11.07.08
Microsoft is Not Interested in Interoperability. Free Labour on the Other Hand…
Microsoft has decided to change the user interface of Hotmail. For the better? Well, not if the users’ requirements are a criterion to judge by. According to The Register:
Hotmail users bitch and moan about new interface
[...]
We asked Microsoft if it would respond to Hotmail users and their grumbles by providing the option to switch between modes, but at time of writing the company had not responded to our request for comment.
Many users are unhappy with the new interface and one of the deficiencies of so-called ‘cloud computing’ is that there is absolutely no control under such circumstances.
Is the new interface better for Microsoft though, as opposed to the users? Well, it sure looks like. Not for the first time, Microsoft is ditching GNU/Linux-using customers, leaving them out in the cold without features (is the Web not built on standards and Hotmail on Free software [1, 2]?) if not altogether locked out of their E-mail account. People have begun complaining.
Microsoft breaks HotMail for Linux users?
A Linux-Watch reader today reported difficulties using Microsoft’s Hotmail service with Firefox browsers running on Linux operating systems. We confirmed that creating a new Hotmail account was not possible, due to an error message suggesting a “browser upgrade.”
To Microsoft, this may seem like a happy ending. Many moms and dads who were migrated to GNU/Linux will blame the operating system and perhaps move away from Microsoft #1 rival, which is better, unless one relies on Microsoft to implement Web standards.
What else have we in the news today?
Well, well…
KDE developers have worked very hard on KHTML. Some even got a job at Trolltech.
People of KDE were in the unfortunate position where Microsoft attacked their work in a variety of low-key ways. Adding insult to injury, Microsoft may now want the fruits of their work. From the news:
1. Microsoft may adopt WebKit, won’t stop IE development
“Apple has embraced Webkit and we may look at that, but we will continue to build extensions for IE 8,” said Ballmer.
2. Hell freezes over: Ballmer considering open-source browser?
3. Ballmer: Microsoft ‘interested’ in open-source browser
Could it be because Microsoft keeps dropping market share, despite heavy development?
For Microsoft to exploit the work (mostly voluntary) of the very same people whom it is abusing would take some nerve, would it not? █
“Mr. Emerson and I discussed a variety of investment structures wherein Microsoft would ‘backstop,’ or guarantee in some way, BayStar’s investment…. Microsoft assured me that it would in some way guarantee BayStar’s investment in SCO.”
–Larry Goldfarb, investor in SCO
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ZiggyFish said,
November 7, 2008 at 4:56 pm
I can confirm that Hotmail problem, A friend of mine is running Ubuntu, and it comes up with a message saying please update your browser. Also can’t send a message.