, but the move to drive small businesses online and improve Internet capabilities for corporate customers - outlined by the company here yesterday - moves Microsoft farther down the Internet path than ever before. And in some ways, it is an acknowledgement by the company that its previous electronic-commerce offerings have fallen short. Microsoft billed yesterday_s briefing before journalists, analysts and customers as Electronic Commerce Strategy Day, much the way Dec. 7, 1995, was the company_s Internet Strategy Day.Then, many viewed Microsoft as having missed the Internet boat while competitors jumped on and surged ahead. Three years later, Microsoft has one of the most popular Web sites. Its Internet Explorer browser is widely used. And the company is building Web functionality into its core products. When it comes to online commerce, however, Microsoft today faces many of the same problems it had with the Internet in general in 1995. Competitors such as IBM, Oracle, America Online and Sun Microsystems are all leaders in providing online commerce products for customers. Analysts, competitors and some customers believe that Microsoft may have missed the Internet boat again. To Microsoft Chairman Gates, the comparison to Microsoft_s earlier Internet shortcomings was obvious. He echoed them yesterday, saying the company is trying to be "very ambitious again." Some of the new initiatives involve cobbling together current Microsoft products - its msn.com Web site, its Site Server software and recent acquisitions such as the filtering technology from the Firefly Network and the advertising services of LinkExchange. Some of the strategy includes new businesses, such as Web hosting, plug-and-play Web sites for business and commerce software currently being developed. One key is the development of a computer-language standard that Microsoft has dubbed BizTalk. The idea is to encourage other software makers to adopt the standard in an effort to enable different kinds of technology used by a company_s sales, manufacturing or human resources departments to connect to one another. It also would allow companies using different software to work together because it would provide a single technical vocabulary.