11.17.08
Is Microsoft Deleting Publicly-Visible Customer Complaints Again?
Handling opposition, China-style [1, 2]
Microsoft chose not to engage properly with GNU/Linux after its Hormail overhaul (it was a mess) and users are said to be ditching the service.
Hotmail posts decline in traffic in U.S.
Many Hotmail users are threatening to leave the e-mail service in the wake of its most recent redesign. Turns out, though, that even before the revamp, they were on their way out, at least in the U.S.
It’s not just about GNU/Linux though. Long-time customers complain about the new interface, which is casting dust on the myth of Microsoft as a Usability Supreme.
Microsoft isn’t having much luck with the redesign of Hotmail, which is currently playing havoc with thousands of user’s emails.
From watching many of the comments closely, it becomes clear that angry users recommend to peers that they ditch Hormail. Some recommend a similar service from the company starts with a “G”. Microsoft is going frantic and is allegedly deleting comments it does not like.
Microsoft insists Hotmail redesign hasn’t left users out in the cold
MS has also apparently deleted over 1,500 comments from its Windows Live blog since we told a perplexed company spokesman about the grumbles being posted on its site yesterday.
If true, this would not be the first time that Microsoft does this. There is substantiated precedence where Microsoft tried to hide the XBox360 blunder.
Microsoft deletes mass Xbox 360 crashing claims from Forza 2 forums
In what appears to be an effort to conceal the over 900 replies gamers provided on the official Forzamotorsport.net forums about Forza Motorsport 2 crashing on the Xbox 360, Microsoft has deleted the long thread, now stating that it’s “exclusive content for registered forum users” only. However, the thread was removed entirely, even to registered members.
There is always a good excuse at hand. █
Highlight: Novell was the first to acknowledge that Microsoft FUD tactics had substance. Novell then used anti-Linux FUD to market itself. 
Highlight: Xandros let Microsoft make patent claims and brag about (paid-for) OOXML support. 
Highlight: Linspire's CEO not only fell into Microsoft arms, but he also assisted the company's attack on GNU/Linux. 
Highlight: Microsoft craves pseudo (proprietary) standards and gets its way using proxies and influence which it buys. 
Highlight: The invasion into the open source world is intended to leave Linux companies neglected, due to financial incentives from Microsoft. 
Analysis: Xen, an open source hypervisor, possibly fell victim to Microsoft's aggressive (and stealthy) acquisition-by-proxy strategy.
twitter said,
November 17, 2008 at 11:29 am
This is a good place to mention M$’s censorship of Truthout for political purposes. They did this across all of their services, including Hotmail and refused to back down when confronted by users and Truthout. The effort was coordinated with AOL and Yahoo but the other two backed off. No one should trust these companies to carry their email and net traffic.