Microsoft Buys Skype...

[X]

King, I do have one question for you about how horrible MS is and your list.

What has Microsoft done that has been bad? By Microsoft, I mean Microsoft. Not hacker creating viruses and messing up your windows. That's sort of like blaming a building designer for someone breaking into a building the owner didn't have the right security for.

I also don't mean blaming them for hardware issues because that's on the shoulders of the people that actually designed your systems in the first place.

I've only had good experiences with them and their customer service has been fantastic the few times that I have called with XBOX issues.

What has Microsoft done to you that is bad?

[X]

Skype on X-Box Live. I didn't even think of that. Now I'm actually thinking this could be a good thing all the stuff they can do with that. And I'm thinking I'm gonna have an X-Box to play when I move.

Good call. They may have purchased it for the infrastructure. as long a free calls don't go then all is good.

I'm quite sure that it wouldn't go anywhere. MS has been pushing free video chat and voice connections for a while now through their XBOX and Live messenger services. It wouldn't make any sense for them to suddenly change directions.

[Dangelus]

I was thinking they could keep the free services for their products, utilising the infrastructure and split regular Skype to a pay only service.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

Well X, let's begin:

First off: overly expensive and buggy office software.  2007 was an unmitigated disaster of UIs, bugs and performance problems.  The unintuitive UI seems like a waste of potential and 2010 by all sounds of it has not improved anything, plus I can't afford that price anymore as it has gone up.  What is worse is that as a college student, we have to have this overpriced software.  Thunderbird is way better than outlook as well...

Second: Windows Vista was a disaster.  7 should have been a free upgrade to anyone who bought Vista, but since they didn't do that because it would be too nice, I still have to help people who have that OS and that causes no end of grief for those who have the operating system.  

Third: Internet Explorer 8.  Wow.  
Fourth: terrible help support, I have never had a good experience when I call them up or go to their website and rarely does the problem ever get solved.  
Fifth:  buggy OS that no can seem to solve.  Remember the recent troubles I've had with Windows 7?  It's now a daily problem and I'm just barely keeping ahead of the problems.
Sixth: anti-pirate software that more often than not punishes legitimate customers.  I am glad they removed it from Office, but I still get the warning with my Legit-copy of windows 7.  

Microsoft is overly proud of software that is bloated, buggy and requires you to purge the system every six months which by the looks of it I have to do it right in the middle of my school term, or wake up to a non-functioning computer.  

It is why I switched to the iPad, so I don't have to worry that my "laptop" will quit working one day due to faulty OS problems.  

I have not experienced XBox Live or Windows Live as I don't have the $$ for either service.  But then again, I don't have a Wii or PS3 either.

King

[billybob476]

I've personally only encountered two issues with Skype:

1. Online status on the contact list sometimes isn't reliable. Basically when people are online it shows they are not, I know we've run into this setting up Skype calls for TrekSF.

2. I have 2 or 3 computers, a skype handset and my iPhone all logged into the same Skype account. In theory if I get a call it is supposed to ring all of them, it does eventually but it almost always rings my handset first, then the computers and iPhone come in on their own time. Sometimes the device that I WANT to answer on isn't realizing there's a call coming in at all.

But really these are minor issues with what is overall still a pretty revolutionary service. Heck I pay 3 bucks a month and have free long distance in the US and Canada. My parents have a handset like mine and use it for the bulk of their long distance calling. So do Fran's parents.

More money and more resources will only make things better.

[Dangelus]

Well X, let's begin:

First off: overly expensive and buggy office software.  2007 was an unmitigated disaster of UIs, bugs and performance problems.  The unintuitive UI seems like a waste of potential and 2010 by all sounds of it has not improved anything, plus I can't afford that price anymore as it has gone up.  What is worse is that as a college student, we have to have this overpriced software.  Thunderbird is way better than outlook as well...

Second: Windows Vista was a disaster.  7 should have been a free upgrade to anyone who bought Vista, but since they didn't do that because it would be too nice, I still have to help people who have that OS and that causes no end of grief for those who have the operating system.  

Third: Internet Explorer 8.  Wow.  
Fourth: terrible help support, I have never had a good experience when I call them up or go to their website and rarely does the problem ever get solved.  
Fifth:  buggy OS that no can seem to solve.  Remember the recent troubles I've had with Windows 7?  It's now a daily problem and I'm just barely keeping ahead of the problems.
Sixth: Zealous anti-pirate software that more often than not punishes legitimate customers.  I am glad they removed it from Office, but I still get the warning with my Legit-copy of windows 7.  

Microsoft is overly proud of software that is bloated, buggy and requires you to purge the system every six months which by the looks of it I have to do it right in the middle of my school term, or wake up to a non-functioning computer.  

It is why I switched to the iPad, so I don't have to worry that my "laptop" will quit working one day due to faulty OS problems.  

I have not experienced XBox Live or Windows Live as I don't have the $$ for either service.  But then again, I don't have a Wii or PS3 either.

King

No, tell us what you really think Tim! ;)

Seriously, Microsoft have made plenty of mistakes in the past. A lot of it came from a complacency of the dominance of the PC Market. The game has changed now, devices like the iPad have side stepped this by creating a totally new classification of device so Microsoft have had a wake up call.

It can only be good for the consumer all in all.

[billybob476]

I don't see it King, that may be your experience but it certainly isn't mine.

1. The ribbon UI took adjustment, however once you sit and work with it, it does make things easier to find. Don't confuse a bad UI with a different UI. With regard to price, student editions of Office are quite affordable and offer multiple licenses.

2. Windows Vista was a marketing and PR disaster. The compatibility issues tended to be isolated to the 64 bit version becuase of fundamental kernel access restrictions that were created to increase system security. It definitely took too long to come out but unfortunately that is the way of many large scale development projects.

3. Wow what? IE was a great evolution over IE7 with increased security, increased performance, increased developer tools and increased standards compliance. IE9 is again and the roadmap for IE10 is indicating even more.

4. I can't speak to this as I've never had to open a support ticket with MS directly. Their developer forums and resources are incredible. MSDN is amazing.

5. Again, while I've had occasional issues I've never had an unsolvable problem, the only time I'll dispute this is Windows ME. I switch from that to Windows 2000 and all is well. Most of my problems have been from hardware issues or buggy software trying to make changes to the registry, kernel space or running executable code form the data stack which MS used to support but is phasing out.

6. There have definitely been issues with WGA but my understanding (and experience) has been that a quick phone call to MS support (my only experience with them) clears that warning.

It's easy to rip on the big guy, just asit's easy to rip on Apple and their products. MS is not the company they used to be.

[X]

Well X, let's begin:

First off: overly expensive and buggy office software.  2007 was an unmitigated disaster of UIs, bugs and performance problems.  The unintuitive UI seems like a waste of potential and 2010 by all sounds of it has not improved anything, plus I can't afford that price anymore as it has gone up.  What is worse is that as a college student, we have to have this overpriced software.  Thunderbird is way better than outlook as well...

Second: Windows Vista was a disaster.  7 should have been a free upgrade to anyone who bought Vista, but since they didn't do that because it would be too nice, I still have to help people who have that OS and that causes no end of grief for those who have the operating system.  

Third: Internet Explorer 8.  Wow.  
Fourth: terrible help support, I have never had a good experience when I call them up or go to their website and rarely does the problem ever get solved.  
Fifth:  buggy OS that no can seem to solve.  Remember the recent troubles I've had with Windows 7?  It's now a daily problem and I'm just barely keeping ahead of the problems.
Sixth: anti-pirate software that more often than not punishes legitimate customers.  I am glad they removed it from Office, but I still get the warning with my Legit-copy of windows 7.  

Microsoft is overly proud of software that is bloated, buggy and requires you to purge the system every six months which by the looks of it I have to do it right in the middle of my school term, or wake up to a non-functioning computer.  

It is why I switched to the iPad, so I don't have to worry that my "laptop" will quit working one day due to faulty OS problems.  

I have not experienced XBox Live or Windows Live as I don't have the $$ for either service.  But then again, I don't have a Wii or PS3 either.

King

1) How do you define over priced? My wife is a student and got office and windows 7 for less than 150 combined. Microsoft has ALWAY given their software away to student at SERIOUS discounts. They even have websites specifically devoted to helping students get their software cheap. If you want to pay retail for something they are trying to give you cheap, that's on you, not them.

2) I didn't have any major problem with Vista and according to most reports, not many people actually bought Vista other than those people that had it come free with their systems. Regardless of that, they did extend the support for XP for a long time because of Vista. They provided solutions.

3) IE 8 wasn't as horrible as you want to suggest. It didn't have a lot of the cool stuff that other LATER browsers had, but has since been replaced by a MUCH better IE9 for those that bother to download the update.

4) Again are you calling the right people? Is it the OS or is it the hardware? When you make something that can be used by MANY types of hardware configurations, some things will inevitably work better than other. It's the job of the manufacturer to make sure their their tech integrates into the OS, not the other way around. Microsoft only provides the engine to the car, if you aren't changing the oil or if the people that built the car did a crappy job of putting it together, you look at the people that built the car.

5)No bugs here and I've been running it before it released. Again, sounds like you're blaming Windows for what you should be blaming your laptop maker for.

6) Haven't had a single issue what so ever with the piracy protection of 7, vista, office, or XP on any of my computers. Doesn't seem to zealous from where I sit. Never got a single piracy warning. Ever.

I haven't done a new install of my windows since  well ... I can't even remember the last time. I've been planning on it, but since I'm very cautious on what I put on my system and I use the Windows Essentials (which is FREE virus protection and other protections) I haven't had the need to.

You say you can't afford the XBOX Live service, but bought a iPAD. You could afford their best system, a few games, aKinect, and a year of live for the cost of that iPAD. You went another route.

If you can't afford the FREE Windows Live service ... well ... I don't know what to tell you about that.

As for the problem you are having with your system, if you're the only person having those problem then it might be your system and not Windows. I've had 7 since before it was released and haven't had a single problem. The problem isn't a fault OS, you have faulty hardware. That's not something Microsoft can fix for you.

[Bryancd]

This is a great deal...for e-bay! They paid 3x less for Skype just a few years ago, they made a huge profit on selling to Microsoft. This deal is getting ripped apart this morning on the business news. Steve Balmer severly overpaid for Skype and it's very unclear how much revenue benfit they will be able to squeeze out of Skype. I also don't think it will have any impact on Skype's services.

[X]

I'm sorry. They are GIVING it away even cheaper now.

http://www.microsoft.com/student/en/us/office/default.aspx

Microsoft Professional Academic: 79.99 for the FULL version that includes
   
   Word 2010      OneNote 2010
   Excel 2010      Publisher 2010
   PowerPoint 2010      Access 2010
   Outlook 2010

Oh and the upgrade to Win 7 Pro is 30.00 ...

Yeah they are really trying to empty the pocket of the students.

[billybob476]

I'd be shocked and amazed if MS made Skype any more profitable (are they currently profitable?). My uninformed understanding is eBay hasn't been doing all that well of late so a large cash infusion can only be a good thing for them.

[Dangelus]

I'd be shocked and amazed if MS made Skype any more profitable (are they currently profitable?). My uninformed understanding is eBay hasn't been doing all that well of late so a large cash infusion can only be a good thing for them.

Afaik Skype aren't turning a profit.

[Bryancd]

I'd be shocked and amazed if MS made Skype any more profitable (are they currently profitable?).

Nope. Last year the company posted revenue of $860 million and $264 million in operating profits, but still lost $7 million.

A lot of big MSFT shareholder are face palming right now over this. Steve Balmer is the WORST CEO in tech.

[Dangelus]

I wonder if it will reflect in the shares?

[KingIsaacLinksr]

I'm sorry. They are GIVING it away even cheaper now.

http://www.microsoft.com/student/en/us/office/default.aspx

Microsoft Professional Academic: 79.99 for the FULL version that includes
   
   Word 2010      OneNote 2010
   Excel 2010      Publisher 2010
   PowerPoint 2010      Access 2010
   Outlook 2010

Oh and the upgrade to Win 7 Pro is 30.00 ...

Yeah they are really trying to empty the pocket of the students.

Not to ignore your other post, but I have never seen Microsft Office that cheap for students.  Years ago I had to go through a third party and verify I was going to high-school before they'd even bring it to $85 with 03.  So that must have been a recent change...

King