02.06.10
Microsoft is Killing Another Xbox Product and Vista 7 is Already in Trouble
Summary: Microsoft shows its true weakness as new vulnerabilities in its business model and lack of technical merit become public knowledge
IN reality, Xbox was a financial disaster, exceeding in terms of losses even Microsoft's failed attempt to steal Google's thunder (that cost Microsoft over $5,000,000,000 in losses).
Microsoft may be trying to change this doomsday scenario by cutting costs and cutting products. “I guess [it is] another way to attempt to push up sales,” said Oiaohm a few moments ago, pointing to this new item from Slashdot:
Xbox Live For Original Xbox Games Shutting Down
itwbennett writes “Giving no explanation beyond that it ‘will provide the greatest benefit to the Xbox LIVE community,’ Microsoft’s General Manager for Xbox Live, Mark Whitten, announced that as of April 15th, Microsoft will be shutting down its Xbox Live service for the original Xbox and its games. ‘Cold comfort for those of you who still enjoy playing Xbox titles like Halo 2 with your friends,’ writes blogger Peter Smith. But Smith notes that Whitten’s announcement does hint at some form of restitution for those affected, encouraging users to check their LIVE messages for more details and opportunities.”
This was covered last night by our reader Goblin, who wrote:
Now it appears that as of April 15th 2010, fans of old Xbox titles such as Halo 2 will no longer be able to play them on Xbox live market place. Microsoft (as usual) reports this news as if its a good thing (and unless I am mistaken Halo 2 is still loved by many)
“R.I.P., Halo 2 on Xbox Live,” says the Microsoft-sponsored TechFlash.
Microsoft early this morning delivered some bad news to holdouts continuing to use its Xbox Live online gaming service to play games originally created for its first Xbox. As of April 15, the company is discontinuing Xbox Live for the original Xbox, according to the post by Xbox Live GM Marc Whitten (via VentureBeat).
So here we have another dead product, joining the ranks of many others.
Our reader Goblin also wrote about the latest serious problems with Vista 7, the “battery killer” [1, 2], noting that it is starting to look more and more like Vista:
So why does it appear that Microsoft is “investigating” now? Remember Vista and “early good reports”? It doesn’t come a surprise to me that people were complaining before now and you can see some of the plea’s for help here.
So remind me again (and in particular if you are a Netbook Windows 7 user) once Aero is switched off and you’ve managed to finally get that pesky XP package working….whats the advantage here of wanting 7 on a netbook over XP when there are reports of bad battery life? People often ask if 7 is the version to finally replace XP….I’ll let you be the judge of that.
Almost no businesses are moving to Vista 7, just as predicted last year [1, 2]. Microsoft has been faking numbers [1, 2, 3, 4] to give the impression that Vista 7 is selling well. █
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David Gerard said,
February 6, 2010 at 9:31 am
For those stuck with XP – may I heartily recommend TinyXP. If you really do need XP and you have an XP licence, it’s the only way to do it.
your_friend Reply:
February 6th, 2010 at 11:08 am
Windows, if you must, it’s better in a VirtualBox. Sane people delete it and never look back. Destroying the drive with fire, a hammer or other tools is satisfying but results in loss of a drive and may be dangerous. Install media should be kept locked in a safe or thrown away so so that you are not able to do bad things to yourself while intoxicated. You are only stuck with XP or anyother member of the Windows family if you work for idiots who “top down” “just make it happen.” Don’t let this happen to you!
David Gerard Reply:
February 6th, 2010 at 11:20 am
Yep. I keep TinyXP in a VirtualBox for playing with WineOnWindows ;-D
David Gerard Reply:
February 6th, 2010 at 11:21 am
TinyXP has the added advantage of coming with a nice WGA Killer service.
Roy Schestowitz Reply:
February 6th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
I still have the Windows 98 CD.
your_friend Reply:
February 6th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
Make an image and throw the disk away. It’s worthless without the key anyway. I deleted my last copy of 98 about seven years ago and never installed XP. Despite all of Microsoft’s efforts, I only needed to borrow a computer two or three times in all these years. The last time I used Windows because I thought I had to, free software on GNU/Linux did the job better. XP and a few obsolete applications should not take up more than a few Gigs. Years from now, you can show it to your kids and grandkids in a VM as an example of how bad non free computing was. Windows 3.1 runs in Dosbox, that’s a fun thing to have in the archive too.
This is a cruel twist on Bill Gate’s wish to keep GNU/Linux around in a non functioning form after killing it. More interesting things would be copies of Solaris, IRIX, BeOS, MacOS and other restricted computing environments. In theory, you should be able to run all of these with Qemu on your own GNU/Linux powered computing museum. I’ve read that people have already created arcade gaming machines this way. Of all the things to look at, Windows will be the least loved and least visited.
Roy Schestowitz Reply:
February 6th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
No, I won’t throw away the CD. It’s the only proof I touched Windows in the past.
your_friend Reply:
February 6th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
I have a little box with AOL CDs and other stuff like that. They are shiny and have pretty colors on them. Floppies are not as nice, but I have a little box of them too. Sooner than later, boxed sets of Vista and Vista 7 will be hitting the trash cans, some of them might be luckier than this.
Roy Schestowitz Reply:
February 6th, 2010 at 2:25 pm
I know people who just ebayed their “copy” of Vista 7.
Robotron 2084 Reply:
February 7th, 2010 at 6:22 am
Your_Friend: “Sane people delete it and never look back. Destroying the drive with fire, a hammer or other tools is satisfying but results in loss of a drive and may be dangerous.”
Sane people would not be so consumed with hate as to physically destroy a hard drive simply because it once contained software they didn’t like. I challenge you to find any physician or psychologist to say otherwise.
Even worse, those who prefer Windows or simply don’t like FOSS products, for whatever reason, are not sane individuals by your reasoning? I see little difference between you and a racist bigot, except for the target of your hate.
your_friend Reply:
February 7th, 2010 at 5:53 pm
That so much hardware hits the trash every year is the direct result of Microsoft’s technical sabotage. As a free software user, I’m able to both use and put this hardware back into circulation for others. Some things, like Winmodems, are not worth the time and effort and should stay in the trash. Why does Microsoft so hate their customers as to routinely break their hardware and software? Why does Microsoft so fear people like me that they describe free software as a cancer? It’s because they can’t compete.
The difference between free and non free software is now so obvious that only bigoted or ignorant people prefer to use it. As Microsoft complained ten years ago, Windows use has to be forced “top down” on people. That, not the software itself, is a crime that people should hate and punish. I challenge you to justify this kind of fraud without resorting to more personal insults.
Roy Schestowitz Reply:
February 7th, 2010 at 5:58 pm
One fundamental difference is that Microsoft — unlike Free software — colludes with companies like Intel in order to establish business relationships. Intel needs to sell more boards/chips.
http://boycottnovell.com/2009/08/10/intel-microsoft-price-fixing/
http://boycottnovell.com/2009/08/11/collusion-against-gnu-linux/
http://boycottnovell.com/2009/08/16/intel-microsoft-legal-questions/
http://boycottnovell.com/2009/05/27/intel-microsoft-cartel/
http://boycottnovell.com/2009/03/11/intel-serious-crimes-korea/
Robotron 2084 Reply:
February 9th, 2010 at 6:58 am
Your paragraph about “technical sabotage” still doesn’t justify the destruction of a hard drive simply because it once contained Microsoft software. Can you cite even one example where the installation of a Microsoft operating system rendered a hard drive unusable even after a reformat? No, you can’t, but I’m sure you’ll continue to list even more off-topic examples to make it appear that you’ve defeated the argument against you.
If you don’t like personal attacks directed at yourself perhaps you should adhere to the golden rule. Labeling people as bigoted or ignorant because they may prefer non-free software is asking for trouble.
your_friend said,
February 6, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Ah, a new jingle. “It’s beginning to look a lot like Vista.” Mix and match your own words, fun fun. Dead batteries, black screens, media that does not work, there’s a nice long list now.
Roy Schestowitz Reply:
February 6th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
“Well the initial impression is how much it [Windows 7] looks like Vista. Which I think is…uh…the thing I’m not supposed to say.”
–Microsoft Jack Schofield
Robotron 2084 said,
February 7, 2010 at 7:22 am
I often criticize Roy for being dishonest and hypocritical, and I think using the term “Vista 7″ is a great example of this. Roy will often rebuke Microsoft for using any kind of advertisement or marketing, accusing them of intentionally mislead people, but he does the very same thing by purposely using an incorrect name in place of “Windows 7″.
If Roy truly cared about educating people and delivering news to the masses, wouldn’t he stick to accurately reporting the news by using the correct names for products?
your_friend Reply:
February 7th, 2010 at 6:23 pm
Roy has a good point with his name. Can you tell me what changed between Vista and Windows 7? Windows 7 is the real Mojave experiment, little more than a rebranding. It would be more honest of Microsoft to have called Windows 7, Vista SP2 and to have given it to the few loyal customers that suffered through Vista. Instead, the company lined the suckers up for another round of $400 upgrades.
In theory, “Vista 7″ should serve as a brand for Boycott Novell. No one else is using the term so search engines should all point back here when people look for it. Alas, some kind of SEO is at work and BN is nowhere to be found in Google’s returns. Lycos finds BN on their first page, good for them. Bong does to, lol. I took a screenshot of that one because it won’t last two minutes.
Robotron 2084 Reply:
February 9th, 2010 at 7:08 am
Most operating systems incur very small changes in subsequent versions. I can remember upgrading my Amiga 500 from Workbench 2.0 to 3.1 which included that replacement of a rom chip. There were a few cosmetic changes and some new features, but a majority of the system remained the same. There were some major compatibility problems with older software, games in particular, but that’s to be expected anytime software is upgraded. Critics at the time complained there was not enough reason to upgrade. Some things never change.
Regardless of what is or isn’t different about the product, it has a different name. Using the incorrect name only serves to show how juvenile and biased Boycott Novell’s pursuit of “the truth” really is. Real journalism is heavy on information, not insults.