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Microsoft launches Windows Azure, its "cloud OS"

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

#51

Post by mattmaroon »

dcurtis wrote: post #34
mattmaroon wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 Hotm…

Hotmail is still the 2nd largest email provider, and only barely. Would you consider Gmail a failure? They're a distant third.

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

#52

Post by mattmaroon »

LogicHoleFlaw wrote: post #49
axod wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 understan…

The Xbox division is now actually turning a profit. Not enough to offset the massive losses it's had in the past, but it is actually generating revenue now. The Xbox itself is a good product. They overlooked the market the Wii pursued, but then again everyone but Nintendo did. If I recall Nintendo has never had an unprofitable quarter, even during the GameCube days when they were doing much less volume than the compe…

They've always viewed it as an investment. Honestly, it's worked out pretty damn well. I'd never have guessed they'd have gotten to 2nd place so fast.

Moreover, they've just begun to capitalize on it. As I said, they've got an internet connected box tethered to everyone's TV. They've been working on the dream of the living room PC for years, and now they've finally gotten there.

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

#53

Post by mattmaroon »

axod wrote: post #37
mattmaroon wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I prefer hotmail to Yahoo mail by far. I use gmail only through forwarding or pop.

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

#54

Post by axod »

mattmaroon wrote: post #50
axod wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 understan…

I was speaking only of their internet usage. Wii is still playing catch up a bit there.

What's the browser like on the xbox? presumably some subset of IE7?

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

#55

Post by axod »

mattmaroon wrote: post #53
axod wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I prefer hotmail to Yahoo mail by far. I use gmail only through forwarding or pop.

Try outlook web access. Try searching in that. It's a ridiculously horrible experience.

Or try adcenter as I said. Watch those billion iframes with their individual spinner loaders going round for 10 minutes while it loads.

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

#56

Post by axod »

mattmaroon wrote: post #52
LogicHoleFlaw wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Xbox division is now actually turning a profit. Not enough to offset the massive losses it's had in the past, but it is actually generating revenue now. The Xbox itself is a good product. They overlooked the market the Wii pursued, but then again everyone but Nintendo did. If I recall Nintendo has never had an unprofitable quarter, even during the GameCube days when they were doing much less volume than the compe…

They've always viewed it as an investment. Honestly, it's worked out pretty damn well. I'd never have guessed they'd have gotten to 2nd place so fast. Moreover, they've just begun to capitalize on it. As I said, they've got an internet connected box tethered to everyone's TV. They've been working on the dream of the living room PC for years, and now they've finally gotten there.

"they've got an internet connected box tethered to everyone's TV"

Teenage male bedroom TVs perhaps. Lets not get carried away here.

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

#57

Post by mattmaroon »

axod wrote: post #56
mattmaroon wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They've always viewed it as an investment. Honestly, it's worked out pretty damn well. I'd never have guessed they'd have gotten to 2nd place so fast. Moreover, they've just begun to capitalize on it. As I said, they've got an internet connected box tethered to everyone's TV. They've been working on the dream of the living room PC for years, and now they've finally gotten there.

"they've got an internet connected box tethered to everyone's TV" Teenage male bedroom TVs perhaps. Lets not get carried away here.

Most people I've seen keep their gaming consoles in the living room since that's where the best TV is.

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

#58

Post by mattmaroon »

axod wrote: post #55
mattmaroon wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I prefer hotmail to Yahoo mail by far. I use gmail only through forwarding or pop.

Try outlook web access. Try searching in that. It's a ridiculously horrible experience. Or try adcenter as I said. Watch those billion iframes with their individual spinner loaders going round for 10 minutes while it loads.

What is adcenter? Is that their search advertising. No doubt they've failed at search, and all it encompasses.

And certainly they've failed at other things that are online. But it's not fair to say they've failed at everything internet related.

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

#59

Post by mattmaroon »

gaius wrote: post #48
mattmaroon wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost nobody has yet lost money on typical retail bank products. Even a checking account is better than the mattress. Retail banking is doing just fine. Not that that's too relevant.

What about Icesave?

A few banks in the entire world have failed. That qualifies as almost nobody.

Do they have anything like the FDIC over there? Even if retail banks did fail here, everyone would get 250k back per.

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

#60

Post by gaius »

mattmaroon wrote: post #59
gaius wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about Icesave?

A few banks in the entire world have failed. That qualifies as almost nobody. Do they have anything like the FDIC over there? Even if retail banks did fail here, everyone would get 250k back per.

They did... Until the Icelandic government reneged. The UK government (lots of UK citizens had money there) then seized all their assets in the UK. It's a huge diplomatic mess.
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