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Microsoft launches Windows Azure, its "cloud OS"

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Re: Microsoft launches Windows Azure, its "cloud OS"

#31

Post by dcurtis »

mattmaroon wrote: post #27
axod wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Microsoft has never "gotten" the internet. They still don't. I don't see any reason to suppose they have suddenly "gotten" it here.

Not entirely true. They've really gotten it where console gaming is concerned, moreso than anyone else. The Xbox has been consistently better than its rivals at that. They're now serving up millions of dollars worth of games per month (allegedly 70% of Xbox owners have used Live Arcade) and are moving into streaming video too. I can now watch MSNBC through it. They've achieved the dream an internet-connected box on m…

The Xbox is not the internet. It is a dedicated internet-powered appliance. And while they may have done a good job there, they have failed in every other internet initiative.

Microsoft does not understand the internet and has never made any notable internet service. Silverlight? Live? MSN? Hotmail? All knockoffs. And they have "failed miserably" every time.

Why would I trust their new internet cloud system when it directly, extricably integrates into all of these other failed initiatives as a feature?

Re: Microsoft launches Windows Azure, its "cloud OS"

#32

Post by grantc »

axod wrote: post #22
DenisM wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about discussing the proposition on its merits, rather than pedigree? It's not like there are ten new cloud platform come in every day and we have to make a snap decision. We can, in fact, afford to look at the offer itself.

Sorry, but if I want to buy a laptop, I wouldn't buy one from Pepsi. Similarly, if I want something Internet related, I wouldn't get it from Microsoft. I just don't see any evidence they understand it. They have done an absolutely awful job in the last 10+ years.

If I want to buy something development and execution architecture based, I'm happy to buy that from MSFT since they've done exceedingly well there. How many sites out there have been running on google and amzn's dev/exec arch's the past 10 years? A lot less than Microsoft's. As far as them getting the internet or not, who cares. There's more to life than the internet. Java and .NET run the enterprise, not sure who among MSFT, IBM and Sun really "gets the internet" in the sense you're probably working to define.

Re: Microsoft launches Windows Azure, its "cloud OS"

#33

Post by mattmaroon »

dcurtis wrote: post #31
mattmaroon wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not entirely true. They've really gotten it where console gaming is concerned, moreso than anyone else. The Xbox has been consistently better than its rivals at that. They're now serving up millions of dollars worth of games per month (allegedly 70% of Xbox owners have used Live Arcade) and are moving into streaming video too. I can now watch MSNBC through it. They've achieved the dream an internet-connected box on m…

The Xbox is not the internet. It is a dedicated internet-powered appliance. And while they may have done a good job there, they have failed in every other internet initiative. Microsoft does not understand the internet and has never made any notable internet service. Silverlight? Live? MSN? Hotmail? All knockoffs. And they have "failed miserably" every time. Why would I trust their new internet cloud system when it d…

I don't get what you mean. They've failed at search, clearly, but so has everyone but Google. Hotmail is most definitely not a failure, and was a pretty smart acquisition. Silverlight is too new to call a failure, though it's clearly not going to be taking much market share from Flash any time soon. If by MSN you mean their instant messenger, it's the largest by far.

Some huge sites (Myspace, MS's stuff, PlentyofFish) run on their servers and programming languages. Their browser still has the majority of the market share (though arguably not for quality reasons.)

I don't understand this "they're failing at the internet" sentiment. It seems to just be normal anti-Microsoft stuff. They're failing at search, not the internet as a whole.

Re: Microsoft launches Windows Azure, its "cloud OS"

#34

Post by dcurtis »

mattmaroon wrote: post #33
dcurtis wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Xbox is not the internet. It is a dedicated internet-powered appliance. And while they may have done a good job there, they have failed in every other internet initiative. Microsoft does not understand the internet and has never made any notable internet service. Silverlight? Live? MSN? Hotmail? All knockoffs. And they have "failed miserably" every time. Why would I trust their new internet cloud system when it d…

I don't get what you mean. They've failed at search, clearly, but so has everyone but Google. Hotmail is most definitely not a failure, and was a pretty smart acquisition. Silverlight is too new to call a failure, though it's clearly not going to be taking much market share from Flash any time soon. If by MSN you mean their instant messenger, it's the largest by far. Some huge sites (Myspace, MS's stuff, PlentyofFish…

Everything they do is a knockoff of something else, and it's usually not better (I actually cannot think of a single case where it is better). I am not just randomly anti-Microsoft for religious reasons. They make terrible products that have horrendous user experiences. They do not innovate. In general, I have heard they hire sub-par programmers.

All of this is exaggerated in their internet initiatives. Who uses Hotmail anymore? Who used MSN, which they abandoned for Live? Who uses Live? Why would they try to compete against Flash with Silverlight? What gives them the authority or experience to do such a thing?

And if you asked me which were the two most horrendous monstrosities of popular websites on the internet, I would say PlentyOfFish and MySpace. They are the two sites which have the least sense of design, ergonomics, usability, and general respect.

Why, then, should I trust that they would make good decisions on their backend code and server software?

Re: Microsoft launches Windows Azure, its "cloud OS"

#35

Post by Viper »

Is there a problem this solves better and cheaper than other available solutions?

If there is I can't see it. Did they even do a proper business case?

I can't see startups using it for a ton of reasons.

I can't see most businesses using it. They want their data in their data center.

The only use I can see would be a way for MS to sell software as a service to companies that want hosted Exchange, sharepoint, etc.

Re: Microsoft launches Windows Azure, its "cloud OS"

#36

Post by mwerty »

mkn wrote: post #9

Am I wrong in wondering if cloud computing might do for computing what hedge funds and CDSs did for finances? By this I mean that in both cases we're talking about attaining the last iota of efficiency by consolidating a resource in the hands of a few. What happens when the MS cloud goes down? (I know. Impossible.) We've seen the stories about people who have lost access to their gmail accounts. What if a large porti…

I had the same thought when Sars struck in the sense that you lose the ability to avoid correlation with a globalized world.

Unconnected tribals will probably have the best shot at making it through something really crazy like that.

Re: Microsoft launches Windows Azure, its "cloud OS"

#37

Post by axod »

mattmaroon wrote: post #33
dcurtis wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Xbox is not the internet. It is a dedicated internet-powered appliance. And while they may have done a good job there, they have failed in every other internet initiative. Microsoft does not understand the internet and has never made any notable internet service. Silverlight? Live? MSN? Hotmail? All knockoffs. And they have "failed miserably" every time. Why would I trust their new internet cloud system when it d…

I don't get what you mean. They've failed at search, clearly, but so has everyone but Google. Hotmail is most definitely not a failure, and was a pretty smart acquisition. Silverlight is too new to call a failure, though it's clearly not going to be taking much market share from Flash any time soon. If by MSN you mean their instant messenger, it's the largest by far. Some huge sites (Myspace, MS's stuff, PlentyofFish…

Try a ms webapp and tell me they're not failing. Load up adcenter and try it out.

Re: Microsoft launches Windows Azure, its "cloud OS"

#39

Post by axod »

mattmaroon wrote: post #27
axod wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Microsoft has never "gotten" the internet. They still don't. I don't see any reason to suppose they have suddenly "gotten" it here.

Not entirely true. They've really gotten it where console gaming is concerned, moreso than anyone else. The Xbox has been consistently better than its rivals at that. They're now serving up millions of dollars worth of games per month (allegedly 70% of Xbox owners have used Live Arcade) and are moving into streaming video too. I can now watch MSNBC through it. They've achieved the dream an internet-connected box on m…

I'm not sure how you're measuring console success. For me, Nintendo is the clear winner of the current console wars. Nintendo makes hideous amounts of profit on everything. XBox as far as I understand still makes a gargantuan loss. It's a long term strategy, and who knows, maybe it'll play out for microsoft, but I don't think it's relevant to the question of ms understanding the internet. It just shows they understand getting people to use something and taking a massive loss on it.
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