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Microsoft Sets Tolls for .Net Developers

matsh writes: "Today Microsoft revealed the cost of signing up as a developer to .Net. Entry level is $1,000. Standard level $10,000. Custom support will cost even more."

484 comments

  1. Smaller developers by izwiz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Interesting. What they are doing then is creating a bar to smaller (perhaps hobbyist) developers.

    That just means that less cool stuff will be produced then I suppose.

    1. Re:Smaller developers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      That just means that less cool stuff will be produced then I suppose.

      Or... it means that more developers will switch to a development environment that they can afford.
    2. Re:Smaller developers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      my favorite part of that thig was where he said the numbers bar cover thier cost, 1000$ per year entrylevel+250$ for every single app you create, this may be one of the first times one of microsoft's stratagies to stop developers that can't buy the stuff actually backfires and they do lose money on(though when he said the barly covering the costs thing, he didn't meen it)

    3. Re:Smaller developers by javajerk · · Score: 2, Funny

      > Interesting. What they are doing then is
      > creating a bar to smaller (perhaps hobbyist)
      > developers.

      Gee... Like those 1337 script-kiddies, for instance? Damn, I always liked their cool tools...

      Maybe now they'll have to charge for their distribution of Nimda v2.0. Would be a shame, because then they would get my credit card number as well...

      > That just means that less cool stuff will be
      > produced then I suppose.

      Seriously: It *can* improve the quality of software delivered on windoze, because not every redneck cracker will be able to spread his buggy code. So it might be a good idea for commercial solutions, where businesses actually can afford and want to pay for the software they use.

      For all others, they should have switched to a free OS of their choice long ago... Hope there's not software piracy going on out there, is there? ;o)

      Anyway: it was long way back that I saw cool stuff running only on windoze...

      Lars

    4. Re:Smaller developers by Tadeusz · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think they are embracing smaller developers. If you want to code and you have notepad then you'll be able to use the free C# (and maybe VB) compilers available from the MS website. Once you become more serious then you can purchase a good development enviroment off them (or grab the free one that someone will build).

      If Microsoft posted an article this misleading about Linux people would be jumping up and down shouting FUD!! FUD!!... Maybe it should be changed to point out what this fee is really for?

    5. Re:Smaller developers by nick_burns · · Score: 1

      Seriously: It *can* improve the quality of software delivered on windoze, because not every redneck cracker will be able to spread his buggy code.

      The software that tends to crash most people's computers and slow them down are produced by Microsoft and other companies that have gobs of money that could be used to properly engineer software but don't choose to. The only reason that the smaller developer software is buggy is because MS sells crippled compilers compared to the ones Microsoft uses and they don't get the same development tools and documentation the larger developers get.

      So it might be a good idea for commercial solutions, where businesses actually can afford and want to pay for the software they use.

      I guess this means that businesses will have to purchase all their software and never have the option of writing even any of it because they'll have to pay extremely high licensing fees just to develop.

    6. Re:Smaller developers by alfredo · · Score: 1

      So they let them use C# for free, so what. Look at the free Linux and OSX developement tools. You can check Apples ADC or any Lunix distribution. C# and VB for free? BFD

      --
      photosMy Photostream
    7. Re:Smaller developers by jguthrie · · Score: 2, Insightful
      I'm sorry, I'm having cognitive dissonance over the idea that there are Windows developers who would be willing to develop applications in Notepad. Most Windows programmers I know cannot conceive of using anything other than a fully-blown IDE with all the bells and whistles. They seem to think that there is no way to develop anything at all using the style I use (Emacs or Vi, command-line compilers, and make.)

      So, it doesn't seem to me to be FUD. Nobody familiar with Windows programming is going to even consider using such a "primitive" development "environment" as worthy of their time.

    8. Re:Smaller developers by reflective+recursion · · Score: 1

      I agree. MS has been smart about being nice to small (and beginning) developers for a long time. From giving away GW-BASIC (then QBASIC) to giving out free SDKs for Windows (packed with _tons_ of information).

      I believe this is one thing that Microsoft gets right. The problem I have found with other OSes such as Linux is it is very hard to find useful information about programming the system (for the absolute beginner). When I first started using Linux, man pages were a burden. They still _are_ a burden in most cases, because every library seems to use different documentation styles. Some packages use 'info' some use 'man' while others use HTML or even PostScript. In quite a number of cases, libraries are not even documented. Take GTK+ for example. It is a stable and mature library, yet it still does not have manual pages which blend into the standard C/POSIX man pages. Instead you have to look at every header file to find the interface prototype. Microsoft treats beginning developers very well, IMO (of course I would tell MS to drop BASIC and pick up something like Scheme instead, but that is just my opinion).

      --
      Dijkstra Considered Dead
    9. Re:Smaller developers by Andrewkov · · Score: 2

      This "bar to entry", the costs involved in getting started, are why I never learned to develope for Windows .. The tools are too expensive. When I descovered Linux, I was amazed at the quality of the compiler and dev tools, and was able to learn and practice coding without spending any money. Now I consider myself a resonable confident developer for Unix, but have no clue how to write a Windows app. If Microsoft wants to continue having lots of software, they should be doing whatever possible to attract new developers, not make them jump through hoops and spend lots of money.

    10. Re:Smaller developers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      i'm gladd you added in that most and not all, i have only been programming for two years and i know 11 languages all the way through, but i do use windows just because that is what everyone that will be using programs i write is on, though this will change with the program i am going to write after this comming one, it wil be amazing-trust me you will hear about it on slashdot(and no it's not a virus or some crap like that)

    11. Re:Smaller developers by the_2nd_coming · · Score: 2

      you know what, the kidnapper treats the childern realy nice with all the candy and Icecream they want....until he captures them.

      MS wants people to progrma on Windows so that they can make a profit. also, they do not allow you to view source so they document everything you need to know, like prototypes.

      Linux, well you have to know how to use the language first, and you have to know what Libs to use. and since you have acces to the source, you may as well look at the headers so you can see how to use it, whould it be better for you if some one took all the information about a Lib out of the header and pasted it into an HTML doc?....that is just twice the typing for a more complicated document (you need a TOC) that contains info that you don't neccisaraly need to know (other libs) if you know what you need, then why not study up a bit by actualy looking at the code to see what is going on? makes sence to me.

      --



      I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
    12. Re:Smaller developers by Computer! · · Score: 1

      Nobody familiar with Windows programming is going to even consider using such a "primitive" development "environment" as worthy of their time.


      That's because it isn't. Although I have coded in notepad, and still do in a pich, why should I toss out all the "bells and whistles"? I'm not paying for the IDE, my company is. The "real (wo)men do it in Vi" attitude is silly. Look at mechanics, or other tradesmen. When they can use the best tools, they do. It saves time and labor costs.

      --
      If you fall off a building, go real limp, because maybe you'll look like a dummy and people will be like hey, free dummy
    13. Re:Smaller developers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nice fscking elitist crap, for howling-dog Linux weenies ... and ya wonder how M$ goes from success to success?

    14. Re:Smaller developers by sopwath · · Score: 1

      That's simply not true. Due to M$ hold on the desktop, most new programming students will learn how to program on a windows platform. Even if it does cost more money do develop for windows, the difference in market between that and Linux is huge. There's more money to be made in windows.

      What a shame huh. There might be a few more people developing for linux which is a good thing, but there's not going to be some kind of mass exodous.

      good luck,
      sopwath

    15. Re:Smaller developers by swordboy · · Score: 2

      That just means that less cool stuff will be produced then I suppose.

      Does that mean the Microsoft "freedom to innovate" is now the "subscription to innovate"?

      --

      Life is the leading cause of death in America.
    16. Re:Smaller developers by GiMP · · Score: 1

      Notepad.exe is one thing, Vi(m) is another. Those "full IDE's" are slow and time consuming to write in. Vim is fast and powerful, it lets me do things easier and faster then any other editor in existance.

      There is some other editor called EMACS which I won't mention, as I don't like it.. but Your Mileage May Vary.

    17. Re:Smaller developers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They are *separating* smaller developers from larger ones. They're trying to keep large free software projects off of Windows. (or maybe they aren't *trying* but that's the effect)

      Compare writing and debugging a medium scale project with an IDE to without. Big difference. Although Komodo looks like it might be better than DevStudio, and I think it's free for non-commercial use... (hard to tell from their website)

    18. Re:Smaller developers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Those "full IDE's" are slow and time consuming to write in.

      Not true. I am FAR more productive in a full-blown IDE (that I have of course customized with my own prefered keymappings and macros) with all it's quick references and easy jumping around code spread across different modules than anyone I've ever seen using vi or emacs.

      Just as a newbie to vi isn't going to be productive, someone that doesn't take the time to learn how to use an IDE isn't going to be productive either. But I feel the time invested in a good IDE is far more valuable than time wasted memorizing all the silly vi and emacs commands and keystrokes. I can't imagine anyone in this day and age using vi. I just cannot fathom why they can't break out of their mental chains to use something more powerful, and more easy to use.

    19. Re:Smaller developers by Hanno · · Score: 2

      That's simply not true. Due to M$ hold on the desktop, most new programming students will learn how to program on a windows platform.

      Being a former computer science student, I can assure that there wasn't a single line of Windows-specific programming done in my years at University. We mostly learned on Unix platforms (Solaris) and got ourselves free ports of the tools for Windows if we wanted to write for Windows.

      Then again, learning platform-agnostic development is the way to go for any "programming student" (as you called them).

      --

      ------------------
      You may like my a cappella music
    20. Re:Smaller developers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Except, of course, that most developers have no need for the .Net My Services stuff. People need to learn to distinguish between what MS is offering, even if they make it hard to understand. .Net My Services (what used to be codenamed Hailstorm) is basicly a series of XML-based Web Services developed by Microsoft that other developers can access for a fee. If you don't need those services or can develop equivalents on your own, you certainly don't need to subscribe to them in order to use Visual Studio.Net as your development environment (or even anything else that will let you write to the .Net architecture). So, basicly, it seems that people are just confusing the three (or more) products that MS has decided to tag with the .Net brand, now that they've spent so much time and money hyping .Net (frankly, I'm amazed they bothered to brand Office and Windows with XP instead of .Net).

    21. Re:Smaller developers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I prefer BBEdit myself, even for Unix development. It's ability to "Open from FTP server" is all I need.

    22. Re:Smaller developers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most Windows programmers I know cannot conceive of using anything other than a fully-blown IDE with all the bells and whistles. They seem to think that there is no way to develop anything at all using the style I use (Emacs or Vi, command-line compilers, and make.)

      That's pretty funny. I started out programming in emacs using gcc. Once I had access to an IDE, though, and realized the advantages, of course I wouldn't go back to emacs unless there was a good reason to do so. If an IDE is setup as well as most programmers would setup a text editor for programming, then it's got little chance of being less efficient than using seperate applications to do the same thing.

    23. Re:Smaller developers by the_2nd_coming · · Score: 2

      they are successful for the same reason a crack dealer is successful, the make people NEED their product.

      --



      I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
    24. Re:Smaller developers by bmajik · · Score: 2

      You can be unconvinced all you want.

      But you're still wrong.

      How do you argue with this: One of the developers of the VB7 compiler uses Emacs for windows NT for all coding work(and not with c-mode.el, she uses her own elisp that she developed before c-mode.el was mature)

      Other people inside Microsoft use vi. Theres a "vi.exe" in some of the resource kits and what not.

      so, your "Most windows programmers i know" is a meaningless anecdote.

      ... which is apparently enough to get an "Insightful" so long as its bandwagoning on the usual "microsoft is the enemy, microsoft sucks" threads..

      --
      My opinions are my own, and do not necessarily represent those of my employer.
    25. Re:Smaller developers by Pussy+Is+Money · · Score: 0

      Emacs can do that, and it's actually a little bit better than BBEdit's FTP support. Try opening a file like /user@host:/path/file.

      --
      Pushin' 'n dealin', shovin' 'n stealin'
    26. Re:Smaller developers by donutello · · Score: 2

      Please read the article before you post. The charge is for plugging into .NET My Services.

      Developers are free to write and develop .NET apps as they please. The charge is simply to plug into the notification and authentication mechanism formerly known as Hailstorm.

      --
      Mmmm.. Donuts
    27. Re:Smaller developers by reflective+recursion · · Score: 1
      Of course MS wants to capture developer attention. They are a business last time I checked.
      whould it be better for you if some one took all the information about a Lib out of the header and pasted it into an HTML doc?.
      YES!! Better yet, put it in a MANUAL PAGE!! Coherence is key to documentation.
      if you know what you need, then why not study up a bit by actualy looking at the code to see what is going on? makes sence to me.
      No it does _not_ make sense. If I had to know the innerworkings of every library on Linux, well I would get nowhere. I do not need to know how GNU C library functions work. They have a nice manual page for each function describing what it does. It is _never_ obvious what a function does just by looking at the prototype in the header files. The information in things like man pages is extremely useful. This is why when coding with something like GTK+ you end up spending half your time in header and source files for GTK rather than actually _using_ the library. Fortunately, the GTK+ developers have a very clean layout and naming system.. which is a rare thing in hacker land.
      --
      Dijkstra Considered Dead
    28. Re:Smaller developers by the_2nd_coming · · Score: 2

      perhaps then you need to smack the GTK+ folk in the head and say : Lay off the 2.0 crap and document you work!!!

      --



      I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
    29. Re:Smaller developers by Arcanix · · Score: 1

      I am currently a CS student as well, and what you say is true... Universities don't teach how to program a specific language or a specific platform they teach concepts so you can program in any language on any platform with a minimal learning curve. Trade schools on the other hand will teach you Java or C++ for 2 years and you're done... how many 2 year schools have LISP, Prolog, and Ada in their ciriculum (or even anything non-Visual Basic/C++/J++)?

    30. Re:Smaller developers by Screaming+Lunatic · · Score: 1

      Nevermind hobbyists, how about students. So it's gonna cost me $1000 to do my homework when my university upgrades to XP. How is Microsoft supposed to foster new developers. Sounds like they are shooting themselves in the foot. SL

    31. Re:Smaller developers by lunky · · Score: 1

      I just cannot fathom why some folks rave about the benefits of investing time learning an IDE which limits them to a single language (or even a couple of languages) but they think it's a waste of time learning to use a general purpose text editor - which is designed for developers.

      Emacs and vim have higher than average learning curves, but I can't imagine a better investment.
      It's an investment you can take advantage of in any programming language for the rest of your life.

      >But I feel the time invested in a good IDE is far more valuable than time wasted memorizing all the silly vi and emacs commands
      >and keystrokes. I can't imagine anyone in this day and age using vi. I just cannot fathom why they can't
      > break out of their mental chains to use something more powerful, and more easy to use.

      --
      lunky> c++; lunky> do{;}
    32. Re:Smaller developers by damm0 · · Score: 1

      Seriously, if you want to improve the quality of code on MS platforms, rewrite the platform. It's got very little to do with redneck Joe writing code.

      Not to mention the terrible, terrible code that Microsoft provides in their documentation. Kids, if you ever want to write a quality program, don't EVER use Microsoft example code - they've got the most hideous bugs!

    33. Re:Smaller developers by linuxlover · · Score: 1

      your answer : KDE & QT.

      Beautifully documented HTML with cross-references. (using DocBook).

      I am writing a small kde/qt app now and all it takes is a couple of mouseclicks which lands me to the exact function I want. I am totally against poking into header/src files. This is if you are doing a patch for the library itself. otherwise you should just read the doc and off you go.

      I just want to know
      QUrl.getHost ()
      is going to give me the host portin of url. I don't want to look at the source to see the parsing algorithm!

      This is clearly another area Java wins. It came with good (mostly accurate) documentation since day 1.

    34. Re:Smaller developers by crucini · · Score: 2

      I agree. It's disturbing how much software lacks man pages. They are the standard documentation on Unix, and everyone making programs or libraries should furnish them. However, I think there are some weaknesses in the man format. I would like to see a more semantically structured format. For example, I'd like to type 'man -x ls' and see the five most common examples of ls invocation. Also, the man page and the program's getopt (or function proto for functions) should be generated from the same mechanism, so they can never be out of sync. Writing the man page shouldn't be a whole separate effort from writing the code - a lot of the info in the man page could be mechanically extracted from the source.

      Having said that, you're still stuck browsing GTK. Have you tried using ctags(1)? After generating a ctags "database", you can hit ^] when the cursor is on a function call and you will jump to the function proto. In vim, I mean.

    35. Re:Smaller developers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think you're a bit confused. This isn't about the IDE or programming language. Microsoft wants to charge developers a yearly service fee if they use things like My.Net services (formerly things like Passport and hailstorm).

    36. Re:Smaller developers by Karellen · · Score: 2

      Hrmph. Most, nay - _all_, programmers I know cannot conceive of writing _anything_ in notepad. It's the single utterly crappest text editor in the entire world. 'ed' is more powerful for fucks sake.

      Don't disrespect Visual Studio too much. With it M$ almost (finally) made a semi-competent text editor. Sure, it's pretty limited and hugely expensive for a text editor, but what else do you expect from them? Give them a break, man.

      --
      Why doesn't the gene pool have a life guard?
    37. Re:Smaller developers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure you can use notepad or vi to edit individual files, but even modest projects under Windows require an amazing amount of includes and setup code. There's lots of typing to be done when you want to embed an active-x doohickey, and some things are best left to code generation wizards to template for you. Notepad just doesn't cut it.

    38. Re:Smaller developers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well said. The problem with most ide's is that what you see is what you get but what you see is all you get. If you think of a cool thing that could save you masive amounts of time you usually have to wait and hope they put it in.

    39. Re:Smaller developers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What the fuck are you talking about?

    40. Re:Smaller developers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      why do you assume that just because you have more cash to waste on a micro$oft product you are a better programmer?
      i am 16 and there is no way in hell i would pay 1000$/year plus 250$/app, its just a waste.
      and no i am not a fucking script kiddy so don't even think it, i know 11 langages(comp) and have been coding for 2 years(in which time i have fully learned the ins and outs of those languages)

    41. Re:Smaller developers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you can do just as much in an ide as in a text editor, the only difference is on the few occasions that you need more than the ide has native you need to use api, or if you want speed, that is the ONLY difference other than the fact that an ide is easier and faster to use because it has a debug windows+visual interface.

  2. Why Shouldn't they? by DavidpFitz · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Sounds like a fair game to me...

    They obviously think .NET is strong enough to warrant this -- and if you think it's rubbish, then they're only shooting themself in the foot!

    Seriously though -- in a way it's better than giving it away with copies of Visual Studio .NET because then every second web site out there would be Passport authenticated etc... Hell, raise the price to $500,000!!!!!

  3. Australian Pricing? by laptop006 · · Score: 1

    Anyone know international pricing?
    I have several friends who will be required to pay for it, and knowing big companies they will charge more than twice the US cost.

    --
    /* FUCK - The F-word is here so that you can grep for it */
  4. More on the broad front by pointym5 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ... in the war to drive out small-scale developers in favor of well-controlled large corporate entities. People paying that much money for the privilege of developing software are very likely to be quite aggressive in convincing themselves that they're happy. And note that much of the fees here will come from big fat IT budgets for internal application development. CIOs just want an empire like anybody else, and this sort of thing really fuels the fires.

    1. Re:More on the broad front by FreshFromTheCows · · Score: 1

      I don't think I would say that within the last year, That there are a ton of companies anymore that have fat budgets..

    2. Re:More on the broad front by bricriu · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Moreover, I think this is an incentive to drive out freeware and open-source developers. Who's going to spend $250/$1500 on something that's not going to make them a penny in return? The big benefit to this for MS is that fw/o-s often provides functionality that they would rather not let you have, or that they would rather charge you for (my fav. current example is Virtual Network Computing 3.3.3r7, which -- for free -- does everything that PCAnywhere does).

      Yah know what though? It's going to KILL them in the web market. They think I'm going to include the web-based version of .Net calendar on my little site? Think again. JSP is still free, and ColdFusion ain't so much. I don't care how many dorks still use FrontPage, they're going to drop it like a hot potato when they realize they have to cough up for using widget X.

      --

      AHHHHHHH! I'm burning with goodness again!
      - Reakk, Sluggy Freelance

    3. Re:More on the broad front by jgerman · · Score: 2

      Yeah, I agree. You'd think companies would learn from the past and not do their best to shut hobbyist developers out. I'm sure MS would love to take this concept to the extremes... and chate per widget or module as you suggested. I can see it now: A user starts up a game and it bails immediately with the message "This software cannot be run until the susbcription to the for loop on line 145 is renewed please go to www.microsoft.com to renew".

      --
      I'm the big fish in the big pond bitch.
    4. Re:More on the broad front by aratas · · Score: 1

      What companies are you looking at? Everywhere I turn, IT departments are either being stifled ( no new growth ) or downsized.

      This is the wrong economy to start charging for this stuff.

    5. Re:More on the broad front by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Moreover, I think this is an incentive to drive out freeware and open-source developers.

      It's called "quality control."

    6. Re:More on the broad front by warpeightbot · · Score: 2
      Moreover, I think this is an incentive to drive out freeware and open-source developers.
      What it will really do is just drive them off the Win32 platform. Onto Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, whatever becomes of Be, QNX, or even Solaris. No more Emacs on Microsoft OS's. No more Active State Perl. Or Tcl/Tk. or Python. or Apache. (yipe.)

      The only problem with this is that for those that don't jump ship before Microsoft finally cuts people off and forces them to "upgrade" to XP (they've slipped that date what, twice now?) there aren't going to be any transition tools (like Apache on Win32) to help them wean themselves from their pay software addiction; it's going to be cold turkey...

      The solution for that is for people like Miguel to be writing tools in the other direction, that run on Linux (etc., I just don't want to type the whole list :) but take Microsoft-format data and configs (in Win2k or less format; XP, natch, will be verboten to us). A lot of this we already have. We already have a lot of things that grok Word and Excel files. Cold Fusion is being ported; the server engine itself is already there. There is an ASP migration tool whose name escapes me. We need to flesh out the suite; hell, maybe somebody could specialize in a distro full of migration tools (Samba enabled by default with a good user/printer migration tool, etc.).

      In short, instead of bitching about yet another Microsoft screwup, we should use some business judo and make it work to our advantage. Join Larry and Scott and Steve and Lou in watering Bill's feet of clay, as it were. Soon, kids, very soon.

      --
      And on the pedestal these words appear:
      "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
      Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
      Nothing beside remains.
      -- Shelley

    7. Re:More on the broad front by KGIS · · Score: 1

      If you pay this you are not paying for the privilege of developing software. You are paying for access to .Net My Services. you can still develop .Net for free, you just have to pay to use Microsoft's Web services. If I was providing a service I would also charge people to use it. (Programmers do get paid for their services)

    8. Re:More on the broad front by RetroGeek · · Score: 1

      No. It's called "quantity control".

      --

      - - - - - - - - - - -
      I am a programmer. I am paid to produce syntax not grammar. Deal with it.
  5. Re:Rich Bastards by FreshFromTheCows · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I'm soooo sorry, I don't think I could live without subway lol

  6. I thought Microsoft had learned this lesson before by joshv · · Score: 4, Offtopic

    One of the reason that so many people are now using Windows 9x/ME/2000 is that Microsoft bascially gave away their SDK back in the days of Win 3.x, while IBM was looking to their OS/2 SDK as part of their revenue model, and charging accordingly.

    I would have thought Microsoft learned a valuable lesson back then.

    -josh

  7. Priced to entice? by jason99si · · Score: 1

    I have to wonder if MS is pricing to lure developers to utilize their new facility. And if that is the case... why is entry level $250 a pop?

    Do they think this is a bargain? And who is to say where the prices are going to go once they do manage to hook some suckers?

  8. And Sun ? by rainer_d · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Can sombody post a comparison ?
    Java Developer Essentials is about 50 USD per year, IIRC.
    But what else do you get for 1000 USD ? Or 10000 ?

    --
    Windows 2000 - from the guys who brought us edlin
    1. Re:And Sun ? by Hagabard · · Score: 1

      They're stating how much it costs to interface with their .NET services (Calendar, E-mail, To-do). This is a strategy to stifle virus/worm development by out-pricing the virus-writers. If SirCam (a large app?) was written to utilize mailboxes for forwarding through Microsoft's .NETit would cost the developer $10k per year. The likelyhood of this fellow paying those costs would be slim so the worm will easily be prevented from propogating.

      Very smart, Mr. Ballmer, very smart...

    2. Re:And Sun ? by IpalindromeI · · Score: 1

      How long do you think it'll be before someone finds a hole in .NET, that let's anyone hook into the services, regardless of if they've paid or not? Look at IIS with all of its security problems. I doubt this will really stop virus writers for very long. More likely it will just keep out the hobbyists that sometimes provide useful applications. And the fun thing about .NET is that, since all your personal data is connected to it, the people who find holes get to know everything about you. Can you spell "identity theft"? Have fun trying to convince your bank that someone who knew your name, social security number, address, phone number, wife's maiden name, yearly income, and car model wasn't really you.

      --

      --
      Promoting critical thinking since 1994.
  9. Here comes the Sun by AppyPappy · · Score: 1

    Here comes the Sun
    Doo doo doo doo
    Here Comes the Sun
    And I say
    It's alright.

    I remember when IBM had this same attitude. I wonder whatever happened to them.

    --

    If you aren't part of the solution, there is good money to be made prolonging the problem

    1. Re:Here comes the Sun by Scooter · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Here comes the Sun
      Doo doo doo doo
      Here Comes the Sun
      And I say......
      It's the most primitive load of junk I've seen in a long time for £80,000.

      We bought a Sun E450 (against my wishes - the decision was taken before I got there so it was too late for serious debate). It had 4 SparcII 500Mhz cpus (this is about a year ago), 280Gb disk and 2Gb ram. It cost 80 thousand UKP. It came with:-

      Solaris 8
      No compiler.
      No development tools such as make, M4, autoconf..
      No decent desktop (do they really think anyone can be bothered with that joke desktop they supply, with no drag n drop, no file associations etc etc)

      The hardware was out of the Arc - no RAID, no mirroring.

      At the time I got a quote from Dell for an equivalent power machine - it came in at about £12,000 - with quad channel RAID controller, and 4 PIII Xeon 733Mhz cpus.

      Sun charged us over 4000 a peice for the 18Gb Western Dig disks alone - each! When I quizzed them on this - they replied that they get the "best ones". My arse! My room full of Dell servers has WD disks and not one of them has failed - ever (2 years old now). But then even if one did - the servers are all RAID 5 so it won't bring the system down!

      Same deal with the RAM - same stuff you can by on the open market - 10 times the price.

      When you buy kit from Dell or Compaq (and probably everyone else too) the racks come with nice rack specific monitors, a proper rack keyboard that has a trackball, and fold away neatly. Except if you by a Sun server for 10 times the price - the damm keyboard was too wide to even fit through the rack door - no special monitor, and none of the doors shut properly.

      "What a shoddy pile of old rubbish" was my first and lasting impression of "what Sun can give you for £80,000"

      We got shot of it last month. Replaced by one Dell 6450 with RedHat Enterprise.

      Sorry - this is completely off-topic - but I felt the need :)

    2. Re:Here comes the Sun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      great little diddy george. perhaps my favorite from the mop tops (although they were far past that stage when that was written).

    3. Re:Here comes the Sun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Have you ever taken a look at compiler costs? Forte C/C++ is $3495. That per RTU not per CPU. You can buy a 1, 10, or 25 pack at lower costs. I'll grant thats a lot of money, but not near what you indicated and it's only a one time investment.


      I'll definately agree gcc sucks goat-penis on non-i86 machines, but will add that it sucks goat penis on i86 too.

    4. Re:Here comes the Sun by n3bulous · · Score: 1

      Have you seen IBM's stock price? It is one of the few that haven't dropped in the toilet. Even MS's stock dropped, so IBM must be doing something right...

      --
      "The area of penetration will no doubt be sensitive." ~ Spock
    5. Re:Here comes the Sun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      IBM has an entire invisible world of datacenters locked in to their unique mainframe and minicomputer hardware and software.

      And they actually take care of their customers. Really. When we had an IBM 3090, we had the sort of service that you can't even imagine. Immediate hardware service. 24 hour software support -- including telephone access to the developers if the helpdesk couldn't find a bug fix -- complete, documented source code for the entire operating system and all of the compilers and applications.

      Plus, a lot of IBM's mainframe customers are still running the same software -- in many cases without even having to recompile it -- that they wrote in the 1960s. IBM has a solid revenue stream because for the most part they have learned not to jerk around their big-ticket customers, and as a result they are stable.

    6. Re:Here comes the Sun by phajek · · Score: 1

      Well, if you've used Solaris 8, it would be apparent to you that:
      -Gnu tools ARE included, including compilers, etc.
      -Mirror can be done with a free VM called Disksuite-- not the greatest but still better than LVM.

      And if you have a clue about H/W, E450 just puts to shame the crap of a server, Dell 6450.

      And finally, by insisting for a desktop env. running on the E450, perhaps you should stick to your MCSE certification courses. The E450 is a server meant for those who know UNIX, vi, and the /etc config files.

    7. Re:Here comes the Sun by Scooter · · Score: 1

      No - no GNU tools were included (and Sun confirmed this at the time of install). I could have downloaded and compiled gcc et al - but hmm I have no compiler/make etc to do it with - you have to buy them seperatley from Sun.

      Yes - you can do SOFTWARE raid and mirroring - in my experience about as useful as a chocolate fireguard.

      *sigh* actually - no it doesn't - for our purpose (Oracle 8i database) the Dell box outperformed it consistently by about 20% And what you can get from Dell for 80 grand makes you wonder how Sun stay in business.

      Yes - you are right - we don't actually need a desktop on this perticular box, and perhaps I should have made it clearer - I was just adding that to the woefully large list of things missing from an 80K system which includes Solaris8 - which is also sold for workstations.

      MCSE? Did I mention using Windows instead? No. I don't claim to be an expert on Solaris - I learn a much as I need to to get the job done. Most of my expertise lies in Linux based OS's mostly RedHat right now.

      All of my comments are from *experience*. The Solaris box was reliable - thats about all I can say for it. The Dell/Redhat combo is just as reliable though, but with all mod. cons. You can flap about the theory of why one is better than the other but the only thing that matters to me is the *end result* (ie reliable bangs per buck) which is only determined through running both for a considerable time. They do the same job, one takes up 5 times more rack space, and cost 8 times more - do the math yourself.

    8. Re:Here comes the Sun by phajek · · Score: 1

      "No - no GNU tools were included" -- Well then, it must be my imagination that my disks Solaris 8 Software medis pack from Sun- disk 1 and 2 from 10/00 are a figment of my imagination.

      As if you like running a 32 bit version of Oracle, be my guest. Oracle/SPARC runs like a dream.

      As for Dell with Linux? We have the same Dell Server w/ 8GB RAM and a Quad Xeon running RedHat 7.1... Under heavy load, the VM on Linux is just crap. The Informatics crew is constantly rebooting the box as is start to swap like crazy. The 2.4.x series of the kernel is not acceptable as is ! Read the Linux kernel lists for more detail before you start spoutting of like a clueless linux newbie demanding a pretty GUI to admin Solaris on a E450.

      Now if you want to pay 80K for an E450-- be my guess. Just look at auctions.sun.com on ebay-- you could get an E450 for 25K.

    9. Re:Here comes the Sun by crucini · · Score: 2
      I agree that Sun may not offer the best value for the money. But two of your comments were (perhaps involuntarily) quite PC-centric.
      No decent desktop (do they really think anyone can be bothered with that joke desktop they supply, with no drag n drop, no file associations etc etc)

      Why run X on a server at all? Most of what you need to do is command-line stuff. And if you must run a GUI app (like the Oracle installer), wouldn't you rather use your Linux box for the display? That way you can sit in your comfy cube, with your "desktop" set up the way you like instead of standing in a cold, noisy equipment room.

      And then the complaint about monitor/keyboard. What you may not realize is that Suns do not favor the Keyboard/video over the serial console. You can do everything from the serial console port. In the largest Sun shop I've seen, there are no keyboards, monitors or KVM hardware connected to the servers. PC hardware has trained us to think that you always need KVM access to get to the BIOS or something, but computers that were designed to be servers don't have this weird limitation.

      I don't really understand the point of the E450. As you point out, it can be replaced with a PC. And you have to unrack it to get to the CPU/RAM. But a shop full of 4500's and 6500's is very nice. They take the same CPU/RAM card, which can be installed/removed from the front without surgery. If a machine is running out of either, you can just add another board. Ideally you buy storage from a storage vendor rather than trying Sun's solutions. A datacenter full of 4500's and 6500's is amazingly low maintenance compared to equivalent PC's. Is it worth the cost delta? I don't know.
    10. Re:Here comes the Sun by Scooter · · Score: 1

      Well - I can only quote from my own experiences - Solaris 8 did come with lots of "freebies" and extra disks, but none of them contained any GNU tools - but that is not my beef with Sun. In the small to mid range server market - their offering - the E450 is is just well - not up to the mark - escpailly for the price. We wouldn't have bought a second hand one from an E-bay auction, and that was the best price they would give us - and that was after haggling - they wanted about £90K first off.

      We run redHat Enterprise on our Dell box - which is a joint development between Oracle and RedHat and has some close tweaks to the memory model. It runs with no problems. Oracle/Sparc should run like a dream - it's the platform Oracle develop on - but for 80K I expect a proper disk subsystem, and proper racking - and more performance than a 12K Intel/PCI box.

      You're not reading my posts porperly - I admit there is no need for any GUI on a server, and yes - I do the admin from my Linux deaktop at my desk. I was not "demanding" anything, and spouting insults does not improve my opinion of you.

    11. Re:Here comes the Sun by Scooter · · Score: 1

      I agree with you about the console - and we did unplug and remove the KVM when the install and initial testing was done. I wonder why they supplied us with a monitor, mouse and keyboard and not a serial console (or nothing)? Sun (or their reseller) specced the details - one would have thought they'd supply a properly fitting one if they supply one at all! Solaris 8 is also supplied as a workstation distro though - and the lack of something more modern along the lines of Gnome or KDE makes for a very limited interface - it looks little different now than 3 years ago.

      As for the Dell servers - only the ones that run NT have consoles.

      I dont think there's anything wrong with a GUI - it can help to visualise things. As long as you understand what goes on behind it. I have a to almost re-train people coming to work here whos only backgriund is NT oriented - as even though they have passed all the exams, they often fail to demonstrate an understanding of the underlying architecture of a system as the NT GUI insulates you almost entirely from "how things fit together". With Unix/Linux you have the choice, and for me it depends on the task - if I have to do a thing once, pointing and clicking may work, but if I have to do the same thing to a hundred things, it's quicker to write something in bash using all the tools at your disposal such as sed/awk/C- take you pick!

      Re your last paragraph - yes! thats exactly it - for high range servers, Sun makes absolute sense - as the Intel/PCI manufacturers like Dell, have nothing to offer at that level. And I'm sure Sun's price list is competitive against it's rivals in that sector - HP? IBM? But for small to mid-range servers, as you point out - they package the same technology in a smaller box, which makes the machine way too expensive for the task. The claimed advantages in resilience are not relevant any more as the PCI boxes have now acheived a level of resilience where to all practical intents and purposes, it makes no difference. The Sun box, may indeed last longer, but as long as both designs last longer than the lifespan of the technology - it matters not. The box itself may be more scalable, but these days software (and FC shared storage arrays) will let me just add more boxes.

      To sum up - I have nothing against Sun - but their small-mid range offering was lacking for the vast amounts of cash.

  10. yo, sign me up! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    newsflash:

    good software costs money, which is obviously something most of the readers here know nothing about.

    1. Re:yo, sign me up! by anuj · · Score: 1

      sure, good software costs money, but at some point it isn't about:
      10 developers @ $100 a piece = $1,000.00
      turning into
      10 developers @ $1,000 a piece = $10,000.00

      it's more like:
      10 developers @ $100 a piece = $1,000.00
      turning into
      1 [desperate|gullible] 'developer' @ $1,000 a piece = $1,000.00

      obviously the blind and complacent thing to do would be to assume that every single current developer in your camp is either desperate or gullible (or both) and will stick with your absurd pricing policies for bet..uhh..bad or worse.

      it's not like i can get visual studio.net "personal edition" for free, is it? even for personal use? well, head over to java.sun.com and download your free copy of j2se now to use for your amazing pleasure.

      ~A

      yes, a bit of a ramble, but i'm trying to make a point here.

      --
      Linux, Vai, Satch and Guitars.. that is the life ICQ# 7357858
    2. Re:yo, sign me up! by Nurgster · · Score: 2

      Uh, no.

      With this payment thing, it's like:

      10 developers @ $100 + server + bandwidth + support = $1000 + (x)

      10 develoeprs @ $100 + .NET My Services ($1000) = $2000

      This is not a cost for the development tools, it a subscription for usage of a Microsoft owned server, which would be supported on-site by Microsoft-payed technicians.

      Read the freaking article....

      --
      "Faith is the last resort of a desperate man" - Me
  11. Pay fees to use .Net services? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    They want us to pay at least $250 per .Net service used in an application? Why bother? Nimda installs for free.

  12. Re: comparison w/ developer connections by bLanark · · Score: 5, Informative

    This isn't for the SDK/tools, which you can get via the MSDN, if not for free online.

    This is to be hosted/linked/use the core .net services such as passport. If you're developing an in-house app that doesn't touch the microsoft .net website (damn, the terminology is all wrong) then you don't need to pay your 10K USD.

    --
    Note to ACs: I won't mod you up, even if you are being funny or insightful. So take a chance! It's not real life!
  13. i have become comfortably numb by anuj · · Score: 2, Interesting

    my eyes just glaze over when i see microsoft's revenue and restriction plans.

    it's something i've come to expect and pass over. pretty soon the whole world should be getting numb to microsoft, and when people get numb to something, that something starts losing any appeal it might ever have had.

    can you say ibm?

    the article from a couple days ago about microsoft going the ibm way (existing but not cutting edge) is being fulfilled with every developer's rolling eyes.

    ~A

    --
    Linux, Vai, Satch and Guitars.. that is the life ICQ# 7357858
  14. So does this.... by FreshFromTheCows · · Score: 1

    Mean that there won't be any OSS projects coming to the platform anytime soon? ;)

    1. Re:So does this.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, and I suspect that this is part of the strategy.

      One of the big risks of software development these days is that you can spend upwards of a million dollars to develop a software product and bring it to market, and months later, some college student clones your program as a senior project, then releases the source code.

      One thing Microsoft has noticed is that OSS developers won't pay a penny to Microsoft, so this is "insurance" against open source software competing with pay-per-.net software.

    2. Re:So does this.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Once again Slashdot is spreading FUD. So I ll say it once again: You dont need to pay if you dont want to use hailstorm. You can develop any OSS with the .net platform. Heck the SDK is even available for free. Use vim on win32 and create whatever OSS you want using the .NET architecture.
      This is one of the best environment available to any developper. I have been using it and I love it. I am a Java developper and a strong MS opponnent so far. But .NET is a great step forward and everyone should plan to create OSS software with as I will.

  15. To hell with the little guys by Wiseazz · · Score: 1

    That's great for the hundred or so companies that can afford it... what happens to the 250,000 that can't?

    Oh, that's right, they've got that whole monopoly thing going on and the 250,000 HAVE to pay, or else hire a whole new IT staff of open source developers. Silly me.

    --
    My sig sucks.
    1. Re:To hell with the little guys by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't see what you are complaining about. Any business that needs to provide an application on a scale large enough to require .NET services should be able to afford the piddling $1000 fee. Hell, most *individuals* could afford that. And the price is pretty damn cheap considering that MS will be hosting all the services *itself* and you don't have to do anything as a programmer but use their API spec correctly.

    2. Re:To hell with the little guys by IpalindromeI · · Score: 1

      And the price is pretty damn cheap considering that MS will be hosting all the services *itself*

      Yes, it is pretty cheap, because you get the risk thrown in for free.

      I have an idea. Let's all depend on Microsoft's own IIS.NET servers for our service needs! What's that you say? Oh, of course it's secure! Microsoft has a strong reputation for only the highest security in their products. Don't let the hype fool you, all of those virus reports were just media concoctions dreamed up by the predatory-practicing, deep-pocketed Linux Corporation to slander Microsoft's good name. You won't have to worry a bit about Microsoft hosting all of the services for you. It will just make your life easier, I swear!

      What they don't tell you is that once someone finds a hole, it will make it even easier for the blackhats to do even more destructive things than they can now. But at least admins won't have to worry about making sure their servers are updated anymore; they'll just have to hope Microsoft's admins are doing it.

      Keep hoping guys, keep hoping.

      --

      --
      Promoting critical thinking since 1994.
  16. They may be telling the truth by OeLeWaPpErKe · · Score: 3, Funny

    Developing centralized authentications system - 5 mil

    Building and connecting the required datacenters - 250 mil

    Preventing Hackers from gaining access - unknown (but don't worry, they didn't pay this one)

    Having it cracked less than a day after it's release, which will cost million after million to your customers - PRICLESS

    1. Re:They may be telling the truth by loconet · · Score: 1

      I'd change the last one to .....

      .NET hacked by a guy sporting a beard and a funny hat, using 16 bytes of perl - PRICLESS.

      --
      [alk]
  17. Odd business model... by motherhead · · Score: 2, Flamebait


    Incentive \In*cen"tive\, a. [L. incentivus, from incinere to strike up or set the tune; pref. in- + canere to sing. See Enchant, Chant.]

    1. Inciting; encouraging or moving; rousing to action;
    stimulative.

    It would appear that Microsoft is not seeing the numbers they would like in Office XP sales. They have the audacity to host a media extravaganza including Madonna in New York to hoopla WinXP, despite recent events (they want to "show the world that America is still doing business"... that costs money... they are launching Xbox next month. That will cost money. the economy is bad, and people are keeping both hands on their wallets...

    I may be wrong here... but it looks to me like i am seeing a sick company...

    Desperation \Des`per*a"tion\, n. [L. desperatio: cf. OF.desperation.]
    1. The act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up
    of hope.

    2. A state of despair, or utter hopeless; abandonment of
    hope; extreme recklessness; reckless fury.

    1. Re:Odd business model... by NeoMage · · Score: 1

      You are wrong, and I'm glad you had the wisdom to know it.

      Microsoft has billions in cash, who the fuck says they can't spend a little on launching products? What is your point anyway, just because things are tight in the US doesn't mean Microsoft should save it's pennies. Microsoft is a global business, and not every country is holding on to their wallet....

    2. Re:Odd business model... by sgt101 · · Score: 1
      Moron.


      Microsoft has approximately $30 billon (and growing) in the bank, in cash.


      To give some perspective: MS could buy a major telco, from cash.


      Now, that would be trouble!

      --
      --------------------------------------------- "In the end, we're all just water and old stars."
    3. Re:Odd business model... by Znork · · Score: 1

      Excuse me, but those billions are earmarked for financing Europe for the next decade. Better save a whole bunch of billions for when the EU fines for illegal buisness practices start piling up in the mail.

    4. Re:Odd business model... by cholokoy · · Score: 1

      They have a lot of money stached in the bank from the "taxes" paid by the meek and clueless horde. The money they'll spen is viewed as a long-term investment for them and its jut a marketing cost that can be deducted from their balance sheet so they'll pay less income tax.

      --
      Return the bells of Balangiga.
    5. Re:Odd business model... by bluebomber · · Score: 2

      Uhhh... "sick company"? Check their latest 10Q for the amount of cash on hand. (Hint: it is in the billions, and the number rhymes with "dirty pix".) They can afford to have a massive marketing budget, even when IT budgets are shrinking and consumers seem to have stopped spending. When their cash level drops below, oh say $20b, then you can start worrying...

    6. Re:Odd business model... by motherhead · · Score: 2

      jackass. microsoft is a publicly held company and the the public expects it grow. they face tapped markets and a tapped business models and unfriendly economy. microsoft is not a man with a big bag of money., moron.

    7. Re:Odd business model... by motherhead · · Score: 1

      I was going to reply to your rather angry response in kind, until i looked at your member information and read your previous posts.

      you are one hell of a Microsoft apologist. I smell an agenda and probably employment.

      They will probably call this flaimbait. but you sir, are the man. this amuses me. my comment was so trivial and unpointed and you are so upset.

      That really amuses me. Take your agenda elsewhere, this is supposed to be free discussion. I am glad I didn't vent my spleen on you.

    8. Re:Odd business model... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Take your agenda elsewhere, this is supposed to be free discussion

      /me runs off to check that non sequitur still means what it used to...

      Your Affectionate Cousin

      AC

    9. Re:Odd business model... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      read the second sentence again and then attempt to connect the dots. there you go mr.bad-reader. thank you very much and have a lovely day.

    10. Re:Odd business model... by Happy+Monkey · · Score: 2

      ...so they'll pay less income tax.

      How about NO income tax?

      --
      __
      Do ya feel happy-go-lucky, punk?
    11. Re:Odd business model... by NeoMage · · Score: 2

      From a previous reply of yours...

      "They will probably call this flaimbait. but you sir, are the man. this amuses me. my comment was so trivial and unpointed and you are so upset."

      Now who's upset.. silly fucker aren't you.

    12. Re:Odd business model... by motherhead · · Score: 2

      Read again. not upset. amused.

      these are indeed english words and not code. do not attempt to find the hidden meaning.

    13. Re:Odd business model... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      and yes, i am a silly fucker.

      thank you for taking note.

      I don't quote zappa and list poe as my weblink because i get ulcers dwelling on your kind.

    14. Re:Odd business model... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Second sentence reads "you are one hell of a Microsoft apologist"

      But I fail to see how this modifies the meaning of "this is supposed to be free discussion" in such a way as to render it compatible with "Take your agenda elsewhere"

      So, since I'm clearly rather thick, could you explain how it's possible to have a "free discussion" in a context where some viewpoints have been pre-excluded from consideration. Hard as I might try, there seems to be a glaring logical chasm here, which can only be bridged by redefining "free" as "utterly controlled" or by redefining "discussion" as the mindless parrotting of a pre-defined party line, whilst sending all dissenters straight to the Gulag and writing them out of history. In other words, it looks to me like your definition of "free" isn't that far from the one in common use in Eastern Europe from 1945 - 1990.

      Ah, no, I'm getting it now, it's an Orwell joke, right? "freedom is slavery"?

      Your Affectionate Cousin

      AC

  18. This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by gburgyan · · Score: 5, Informative
    This is not MS trying to inflict a toll on development -- this is MS trying to make money by selling a service. The .NET My Services is a service that interfaces with MSN Messanger to allow instant communication with your users and also authentication. Seriously people, every time MS charges for something it becomes news on slash...

    The last company I was working for was going to authenticate financial transactions. Let me tell you that they were not going to do it for free. How is this any different? Or maybe the phone company charging for setting up your phone lines and billing your company monthly?

    MS is charging for a service and you can choose to use it or not.

    Perhaps the open source community can get together and create a distributed authentication system to compete with it.

    1. Re:This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by Alrocket · · Score: 0, Troll

      Yeah, and we all know how good their services are!

      What a joke...

      Al.

    2. Re:This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by CodeMonky · · Score: 2

      The libertyproject alliance is attempting to do just that. Sun Cisco IBM (basically every big tech firm except microsoft)

      projectliberty.org

      --
      --"Karma is justice without the satisfaction"
    3. Re:This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by TheMMaster · · Score: 2

      In fact, they are creating something: .GNU (or dotGNU ;-)
      It's a decentralized system but with the same functionality as .NET/hailstorm/myservices/otherBS
      check it out,

      --
      Fighting for peace is like fucking for virginity
    4. Re:This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by TheMMaster · · Score: 3, Funny

      There seems to be a significant difference betweer:
      projectliberty.org and
      libertyproject.org
      this is one type I really didn't want to make with my boss watching...

      --
      Fighting for peace is like fucking for virginity
    5. Re:This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by CodeMonky · · Score: 1

      yeah i know. pop ups forever.

      --
      --"Karma is justice without the satisfaction"
    6. Re:This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by fulgan · · Score: 1

      >

      No, "My services" is actually much more than that: It's a large set of services ranging from IC client (the one you spoke about) to user preferences, favorite links, application settings, online wallet and others (including the infamous "passport").

      But yes: it's the price to be paid for your application to be allowed access to these services. Incidentally, it also means that you can pretty easily rollout your own, MS-compatible services (that is, until they change it to include some sort of proprietary tech in there).

      Good luck,
      Stephane

    7. Re:This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      so don't use them....

    8. Re:This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by CaptainSuperBoy · · Score: 2

      I fully agree. This is another example of an irresponsible and misleading submission for the purpose of sensationalism. Of course MS is going to charge for a valuable service you can plug into your applications. If you don't want to pay for it, or you don't trust MS to host critical parts of your app, then don't buy it! It's all XML based, so write your own components.

      I'm not sure if MS has released pricing on Visual Studio.NET.. Whatever it is, I'm sure it won't be far off of their current VS pricing. One thing you'll never see is MS making developers SUBSCRIBE to Visual Studio.. they know their customers, and they know that nobody would stand for that. If you had to pay a monthly fee just to run VS in order to revise your app, developers would jump ship.

      When someone simply refers to .NET, I tend to think of the core development tools of the .NET initiative.. that is, the common language runtime along with the framework class library, and individual languages such as C# and VB.NET. You'd have to be crazy to tell someone, "If you don't pay up this month, your C# compiler will break." Gimme a break, developers can't have that.

    9. Re:This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by mong · · Score: 2

      People seem not to have noticed Ximian's rival project called Mono. It's a Good Thing they're doing there, imho - even if it is miles away from being a .net rival at the moment...

      Mong.

      --

      *...Slacker, Artist, Techie - Geek *
      Remember: Nothing is Cool.
    10. Re:This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by pnutjam · · Score: 1

      your cheap insurance site SUX! It won't provide me a quote.

    11. Re:This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by ch-chuck · · Score: 2

      Let me tell you that they were not going to do it for free. How is this any different?

      I keep seeing this over and over - the DIFFERENCE is the Msft is a monopoly using dominance in one market to extend their influence in other markets, just as if they were the only cable company in town wanted to go into, say, auto sales and would only air THEIR car commercials on the tv. The problem with monopolies is what sets the price. If there are two auto dealers naturally people are going to shop between the two to get the best bargain which keeps the dealers operating efficient. If there is ONLY ONE CHOICE, in this case to get on the .NET bandwagon, the supplier can regulate their own price for their own profits, screw the consumer. They can offer a low, low introductory price to get many developers signed up, and after they are two years committed on down the primrose path the prices go UP and they make yet another windfall.

      There's an amusing story behing how the Strowger automatic telephone switch system started - Strowger ran a funeral parlor and got suspicious when the competition down the street started getting all the business. It turned out that the phone operator was in cahoots with the competing parlor and was send all requests for funeral services THEIR way. Strowger got busy and developed an AUTOMATIC telephone switch so customers could look up a number in a phone book and make their own damn choice, w/o some techno-tomfoolery making it for them. see http://www.webuildphonesystems.com/history.htm for a referance to this story.

      --
      try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
    12. Re:This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      GNU... hahahahahahahaha!

      Thats funny...

    13. Re:This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by EvlG · · Score: 2

      There's the problem I have with Microsoft pushing towards software as a service. If they know they they wouldn't want to pay for development tools monthly, and none of the ISVs want to do it, why do they assume that everyone else will want to transition to a monthly fee for all of their other software?

      It seems to me that you can only force customers into accepting software as a service when you are as big as MS. Any other vendor would be abandoned quite quickly. However, everyone has made themselves vulnerable by relying on MS software so much; they are going to be stuck with it eventually.

      Predative, anti-consumer monopoly anyone?

    14. Re:This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by gburgyan · · Score: 1
      That's exactly why there needs to be competition!

      If MS comes up with some cool new technology, and so does Oracle and GNU, then the developer can make the decision. The only thing I can see people bitching about (and I would bitch too) is if MS would intentionally make their system incompatible with competing systems (like AOL IM does to everyone else). If there would be some consortium formed to allow authentication to flow from system to system, then cool!

      Perhaps this is what people should be talking to congress-critters about?

    15. Re:This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by WhiteKnight07 · · Score: 1

      If its all XML based wouldn't it be possible to write apps for linux that interface with it? While this may be the ultimate sacralige it would help people and companies migrate away from the Windows platform.... I wouldn't mind this whole .NET thing so much if MS didn't control the whole base operating platform.

      --


      We're going to make information free Mr. Anderson, whether you like it, or not.
    16. Re:This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by WhiteKnight07 · · Score: 1

      Of course! If its possible to write open source software that uses .NET (is it possible?) then that will make for an incredible amount of intercompatability between Windows apps (ie: MS office, ect...) and Linux apps (ie: star office, ect...). Since all the actual 'data' is stored in .NET then any .NET compatible app (running on ANY os)would be able to be used to access the data. Therefore, if your company is has some data like spreadsheets or documents or presentations or something on .NET then one person could use a Windows box to access it while someone else used a Linux box. Because its all XML formatted then any app would be able to read and write to it. There would be no file format compatability issues. Talk about back fireing! This could actually give ppl a choice when it comes to operating systems/office suites. Could someone please tell me if I'm on to something here? Or am I just posting without having done my homework?

      --


      We're going to make information free Mr. Anderson, whether you like it, or not.
    17. Re:This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by segmond · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      what is up with someone always saying YOU CAN CHOOSE TO USE IT OR NOT. Microsoft is shady, fuck you can use it or not, YOU WILL BE FORCED TO USE IT IF YOU LIKE OR NOT.

      --
      ------ Curiosity killed the cat. {satisfaction brought it back | it didn't die ignorant | lack of it is killing mankind
    18. Re:This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by OldCrasher · · Score: 1

      If the doorstep price for a subscription to VS.NET is lower than the outright purchase price, you might find a lot of people getting on this one, epecially if it ensures that bugs will be fixed and development tools kept up to date.

      Put up your hands all those that religiously keep gcc and emacs current.

      IF (and it's a big if) M$ keeps the tools and frameworks current and makes updates painless then it should not be an issue if either the dev tools or the ".NET My Services" junk is subscription. The fact that I received 2 years of VS 6.0 service packs, on CD, in the mail, for my outlay, was a minor surprise to me.

      Do not underestimate the cost of keeping dev tools current, anyone that bought Borland Turbo C or MS C v4.0, and still has C++Builder, or VS 6.0, can tell you that the cost of upgrading is appreciable, unforgiving and a permenant feature of being a active developer.

    19. Re:This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by BusterB · · Score: 1

      > this is MS trying to make money by selling a service.

      To quote the article:

      "We're not making money with these numbers. We want to make it as friction-free as possible to adopt this new platform."

      So, who's making money? Could this be a bait-and-switch?

    20. Re:This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by Recolada · · Score: 1

      It's not a rival, and it was never meant to be. It's an implementation of the .NET platform for Linux. The runtime and the framework classes of .NET were designed to be platform, CPU, and language independent. Basically that means, if you compile a managed application, you can copy it to a linux system with an x86 processor and it will work. You can then take this same executable and run it on a ia64 windows machine. Both run in native assembly.

    21. Re:This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by Recolada · · Score: 1

      It's a service. It's like a credit card company. If you want your store to support Visa, you have to have Visa's approval and pay an annual fee.
      Passport authentication is a service. Microsoft maintains the database of users and their info. You have to pay to access that information.

      I wonder why I even responded, you're a fucking retard.

    22. Re:This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by KenRH · · Score: 1
      webservices is an open (proposed) standard, you can both serve and consume them with or without .net.

      So unless MS have some spesific client type check in the services you can create your own client. But if the services may still require an subscrption.

      http://www.w3.org/TR/wsdl

    23. Re:This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by zpengo · · Score: 2
      This is not MS trying to inflict a toll on development -- this is MS trying to make money by selling a service. The .NET My Services is a service that interfaces with MSN Messanger to allow instant communication with your users and also authentication. Seriously people, every time MS charges for something it becomes news on slash...

      Hell, anytime Microsoft *sneezes* it becomes news here. You know, if Bill Gates himself were to proclaim the value of open source, release all the code for Windows, and slash the prices of everything by 75%, I bet there'd be an article on here within fifteen minutes calling it a "draconian conspiracy."

      The last company I was working for was going to authenticate financial transactions. Let me tell you that they were not going to do it for free. How is this any different? Or maybe the phone company charging for setting up your phone lines and billing your company monthly?

      It's like asking someone why a certain college football game is important. "Because they're our rivals!" "Why?" "I don't know, they just are!" We don't care if other companies do it, it's just news when Microsoft does it.

      MS is charging for a service and you can choose to use it or not.

      Slashdot is still stuck in the Microsoft = Big Brother mindset that doesn't allow for the possibility that human beings can make decisions.

      Perhaps the open source community can get together and create a distributed authentication system to compete with it.

      I doubt it. Instead, they'll just try to emulate the Microsoft one, and then complain when they start suing...

      --


      Got Rhinos?
    24. Re:This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by AntiNorm · · Score: 2

      This is not MS trying to inflict a toll on development -- this is MS trying to make money by selling a service

      Fair enough, but was the company you were working for going to charge $500 every time they authenticated a financial transaction? I think not.

      --

      I pledge allegiance to the flag...
      of the Corporate States of America...
    25. Re:This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by gburgyan · · Score: 1

      No, several million up front and a percentage of transaction amount.

    26. Re:This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just wait... Once MS has established a near-dominant postion, they will begin talking about how XML requires too much bandwidth and is too insecure, so they will create some proprietory compression and encryption algorithm that they control and tell people that the world wants secure compressed XML format.

    27. Re:This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by Twanfox · · Score: 1

      in Visa's case, there are alternatives (Discover) that do not charge merchant fees. This is also not stating that, as Visa, we'll offer you access to do business with our sponsored cards as a whole for $1,000 for a small business (per year), and $250 per major variant of card you'll accept.

      What if you didn't want to be forced to register your .Net program with Microsoft, but rather permit your customers to use it direct from your servers. Will Microsoft permit this? Is it even possible, of will the .Net My Services setup forbid any and all access if it don't come from Microsoft's own servers? What about alternatives? Not that many people seem to be intending to jump on the XP bandwagon if they can help it (ie: not buying a new PC from a major OEM).

      What choices do you, as a consumer, have concerning this Software as a Service? And while 'Take it or leave it' is a valid option, it often isn't a sound business option in the long run.

    28. Re:This is .NET My Services, not all of .NET by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "I doubt it. Instead, they'll just try to emulate the Microsoft one, and then complain when they start suing."

      MS will sue no doubt about it. They have a lot of patents that they will use to prevent open source competition. The real question to my mind is what will happen when the terrorists hit MS and MS employees drop off like flies from some disease or a bombing campaign. Will MS still be worried about patents and lawsuits under those kinds of conditions.

  19. Online banking?? by nullset · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The story mentioned online banking two or three times. I will NEVER use the same password for bank accounts that i would use for hotmail, much less the same authentication service.

    Converging things like that is bad, mkay?

    --buddy

    1. Re:Online banking?? by Flakeloaf · · Score: 0

      Being Canadian, I don't associate the word "passport" with any kind of security, unless of course I happen to be a terrorist.

      --

      Am I the only one who heard Roxette to sing "I'm gonna get blitzed for some sex"?

    2. Re:Online banking?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would like to see the BANK that would accept the same password used for Hotmail as an acceptable identification for the bank account.

    3. Re:Online banking?? by Tadeusz · · Score: 2, Informative

      For banking website (and other sites that require more security) you'd log on with your passport and a seperate pin. From passport.com:

      "Participating sites that require a more secure authentication process can use this feature to optionally:

      * Require that all aspects of sign-in occur over SSL.

      * Require the user to supply a second password in the form of a 4-digit personal identification number (PIN) that Passport manages. The use of the PIN, which is required in addition to the user's current password, results in a higher level of credential strength. In addition, the PIN is protected more rigorously against dictionary attacks."

    4. Re:Online banking?? by WhiteKnight07 · · Score: 1

      I find that quite ironic... seeing as Bank of America's banking software is all written in VB and therfore a primary target of MS's .NET marketing....

      --


      We're going to make information free Mr. Anderson, whether you like it, or not.
    5. Re:Online banking?? by KlomDark · · Score: 2

      "In addition, the PIN is protected more rigorously against dictionary attacks"

      WTF? How is a four digit PIN in any way protected from dictionary attacks? Takes a small dictionary, starts at 0000, 0001, 0002, ... 9999.

      Maybe if they only allow you three or five tried before you get locked out. But then, that can be used against them as well, imagine a bot that would do nothing be try all kind of accounts and hit them with 6 bad PINs, and you can lock out thousands of .net accounts.

  20. That's not the half of it... by Zocalo · · Score: 2, Insightful
    There are on-going charges on top of that too, of up to $1000 per application developed. I expect there is a $POA license for unlimited applications as well that the big service companies will go for. Microsoft really has a thing going for generating income through licensing at the moment doesn't it?

    I suppose that's one way of dealing with the industry downturn in the hope of keeping your shareholders happy. It'll be interesting to see how well it fares in real life of course...

    GPL: Free to download, free to upgrade, free to use next year, but you may need to pay for support.
    MS: Pay to have delivered, pay to upgrade, pay to use next year, and you will have to pay for support.

    Well, my cash-strapped industry-downturn budget's made up it's mind...

    --
    UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
  21. Don't compare by saqmaster · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I think these prices are fair for what you're getting.. You have to actually look at what it is you're getting, rather than instantly comparing it to other things, like open source.

    Personally, I believe that if something is good enough, it is worth paying for. Look at Hotmail, the largest free online email service - it's a pretty good deal, it's never down really and you get a lot of features.. Now if you wanted to implement this kind of service into a more corporate environment, surely you'd expect to pay for it?

    The extra charges for customized solutions and support - what's the problem with that? Anyone in the market for purchasing bespoke solutions would budget for obtaining a customized product and excellent support services - I know that there are hundreds, probably thousands of companies out there making bespoke solutions that charge an absolute fortune for it, and then totally extortionate the client when it comes to post-sale support..

    I think Microsoft are getting their shit together with this and do have a good focus on the future. With the failings of the dotcom model, someone needs to start using the web for just more than a bunch of websites offering resources and to put this emmence network to some practical use.. .NET/Hailstorm/MyServices is a new business idea which is benefiting from the Internet and will offer companies a good service..

    Yeah, Sun may try and compete. They may try and compete against Passport. True, Passport isn't widely used on 3rd party websites - but with the integration with .NET - this intergration count will surely go up.

    And at the end of the day, you're not being forced into using it. You can still go off and use whatever technologies and platform you wish. You may opt to not pay for such services, but if I went to a garage to get my car serviced and was told it was free, i'd be rather dubious about the quality...

    --
    "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story..."
    1. Re:Don't compare by rootofevil · · Score: 1

      MS didnt create hotmail thou. they bought it. so its not really their good, more like their money, that has that happening. all they actually did is add security holes/and passport.

      --
      turn up the jukebox and tell me a lie
    2. Re:Don't compare by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hi Bill. Good luck.

    3. Re:Don't compare by rknop · · Score: 4, Insightful

      With the failings of the dotcom model, someone needs to start using the web for just more than a bunch of websites offering resources and to put this emmence network to some practical use.

      Where does this assumption come from that if big companies aren't making money off of it, the net is not being of practical use? I just don't get it. Yes, I can see why companies would want to find a way to make the web useful for business. What I don't get is why all of us as a whole world population should think that this is necessary for the web to be useful. I send lots of E-mail; I find scientific preprints online; I can easily post information that people across the world can see; I download huge quantities of free software to run personal and professonal workstations; I order some books and computer hardware online. All of these things are of tremedous use to me, but by and large only the infrastructure providers are profiting off of it. Why should we think that the web isn't of any use right now just because, as one self-styled luminary noted, it isn't obeying some basic rules of business?

      Mind you, if companies do find ways to make money off if it, I don't begrudge that... IF (1) I'm not forced into using it (and with M$ behind passport, I bet it will get very difficult for me to do the sort of online commerce I've done in the pass without giving into it, which will piss me off), and if (2) the great elements about the open web which is a "collection of websites" right now don't go away (and the entertainment industry very much wants them to go away in order to turn the internet into the next TV so that they can more easily make money off of it). I'm not anti-business, but I really would like the internet and the web to keep some of the great features it has right now.

      -Rob

    4. Re:Don't compare by khuber · · Score: 1

      Thank God Microsoft is going to put the Internet
      to "practical use" so we can stop pissing our
      time away out here.

      -Kevin

    5. Re:Don't compare by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think these prices are fair for what you're getting.

      umm..r u a total moron...what you are gettting:
      -the enourmous security holes of a micro$oft product
      -the linking of EVERYTHING that you use into those security holes: financial,personal,contact,purchasing decision informatio - all in one spot that is easy for anyone to access..we r doomed..lol

    6. Re:Don't compare by saqmaster · · Score: 1

      Of course, you're correct.

      My point (maybe not very clear) was that Microsoft are venturing into the web from a different angle. I'm not saying that this should be all people should use - I used the failed dotcom model as an example of what Microsoft are trying to avoid.

      As yourself, I and the majority of web users indulge and reap the benefits from the resources available on the web, news, downloads, resources, etc etc. It's all great. But Microsoft are a large corporate who's goal is to make money and grow - it's not a small non-profit making news site on the web.

      People really need to take a look at what exactly they compare M$ against - the majority of stuff that I read is comparing apples and oranges..

      Good Stuff.

      --
      "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story..."
    7. Re:Don't compare by andy_from_nc · · Score: 1

      Hotmail, the largest free online email service - it's a pretty good deal, it's never down really and you get a lot of features..

      HA!

      http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,3624 9, 00.html
      http://www.info-sec.com/viruses/viruses_070298a_ j. html-ssi
      http://www4.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9908/30/hotma il .06/
      http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid _4 34000/434120.stm
      http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2001/08/21/hot ma il/print.html
      http://technews.netscape.com/news/0-1003-200-458 32 18.html

      And those are just some of the more major outages.

      And I AM being forced to use hotmail. I signed up for it about a year before microsoft bought it. At the time it was great. Since then its always having glitches, problems, etc. Moreover, if I just stop using it, I'll miss emails that I may not want to miss. There is no way to issue a change of adress order like the post office, and its difficult to have everyone who might mail you mail you elsewhere. Loosing an email address is NOT easy.

    8. Re:Don't compare by cholokoy · · Score: 1

      Mind you, if companies do find ways to make money off if it, I don't begrudge that... IF (1) I'm not forced into using it (and with M$ behind passport, I bet it will get very difficult for me to do the sort of online commerce I've done in the pass without giving into it, which will piss me off),

      This is the bone of contention because Microsoft is in for the long-tem and it will try to control the net such that it will be illegal to use products and services not sanctioned by it and when they will have total control they can now impose whatever tax they want.

      --
      Return the bells of Balangiga.
    9. Re:Don't compare by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, when you get free service from a garage. It means the job needed was fast and that by giving you a freebe. The garagist knows you'll comne back to him for something bigger, after all he doesn't screw you when the only thing wrong was a bolt costing 0.05$

    10. Re:Don't compare by sql*kitten · · Score: 2

      Where does this assumption come from that if big companies aren't making money off of it, the net is not being of practical use?

      Economies of scale. If corporates are regularly buying lots of of something, then the price of it comes down for everyone else too. You can get a PC for under a thousand dollars today... the price wasn't driven there by hobbyists, it was driven there by massive corporations signing deals for 50,000 units so the manufacturers could take advantage of economies of scale, which they in turn passed on to consumers.

      Why do you think the airlines are hurting so much right now? It's because large corporations are cutting back on business travel... it will result in a round of cost cutting, some airlines will go out of business, but if the corporations don't start travelling again, air travel for the consumer will go up. In any commodity market, margins are thing and you make money on volume. If there's no volume, there's no market, apart from at the expensive, bespoke end. Here endeth the lesson.

    11. Re:Don't compare by jschrod · · Score: 1
      With the failings of the dotcom model, someone needs to start using the web for just more than a bunch of websites offering resources and to put this emmence network to some practical use.


      Where does this assumption come from that if big companies aren't making money off of it, the net is not being of practical use? I just don't get it.


      Because somebody must pay the infrastructure you're using?


      While Internet access and an Internet presence is very cheap for private usage, it is quite expensive for a business. And, speaking as a CEO of a company, I have to tell you that one better has a return on such an investment, or one might soon be out of business.


      That does not actually say that the Internet is not profitable for a business right now already. I know many companies, large and small, that have saved much money with their Internet access and their Internet presence, more than it costs. But these returns are not some hyped e-commerce thing, but plain-old savings for call-centers, or productivity improvements.

      --

      Joachim

      People don't write Manifestos any more -- what's going on in this world? [Frank Zappa]

    12. Re:Don't compare by ihxo · · Score: 0

      >Microsoft are venturing into the web from a different angle.

      no, Microsoft is not venturing into the web from different angle, that is just a Java clone .......

      >failed dotcom model as an example of what Microsoft are
      > trying to avoid.

      no .com did not fail, u still see Microsoft.com, CNN.com, and many other dotcoms. the thing is, u don't need to make Money directly from the web, u can make your customers more well informed, which in turns that customer will buy more of your product.

      btw: ppl already paid for the Microsoft windows platfrom, why do I need to pay for putting .net apps on the .net server ?? I thought the money ppl paid for the windows platform already paid for the maintainance fee of the .net server, COZ .net is part of windows platform isn't it ??

    13. Re:Don't compare by maxpublic · · Score: 1

      Because somebody must pay the infrastructure you're using?

      That would be me and every other person that pays monthly subscription fees. Contrary to your implication business doesn't subsidize my access or use of the internet one little bit.

      If you have empirical proof to the contrary, please provide it.

      Successful business ventures are not required to have a thriving, useful internet, regardless of what you might think. Whether or not businesses make it on the net might be important to you, but it's of absolutely no interest to me and won't affect my net access in the slightest.

      Again, if you've empirical evidence to the contrary please provide it.

      Max

      --
      My god carries a hammer. Your god died nailed to a tree. Any questions?
  22. Microsoft has the right to make as much money... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...as they can.

    And any of you that like money should be able to relate.

  23. University Students by akula1 · · Score: 1
    My university signed an "agreement" two years ago, wherein Microsoft got 14 million dollars and students get the right to *borrow* a CD to install Windows/Office/Visual Studio. (On a side note, the EULA clearly states that we have the right to install the software, but not the right to burn a CD of it for backup)


    It would make sense for MS to try to hook developers while there still young and impressionable. (Drug dealers in my high school did the same thing. Just say no, kids.)


    Anyone know if Universities like mine are going to get copies of the .NET studio?

    1. Re:University Students by agentkhaki · · Score: 1

      You're at U of M, correct? I'm not sure if we're getting .NET, but it would be nice.

      --
      Ack!
    2. Re:University Students by akula1 · · Score: 1

      Actually I'm at Penn State. I know that Pitt has the same deal with MS also. Apparently they convinced a bunch of schools to buy in on the deal. Our Vice-Provost was shocked when someone told him that not everyone uses Windows and that it therefore didn't benefit all of the students.

    3. Re:University Students by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They do this in the UK as well, but I never bothered with it. I'm tempted by this xp/.net/c# stuff though, so maybe I'll give it a whirl (or wait for mono and gcc to catch up)

    4. Re:University Students by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      www.icc.cc.ms.us

      Slashdot it. It runs NT5.

    5. Re:University Students by Recolada · · Score: 1

      What are you talking about? Have you ever heard of Microsoft University Relations group? They provide universities with MSDN AA for free. MSDN AA is basically like MSDN Enterprise, the licensing includes students. So all faculty and students get any software they want... for free. Your univeristy got screwed. I know its not how it works where I am. (Michigan State University)

  24. Re:I thought Microsoft had learned this lesson bef by swb · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They did. The lesson was to give it away until the competitors selling theirs went away. When they go away, charge as much as you like.

  25. Don't they have enough money already? by 91degrees · · Score: 1

    Microsoft is probably one of the richest corporations in the entire software industry. Every few years, they produce another OS and sell hundreds of copies making thousands of dollars each time. They produce a word processor and spreadsheet that can only be used on their OS, and charge people for that. They charge a cut for the total cost of almost all PCs that are sold. Isn'rt it time they stopped charging people for everything, and realised that there are more important things than money in the world?

    1. Re:Don't they have enough money already? by NeoMage · · Score: 1

      There are a lot of things that Microsoft does for free that people simply take for granted.

      Take technical support for instance. Developing one hotfix for a product, testing it, regression testing it and then deploying and tracking that hotfix, then giving free phone support for all hotfixes..... costs LOTS of money. How do you think they can afford to do all that?

      Also, every SDK is online for free plus a shitload of other content.

      I guess people only pay attention to the things they have to open their wallet for. Take some time to think about the massive operation behind the scenes before you worry about how much Windows XP costs you.

    2. Re:Don't they have enough money already? by Metrol · · Score: 2

      Developing one hotfix for a product, testing it, regression testing it and then deploying and tracking that hotfix, then giving free phone support for all hotfixes..... costs LOTS of money.

      It's still a LOTS cheaper than not fixing your broken product that you've already sold.

      Also, every SDK is online for free plus a shitload of other content.

      This is NOT a giveaway! As folks discuss the ability for Linux to take on the desktop it's quite apparent that a lack of key applications keep Windows on corporate machines. Keeping developers actually developing for your platform is not about being a nice company. This is about having lots of other folks keep your platform viable.

      So yes, I take it for granted that when a company fixes their broken product they should do so at no cost. Is that really so different than an automobile maker recalling and fixing problems with cars they've already sold? Would you expect to have to pay them too?

      --
      The line must be drawn here. This far. No further.
    3. Re:Don't they have enough money already? by Znork · · Score: 1

      Yah, right. Go call MS tech support and see how far you get before you get asked for your credit card number.

      Developing hotfixes? That's the enterprise customers who usually get the pleasure of paying them for fixing the bug. First they get to pay for the defective product, then they get to live with the defects, then they get to pay to have the defects fixed.

    4. Re:Don't they have enough money already? by STUPiDflY · · Score: 2, Funny

      Microsoft is probably one of the richest (ONE of the richest? No way!) corporations in the entire software industry. Every few years (FEW years? Please.), they produce another OS and sell hundreds (HUNDREDS? Oh, c'mon now!) of copies making thousands of dollars ( THOUSANDS!? You stretch the truth, sir.) each time. They produce a word processor and spreadsheet that can only be used on their OS, and charge people for that. They charge a cut for the total cost of almost all PCs that are sold. Isn'rt it time they stopped charging people for everything, and realised that there are more important things than money in the world?


      I'm sorry. I just can't stand to see someone exaggerating MS' position in the software industry like this...

      --


      --------
      Linux is only free if your time is of no value.
    5. Re:Don't they have enough money already? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I get very tired of reading a childs view of the world. When they grow up they will all wanna be Bill Gates.

  26. How many cs majors will just pirate it anyway? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Alot. MS was built on piracy: DOS, Win 3.1, Win95, Visual [anything], etc. All heavily pirated. How many programmers traded compilers among each other in high school and college? Most, I'm sure. I know I got my pascal, Quickbasic, and several C++ compilers from friends. I also gave copies to other friends. I only bought 1 version of dos, never bought windows until 95. Why do people pirate? Look at the price of software. What'll happen if .NET stuff has workable copy protection? It'll flop. Free (pirated or otherwise) or very cheap is REQUIRED to start a new "standard". You need young geeks to work with it, grow with it, learn it, etc.

    1. Re:How many cs majors will just pirate it anyway? by gazbo · · Score: 1

      Soooooooo........Microsoft should allow piracy as part of their business model, to support further growth.
      I like it - suggest it to Billy G, he may even give you a job.

    2. Re:How many cs majors will just pirate it anyway? by Tadeusz · · Score: 1

      Don't worry dude, you'll be able to pirate VS.Net. ;) .NET services on the other hand are pretty much 'unpiratable'. They are services, not products. I agree with you main point. Microsoft wouldn't have their monolopy without the help of the "traded" copies that made them the standard.

    3. Re:How many cs majors will just pirate it anyway? by Znork · · Score: 1

      Microsoft has always used piracy as part of their buisness model and they still are. They would have nowhere near the marketshare they do had they actually opposed piracy.

      Much better to charge lots, allow piracy and have everyone be a criminal they can nail at any point they wish. After all, customers living in fear are much easier to manipulate.

    4. Re:How many cs majors will just pirate it anyway? by Darth+RadaR · · Score: 2

      What'll happen if .NET stuff has workable copy protection? It'll flop.

      Don't worry. Young & poor geeks will still be able to pirate MS products.
      The copy protection for .NET works about as good and has as much thought
      put into it as can be expected from MS. :)

      --
      /*drunk.. fix later*/
    5. Re:How many cs majors will just pirate it anyway? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      READ THE ARTICLE! The $1000 is to connect to the Hailstorm services - which will have millions of potential customers - not for some piratable CD.

  27. For whom the bell tolls... Subscription by swordboy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Make note that this is a subscription, not just a flat, one-time fee. This looks like the beginning of Microsloth's relationship with everyone's wallet.

    --

    Life is the leading cause of death in America.
  28. How does this affect Mono? by rknop · · Score: 2, Troll

    I see things like this, and my first reaction is that it confirms my biases that Miguel de Icaza et al. have gone completely off their rocker by thinking that they can work with Microsoft and support .NET using Mono or anything else developed as true free or open source software.

    How does this affect Mono anyway? Will somebody have to cough up in order to develop Mono? While, sure, Ximian could pay, what happens when Ximian does an Eazel? Nautilus is still with us; if Mono is open source, it would still be with us too, except then who has to pay? Or does M$ then sue the entire open source community for working on a .NET application without anybody paying the fees? Or do we really believe that somehow Mono is going to have unfettered access to the APIs it needs without having to pay?

    Or would it only be the users of Mono who had to pay the fees?

    The lesson I personally would take from this is "stay away." The free software community would do much better to come up with its own solution to the need (if there is one) that .NET is addressing, rather than trying to support the .NET platform. Honestly, if we don't want to hand over all final control of all computing and web standards to Microsoft, we need to be doing everything we can right now to (at best) make them irrelevant, or (at worst) keep just enough of a competing presence in there that open standards can't be summarily ignored.

    -Rob

    1. Re:How does this affect Mono? by tshak · · Score: 2

      It doesn't. As previously mentioned, most people are not throughly reading the article and are jumping to the conclusion that Microsoft's new business model as an "Application Service Provider" somehow equal ".NET Licensing Scheme". I can write 500 websites on the .NET platform and it will cost me $0. Or, I can host my web services in MS's new Datacenters and pay the price mentioned in the article.

      --

      There is no longer anything that can be done with computers that is nontrivial and clearly legal. -- Paul Phillips
  29. Buying what !? by sevensven · · Score: 1
    Quoting from news.com :
    "Muglia said for entry-level, small-scale applications, Microsoft will charge developers $1,000 a year for access to .Net My Services and $250 per application they create.

    For standard use, which Microsoft expects will involve the majority of users, Microsoft will charge $10,000 per year for using .Net My Services and $1,500 per application."


    So, MS is betting that their infrastruture (data centers plus .net software) is bringing something that didn't existed before and that will generate enough money to "entry-level, small scale applications" that will allow them to pay the investment and still get something back ?

    I don't think so, Bill, and I'll keep those $1000 for me, if you don't mind, because there are lots of stock alerts, calendars and messangers for free out there, with open source and backed by real people and not some strange hive minded corporation.

  30. Lol, it good to see microsoft is thinking ahead! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well I will just go over to to the local bookstore and get myself some nice php and perl books, along thousands of my 18 year old friends looking for a programing platform on wich you can make a living in the future.

    Ofcource microsoft (I feel the dollar sign would be really apropriate here but I might set of the lameness filters) will end up giving "vb.NET for kids" "c#.NET for teething kids" away to techical education organizations to turn them in to msce production facilities.

  31. Re: comparison w/ developer connections by CodeMonky · · Score: 1

    Mod this up and up and up please.

    --
    --"Karma is justice without the satisfaction"
  32. Re:I thought Microsoft had learned this lesson bef by a_n_d_e_r_s · · Score: 1

    Well Mucrosoft succeded to drive out IBM by giving away the SDK when IBM required money for it.

    Now Linux are on the verge of driving out Mucrosoft using the same tactic.

    Those that do not learn from history...

    --
    Just saying it like it are.
  33. What does it cost now?? by attobyte · · Score: 1

    In windows what does it cost to write a program? You have to buy a compiler.. $500? But you can write as many programs as you want.

    --
    I didn't use the preview button, so get over it!!!!

    Mike

  34. Misleading by diepan · · Score: 1

    I think the post is misleading, the fees relate to the use of "My Services" (formerly known as HailStorm) only and not to .Net deveopment in general as someone could deduce.

    Quote from the site: "Microsoft on Tuesday announced the first details of what it will charge software developers to build applications linked to its .Net My Services Web services plan."

  35. Well, how much does Linux development cost? by Jagasian · · Score: 2, Flamebait

    How much does it cost to sign up as a Linux developer?

    *snicker*

    1. Re:Well, how much does Linux development cost? by javajerk · · Score: 1
      Well, for one thing:

      Your soul!

      And if you are particularly unlucky, it might take away your social life as well...

      (I already lost count of the number of kernels I had to install in the past month...)

      Lars
    2. Re:Well, how much does Linux development cost? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To quote Don Hopkins (Unix haters): Linux is only free if your time is worthless.

    3. Re:Well, how much does Linux development cost? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your soul and a major slice of your spare time..

    4. Re:Well, how much does Linux development cost? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, at $50 bucks an hour, I can honesty say
      that my first Linux installation cost me greater
      than 20 hours. $1000++ bucks right there...

    5. Re:Well, how much does Linux development cost? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I might suggest next time that you hire an eigth grader. At $50/hr, they probably did a much better job as well and it would only have cost you about $25.

    6. Re:Well, how much does Linux development cost? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... and windows is only worth the money if you have unlimited money to piss away.

  36. Giving away brainshare is a bad idea by Jeppe+Salvesen · · Score: 2, Troll

    Microsoft will be losing brainshare like crazy. The colleges that still teach microsoft technologies will now get yet another good reason to toss out Microsoft technologies. Mine taught us assembler and some pretty interesting details about NT in OS class. That was about it.

    And look where it got me. A great job programming a credit card fraud detection system using Linux, Mysql and Perl. A competitor didn't believe his own eyes when he saw the performance on our solution. He implemented using .NET.

    Anyhow - just say no, kids. And if you mention the $1000 price tag, your manager will be more likely to say go ahead if you propose using open technologies. They are getting pretty fed up with Microsoft licensing.

    That wasn't coherent. I hope some parts were slightly informative.

    --

    Stop the brainwash

    1. Re:Giving away brainshare is a bad idea by CausticPuppy · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That wasn't coherent. I hope some parts were slightly informative.

      Not really, because the article refers to MS's .Net services, not the development environment. You can write applications with visual studio .Net that don't use the services (primarily distributed authentication). You're getting the two confused. You don't even have to use VS .Net since you can download the CLR and compiler for free. Blame Microsoft for creating the blurry line between their own services and their development environment-- there really is a distinction though.

      --
      -CausticPuppy "Of all the people I know, you're certainly one of them." -Somebody I don't know
    2. Re:Giving away brainshare is a bad idea by archen · · Score: 1

      most colleges are moving to Java anyway. JDK = free

    3. Re:Giving away brainshare is a bad idea by pheede · · Score: 1

      That's damn impressive - that your competitor implemented using .NET. Especially since the damn thing is still in beta.
      Could it even be that his code just wasn't very good? Maybe it was the programmers writing sloppy code and not the platform that sucked?

    4. Re:Giving away brainshare is a bad idea by killthiskid · · Score: 1

      Our campus is using Jave / Forte. IDE for free! And it works... damn slow at some points, fortunately we have beefy lab machines.

      I tutor 1st/2nd level CS classes... and I'm happy as hell they are using Java. Lots of free resources, and with good supporting classes, easier to get people to wrap their brains around... it can take a lot of effort to get those first few light bulbs to come on when people are just first diving into programming.

  37. Oh, pay attention... by aziraphale · · Score: 2, Informative

    This is about the cost of becoming a corporate partner for use of My Services (that's what they now call HailStorm, if you weren't paying attention).

    The actual cost of developing for .NET? That'll be a big fat zero, over and above the cost of your Windows licence (although once the BSD port has happened, that'll wipe out that little overhead.

    Download the .NET platform SDK, and you'll find you get the CLR, the framework libraries, the compilers, and all the command line tools you need to play with .NET.

    And that'll cost you nothing. no-thing.

    Yeah, VS.NET will cost you hard earned cash. So will a Windows server licence or two for hosting. But even MS isn't stupid enough to create a barrier for entry so high that nobody jumps over it at all.

    1. Re:Oh, pay attention... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you can't validate the code you write against the "real" system then development isn't complete. If I have to pay $1000 to QA my software (and $250 per application) I think this has an effect. This is not the same as saying you will pay for using the bandwidth or you will pay for the authentication. We are talking development here and not production products. This is a tax on development.

      Why does the same reply keep coming up on this being the services only? The exact same words keeps showing up posts by different authors. Why is that?

  38. Stripped down version? by imrdkl · · Score: 2, Funny

    I wonder if they'll sell me just the exploitable bits? :{)

  39. Re:Rich Bastards by thilmony · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    what do you usually order? I like the subway club.

    --
    YES, there is a McDonald's in Hanoi Square.
  40. Linux by Maxthemax2000 · · Score: 0

    (Score:-1 OffTopic)

    That wont work on linux

    --
    No Sig
  41. Re:I thought Microsoft had learned this lesson bef by NeoMage · · Score: 5, Informative

    Dear o dear, this news item is really going to confuse all you people who like to speak before you have done your homework.

    For starters, this is the ".NET My Services" service, it is NOT the .NET platform itself, nor is it an SDK. People are free to write .NET applications for NOTHING and all the SDK is online at msdn.microsoft.com (fuck the link, you can cut and paste).

    This is no different from the city library developing a .NET service for reserving books or something and charging you to use it.

  42. The giveaway by BadDoggie · · Score: 2
    Giveaway as in "Reveal what's up" and not as in "Here ya go, buddy, have one on me":

    "I think the numbers are quite reasonable. The applications are putting a load on us," Muglia said. "These numbers are barely covering (our costs)...We're not making money with these numbers. We want to make it as friction-free as possible to adopt this new platform."

    Despite some opinions here, $250 is not a lot for a small developer to pay for a year's certification. Look at Sun's licensing scheme. I have no trouble believing MS aren't maknig a penny and may even be losing money on the scheme right now. What did IE development cost them and was it worth it to own the browser market? Lots, and yes. They're very good at this game.

    Think about what's going on: MS want to make it easy for developers. They're offering low prices to get a lot of companies to accept and adopt quickly. Consider IE: "Warn if Site Certificate Invalid" and "Notify if certificate has been revoked" are standard options and default on.

    Once MS can get to critical mass with .NET and their certiication, your mother-in-law is only going to use MS-certified apps. MS will control the content and the prices will then change to ensure a steady profit stream. This is fairly close to a give-away as it stands, and it meshes with the browser they give away already, and which they have set the way they want it.

    Microsoft have added an "E" to their formula: Embrace, Extend, Entrench, Extinguish.

    woof.

    How am I ever going to beat what's-his-name's "Green Eggs and Hamlet" sig?!

  43. Customers being charged, not just developers by SomethingOrOther · · Score: 1

    Microsoft expects to earn most of its profits from .Net My Services through subscriptions charged to consumers
    (snip)
    .Net My Services defines a range of services available to consumers,from online calendar and contact-list access, to document storage and electronic-wallet services.

    ROFLPMP!
    Sounds like a brillient bussiness plan to me!
    Lets try charging people for what they can already get for free. Micro$oft must have really lost the plot.

    Although then again, I'm sure people are stupid enough to see this as the latest 'must have upgrade' and will become tied into using it, in typical microsoft style.

    --
    Anyone quoted by a reporter knows how little they understand
    Don't believe what you read is the truth.
  44. Why would I pay for .NET services? by jkujawa · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Microsoft says customers who sign up for .Net My Services, expected to debut in full next year, can expect to eventually get one-step access to electronic documents, contact lists and calendars; instant alerts on stock changes, weather forecasts and flight delays; and automated transactions, such as online banking, ticket purchases and stock trades, from Microsoft and its partners.

    I get all of these things for free from various places around the net. In a lot of cases, there are even places that will give me one stop shopping ... My Yahoo! comes to mind. Why does M$ think they can get me to pay for this?
    Oh, yeah, I use a Mac and Linux. I couldn't pay for them if I wanted to.

    1. Re:Why would I pay for .NET services? by Evangelion · · Score: 1


      You don't get it. This isn't a stupid pager thing. This is for developers who want to integrate access to those sorts of things in thier apps - that's who is going to pay for it, not the user (directly).

    2. Re:Why would I pay for .NET services? by Kierthos · · Score: 1

      I agree. One step access to electronic documents can be handled in so many easy ways (like carrying a copy oof it on your laptop, carrying a spare disk, having the doc on a web page). Contact lists? Oh you mean like AIM, or ICQ? Calendars? Big deal, use a handheld. Instant alerts on stocks? Okay, show of hands, how many people have enough money tied up in stocks where this is a major concern? Answer: Not that many any more compared to last year. Weather forecasts and flight delays can be found online so easily already that it's not even funny. And the rest of it is just as easy to find.

      Sure, M$ is stuffing all of this in one "easy to get" system, but quite honestly, anyone who needs all/many of these things on a regular basis already has a method of getting what they need worked out. M$ is (once again) innovating nothing. They're hoping and praying they can sink their teeth in deeper into the collective wallets of anyone who is gullible enough to fall for their spiel.

      IMAO,
      Kierthos

      --
      Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
    3. Re:Why would I pay for .NET services? by Kierthos · · Score: 1

      Umm, you're right. I don't get it. Why would I, as a developer, want to continue paying M$ every year to do something that I could either write on my own, find an easier way to do it with other existing programs, or just ignore?

      Alerts on stock quotes? Limited market and already available (and if you play in the stock market enough where you would need alerts available often enough to justify the costs, you probably should just get a broker to handle things for you.)
      Weather forecasts and flight delays? Limited market and easily accessible already. Weather Channel, Headline News, Airport information.
      Contact lists? AIM, ICQ, hell IRC even.

      Yeah, it is sooo damn nifty that they want to make all of this available to developers and charge them for it, but big whoop, I can get most of this stuff already without having to go to M$. And the user will pay indirectly, because the developer will need to cover the costs of renting these services from M$.

      Kierthos

      --
      Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
    4. Re:Why would I pay for .NET services? by ethereal · · Score: 1

      Although, according to Microsoft in the article, the majority of revenue will come directly from the user. That's the whole point of .net: to give Microsoft a direct billing relationship with all the users of their software all the time.

      I still don't see why a user would pay for that when it's free someplace else, but on the other hand the collapse of the Internet ad market is already reducing the amount of free stuff out there. It may be the case in a couple years that we will have to pay for about everything, at which point for many people it will be more convenient to just pay Microsoft rather than set up micropayments for Yahoo news, Weather.com weather reports, stock quotes, etc.

      --

      Your right to not believe: Americans United for Separation of Church and

    5. Re:Why would I pay for .NET services? by mgkimsal2 · · Score: 2

      Sure, M$ is stuffing all of this in one "easy to get" system, but quite honestly, anyone who needs all/many of these things on a regular basis already has a method of getting what they need worked out. M$ is (once again) innovating nothing

      Who said they were innovating? If anything, it IS an innovation to make things "easy to get". Classic "linux v MS" arguments always focus on Linux advocates saying "yeah, but you can do everything under Linux already!" when in fact usually it's a pain in the ass to do most of what accomplished quite easily under Windows. This is changing, but they are still not equal systems in terms of "ease of use". So, if the ONLY thing MS "innovates" is "easy to get" systems, it'll still succeed, because many other people seem to be vehemently AGAINST making things easy, for some unknown reason. It usually seems to boil down to ego - "if you're too stupid to use Linux, etc".

    6. Re:Why would I pay for .NET services? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because for a measly $1000 you get millions of potential customers.

  45. Were Microsoft, we dont' have to! by TheLoneCabbage · · Score: 1

    Anybody remember the old SNL skit about the phone company and a particularly rude operator.
    "Were the phone company, we don't care"

    Welcome to monopoly abuse. They figure that they have such inertia that they no longer have to be nice to developers. It's an interesting theory. What comes first the chicken or the egg = Do IT departments make decisions based on a suporvisory dictator ship, or do they consult their programers on what they would be most productive at.

    .Net is going to be a facinating piece of development software to work with, but will that facination be enough to overcome the tendancy to use what is at hand.

    As a third rought will Visual Studio .Net just get pirated like VS6 and spread that way as a defacto standard... go figure piracy could actually help MS. But given their recent draconian behavior I'd be on the lookout for coded lags intended to identify pirates by thier compiled code (MSWord 2000 already does it). In this case you could develop apps, but couldnt release them untill you payed a tax to MS.

    And keep in mind, indvidual developer arguments are not really effective. MS doesn't care about individuals, only corporations. And other posters haven nailed it on the head:MS wants easy to control corps that can be predicted and culled.

    BTW: Are the advantages of .Net that great? To justify such a steep migration path? Will this herald much larger tarifs in the future?

    1. Re:Were Microsoft, we dont' have to! by aidan+skinner · · Score: 1

      Welcome to monopoly abuse. They figure that they have such inertia that they no longer have to be nice to developers. It's an interesting theory. What comes first the chicken or the egg = Do IT departments make decisions based on a suporvisory dictator ship, or do they consult their programers on what they would be most productive at.

      There isn't anything suporvisory about the dictatorships in most IT departments....

      - Aidan

    2. Re:Were Microsoft, we dont' have to! by AkkarAnadyr · · Score: 1
      Blockquoth the poster:

      Anybody remember the old SNL skit about the phone company and a particularly rude operator.
      "Were the phone company, we don't care"

      Rita Pearlman, if I remember right. Man that was a funny skit. Good opening.



      Nope. Lily Tomlin, doing a reprise of 'Ernestine', the Bell Telephone operator character she created on Laugh-In in the '60s and '70s. If you're in SF, go see Jane Wagner's Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, or look for it when it hits your town. Lily is brilliant in it.

      You're right, Slashdot does make me feel old.

      --

      I bought this house and you know I'm boss
      Ain't no h'aint gonna run me off

    3. Re:Were Microsoft, we dont' have to! by BadDoggie · · Score: 2
      Rita Pearlman, if I remember right. Man that was a funny skit. Good opening

      Oh jeez... you kids today. WTF is Rita Pearlman? Do you mean Rhea Perlman (Cheers), married to Danny DeVito (Taxi)? You rememer incorrectly, which means you probably don't remember life under Ma Bell, not necessarily a bad thing.

      It weren't SNL, either. It was Lily Tomlin who made the character "Ernestine, the phone operator", and not only did she do it every chance she got[1], people couldn't see it enough. There's even a couple of clips on her site, http://www.lilytomlin.com/.

      Your bill was wrong? Not according to their computers. Phone broken? A serviceman can be out to repair it in... ohh... how's two weeks after next Thursday sound? You paid twice for each telephone in your house (they could check using Ringer Equivalence): a pe phone/month charge and a lease charge for the phone itself. You could not use a non-Bell phone and Bell did not sell, they only leased (licensed?) equipment. Are we seeing the similarities with Microsoft yet?

      Us[4] old people still like that Ma Bell character she did (still does, maybe). She could get a whole load of new (geek) fans changing only a few things around, starting with just one vowel in "Ma Bell" and saying "Microsoft" instead of "The Bell System". The break-up of AT&T pretty much did that act in, but she managed a couple post break-up sketches.

      woof.

      [1] Name the lame '70s variety show, she was there, from Glen Campbell's Coury Hour to the Donny & Marie show[2]
      [2] The original one, where they sang a few songs, did sketches that make current SNL not look so bad, and where Marie gave Donnie a pie-in-the-face at least once an episode[3]
      [3] Except one show, where she pushed Donny *into* a giant "pie".
      [4] I know it should be "We old people", but I gave up grammar for the sound of the phrase.

    4. Re:Were Microsoft, we dont' have to! by TheLoneCabbage · · Score: 1

      Tax is something you have to pay to continue to exist. Like income tax to live in this country (that's a good thing).

      As a programmer, it's a tax to me! I have to buy this thing and learn it in the hope that I will someday use it to pay my bills. MS has a tendancy to force people down it's migration path. In other words, in 5 years I wont have the option of developing in VC++ (like I want to now) anymore. I will HAVE to use what MS has said I must. They don't provide options, they dictate terms. Ask VB developers that have been freeking out ever since VB.Net went into beta.

      So it is a tax.

      Sorry for misquoting SNL.

      Inserting identification data into a file without telling the user is draconian. I wouldn't mind so much if they just docmented the "feature" or gave us a switch to shut if off. Some times I don't want all of my data's origins reveald, and not necesarily for duplicitous purposes. I sure as hell don't my registration data included in every resume (word docs) I send out, which is what happens now.

      As to inertia: I meen the inertia of Windows development and the necesity of people like me retaining jobs. We have to program for Windows because we need a Job. Or that Applications must be developed in what MS dicatates for them to operate properly in windows (with some eceptions, Java, GTK etc..). Inertia of the whole cycle, not just the .Net platform. You do realize they will slowly be choking off older development platforms right?

  46. Badly worded headline by CodeMonky · · Score: 2

    MS isn't charging you to develop .NET apps (minus the cost of IDE which you don't need either if you are inclined), they are charging you to use their MyServices stuff (passport, etc) which I think is perfectly reasonable.

    --
    --"Karma is justice without the satisfaction"
  47. Read the EULA carefully by heretic108 · · Score: 1

    ...before you buy.
    And not just the present EULA, but future copies.

    It can't be ruled out that EULAs may have provisions forbidding deployment of code with open source licenses, or containing/facilitating content critical of Microsoft etc.

    --
    -- In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was UNSIGNED, and the main(){} was without form and void...
  48. Sounds like its a bargain. by sane? · · Score: 1
    Hmm, looks good.

    $1000 a year to develop and use .NET, and in doing so help to protect and bolster Microsoft's position. Sounds like fair recompense.

    Sounds like its very worthwhile.


    Hang on, they want ME to pay THEM.....not the other way round?

    Is that right?

    Microsoft. Go for a long walk off a short pier.

  49. This Has Nothing To Do With The SDK by Carnage4Life · · Score: 5, Informative

    One of the reason that so many people are now using Windows 9x/ME/2000 is that Microsoft bascially gave away their SDK back in the days of Win 3.x, while IBM was looking to their OS/2 SDK as part of their revenue model, and charging accordingly.

    The article is about pricing for accessing .NET My Services which used to be called Hailstorm not the .NET Framework SDK.

  50. How about changing the headline by JohnStClair · · Score: 1

    Reading the article, it's clear this only applies to .NET My NET Services, and has nothing to do at all with .NET.

    How much does MS charge people to put content on MSN? I don't know, and I don't really care. If I did want to put stuff there, I'm pretty sure they would charge me, based upon some sort of SLA. Why would it suprise anyone that the same would be true of apps running off MS Messenger?

    Doh! I forgot -- we don't bother to check anything around here.

    Johnh

  51. Re:I thought Microsoft had learned this lesson bef by Dunkirk · · Score: 1

    If there were ever a more perfect example of how Microsoft's monopoly is hurting the market (and individuals), I don't know what it would be. This perfectly shows that because of their presence, they feel that they can do whatever they want.

    Just look at CE. When I was deciding between a Palm and a CE machine, I was extremely tempted to go with the Microsoft-based products because they were giving away their easy-to-use development tools. I didn't. I bought the Palm, but I never spent the $300 on CodeWarrior, nor did I spend the many hours it would have taken to figure out how to make a GUI using the open-source tools.

    As I get on in years, it's increasingly interesting to me how much we can learn from history. We've seen this before. Many times. Once Microsoft gets a lock on a market, they make that market a revenue generator. After taking a bath on IE for years - don't think that didn't take millions to get coded - we're paying for it with higher costs for XP and strong-arm tactics to force companies to upgrade every seat they own (my company allowed themselves to be used).

    Now, they've taken a long enough bath on IIS (which was also offered for free, remember), and they're going to get they're money back on it. The only hope in this case is that they don't have a lock on this market.

    --
    Acts 17:28, "For in Him we live, and move, and have our being."
  52. Is that all??? by vandan · · Score: 1

    I was wondering where all the good marijuana had gotten to. Billy has it!
    After paying $50,000 in Win2k / Office XP fees, we will certainly be looking for ways OUT of this sort of thing, not INTO it.
    We already have StarOffice 5.2 / 6-Beta on most desktops. But it's always good to get a little more motivation.
    Maybe I should go back to trying to get Kylix to stay up for more than 5 minutes...

  53. Not for .NET itself, but for .NET My Services by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    This is not for .NET alone, as in VB, etc, but for .NET My Services.

  54. News Flash! by kireK · · Score: 1

    Microsoft charges money to play in their playground!
    DUHHHHHHHHH

  55. Ximian's Mono by mlefranc · · Score: 1

    What is the relevance of this for the Mono project from Ximian ?

  56. Thin Edge by heretic108 · · Score: 1

    Of itself, it looks innocuous.
    One can argue that any serious programmer will find a way to come up with $1k. It's not that much, considering that any decent musical instrument costs at least $1k, and impoverished musicians find a way to come up with that sort of cash all the time.
    Forgive my paranoid leaning, but I can't rule out that this price may increase exponentially if/when .NET becomes more widespread. Don't forget that there are many well-funded interests whose financial welfare depends on silencing (or at least controlling) the independent creator.

    So don't be surprised to see the $1000 entry level's facilities being eroded to nothing, and real access costing upwards of $50k+

    --
    -- In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was UNSIGNED, and the main(){} was without form and void...
    1. Re:Thin Edge by JabberWokky · · Score: 4, Interesting
      It's not that much, considering that any decent musical instrument costs at least $1k, and impoverished musicians find a way to come up with that sort of cash all the time.

      Yes, but your guitar will last you for decades... when do you think the next version of .Net will be released, and how much do you think it will cost? $1000 over 20 years versus $1000 a year is a very different thing. Also, you *can* get a decent guitar for $160 instead of $1200, and would be advised to while you are learning to play, and you'll discover that the two have very different uses. Playing Bach, I'll use the $1200 guitar. Playing Nick Cave, I'll use the $160 guitar. Switch the two around, and it just doesn't sound as nice - in either direction (a bit of buzz on the bottom E and lots of hollow slapping with my palm on the body adds quite a bit to a song like "Kiss Off", but not to "Sweet Baby James"). If both cost $1000, I wouldn't own both.

      Look at Basic - half the reason so many people learned it in the early 80s is because it was on a ROM on half the computers out there - Apple ][, IBM PC, etc. And for those that didn't have it, it generally came with the OS (GW Basic, BASICA, etc).

      --
      Evan

      --
      "$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
    2. Re:Thin Edge by geekster · · Score: 1

      I would say that my computer qualifies more as an instrument than an entry level cost.
      I think it'd be more like "you need to give us $1000 to play your music here". But I have no interrest to develop for .net so I don't really care anyway.

    3. Re:Thin Edge by SoftwareJanitor · · Score: 2

      Give me a break... You can buy a 'decent' electric guitar for under $300. By decent I mean something with a solid wood body (not plywood or particle board). For that matter you can buy both a decent guitar and amp for well under $1000. You really only need one or two guitars for a whole career if you treat them right. Microsoft's $1000 tax applies to every application you write. Many programmers write several applications a year, so the cost is going to be much higher. And I don't trust Microsoft not to hike the prices way up once they get people locked into this.

    4. Re:Thin Edge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Raise your action a little. The buzz is ordinarily considered "bad".

    5. Re:Thin Edge by JabberWokky · · Score: 1
      Raise your action a little. The buzz is ordinarily considered "bad".

      Yes, but if you listen to Violent Femmes, early Bowie or some other artists, they use that buzz to add texture to emphasis to a piece There are legitimate uses for cheap insturments. An excellent band I saw perform live once used a $10 nylon strung guitar he bought at a Goodwill for $1 that had "Def Leppard Rullez" on the back in magic marker. He wrung a neat mandonlin like counterpoint melody out of that cheap thing that couldn't be done any other way.

      This being off-topic, I killed my +1 bonus already.


      Evan

      --
      "$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
    6. Re:Thin Edge by Magumbo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      A decent guitar, by my definition, is one that sounds good. I completely agree though about getting one for under $300. Here's a little anecdote for you folks that think a "decent guitar" costs $1000+.

      This is a shameless plug, but... all of these songs were played on a mass produced Korean Ibanez with a broken neck (fixed with glue and various scrap nails and screws). The thing is also missing buttons on two tuners. I think it sounds pretty damn decent for a guitar that was found broken in two sitting on top of a neighbor's garbage.

      Original cost? Probably 200 bucks. If sold, it'd be worth about $20 maximum. To me, it's priceless.

    7. Re:Thin Edge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Offtopic so I'm AC'ing. But, that running away song is very cool. Looking at your post it suggests you wrote this? :-)

    8. Re:Thin Edge by errxn · · Score: 1

      That, and use heavier gauge strings. 10s, at least. It'll sound thicker that way, too.

      --
      In Soviet Russia, Chuck Norris will still kick your ass.
    9. Re:Thin Edge by Magumbo · · Score: 1

      Looking at your post it suggests you wrote this?

      Yeah. They're all original, minus YRGM.

    10. Re:Thin Edge by connorbd · · Score: 2

      Yeah... I want a Clapton Strat someday, but the truth is those Fender Squiers are pretty good. (I have a Peavey cheapo Strat clone, but I hate it -- crappy electronics and nonstandard parts...)

      And what does a developer get from getting in on .NET in the first place? Plenty of downsides in it -- Hailstorm, Passport, learning a new language (C#), you name it -- but why in the world do we *need* .NET? The closest MS has come to coming out with anything worthwhile is Xbox, and even that's being greeted with a yawn from gaming aficionadoes.

      I work in a bookstore so I have some idea of what people are looking for information on. Office XP has been a bit of a flop with professional shops (most seem to be staying with Office2K or Office97, it would seem), and most all professional users are hanging onto Win98SE for dear life on the desktop. We don't get many questions from people looking for XP books; the books are there, but not many people seem to be looking for them.

      For what it's worth, I think this might just price the Average Joe Developer out of the market, not that Microsoft probably cares. I would hope that would derail .NET's acceptance, but you never know...

      /Brian

    11. Re:Thin Edge by eah · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Yes, but your guitar will last you for decades...

      ...Not to mention that you could easily, legally, and without harassment buy a used guitar from pawn shops, consignment stores, garage sales, eBay, etc. for a fraction of the price of a new one. I doubt it would be that easy to get you're hands on a used .NET toolkit/license. (even after they've had time to age...)
    12. Re:Thin Edge by SoftwareJanitor · · Score: 2

      On the subject, I recently bought one of those 'coffee table' type books on guitars that was a close-out book at Borders, and it contained a quote to the effect that today was the best time ever when it comes to buying a good sounding guitar for a low price. I believe it, at least for electrics. I'm not so sure about acoustics, as the availability and price of the exotic woods used in really good acoustics is not like it used to be. But electrics sound is mostly from the electronics, and with computerized design and automated mass production, the stuff being built today is about as good as it has ever been and prices are incredibly low.

    13. Re:Thin Edge by LoRider · · Score: 0

      Buy a G and L rather than a Fender. They are excellent quality guitars. I got mine for $500 brand new (Guitar Center was selling all the brands they don't carry because they bought a Musician's Friend store). I love my G and L.

      --
      LoRider
    14. Re:Thin Edge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And what does a developer get from getting in on .NET in the first place? Plenty of downsides in it -- Hailstorm, Passport, learning a new language (C#), you name it -- but why in the world do we *need* .NET? The closest MS has come to coming out with anything worthwhile is Xbox, and even that's being greeted with a yawn from gaming aficionadoes.

      The prices listed are for Hailstorm, not for the rest of it. Besides that, you don't need to learn C# to use .Net (you can use C++ or VB, or any number of other languages being supported by 3rd parties, of course the sticker shock on Active State's port of Perl might take you back on that).

    15. Re:Thin Edge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah well as an impoverished musician I can go to Sam Ash to buy my stuff on credit. No payments for a year and then you have years to pay back the cost of the instruments. Does Microsoft have something similar?

    16. Re:Thin Edge by ichimunki · · Score: 3, Insightful

      And more importantly, if you spend $1000 on a guitar, find you really don't want it, you can probably sell it again for nearly what you paid for it (assuming you weren't ripped off in the first place, it's still in good condition, etc)-- the only way you'll ever get your money out of your .NET investment is to sell software. Good luck, what with Microsoft including anything they can into the OS.

      --
      I do not have a signature
    17. Re:Thin Edge by Magumbo · · Score: 1

      Many people would disagree with me, but I think this also applies to accoustics as well. For example, I picked up an Ovation accoustic/electric for something like 400 bucks. It's got a fiberglass back on it, but IMO, it sounds better than your average all wood accoustic selling in the 200-1000ish range. And to top it off, it has
      extremely low action (feels like an electric!) and a cutaway body so you can reach the higher notes more easily. The engineering they did on these things is simply amazing. I think most ovation haters are just repulsed by the plasticy feel of them, not the tonal qualities.

    18. Re:Thin Edge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ok, thats $1000 per year PLUS $250 for every song you write?

    19. Re:Thin Edge by connorbd · · Score: 2

      Well, okay, you don't *have* to use C# (you could use Java >;-) (J# for the unclued-in)). But the rest still stands. And Hailstorm still scares me.

      /Brian

    20. Re:Thin Edge by SoftwareJanitor · · Score: 2

      I would mostly agree with you on Ovations. My complaint about them isn't necessarily the plasticy feel, but that the shape isn't comfortable to hold -- the back is too rounded. I've got much the same problem with Flying V electrics. First electric I had was a V copy... Love the look of them, hate playing them sitting...

    21. Re:Thin Edge by eric6 · · Score: 1
      alright, i have really basic question (and i'm not trolling, for real).

      from microsoft's point of view, how could they allow people to sell "used" software? when you sell a guitar, you don't have it anymore. only one person can have the guitar. with software, i can still use it after selling it to you. i've essentially made a copy of it and sold it to you.

      at the same time, if i bought the thing i want to be able to sell it. help!

      --

      --
      fight global cooling

    22. Re:Thin Edge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am very curious to know how many Negroes are going to pay for .Net.

    23. Re:Thin Edge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Decent musical instrument for $1K?!

      I bought a Fender Precision Bass for $380 (at a pawn shop in almost new condition, but Guitar Center in Hollywood was selling the exact same bass, same color, some pickups, etc. for $700).

      Brand new good quality guitars and basses can be had for $400 to $700. More importantly, you don't have to pay M$ yearly renewal fees or perhaps royalties off of your sales.

    24. Re:Thin Edge by mSuniX · · Score: 1

      I agree... Comparing a beautiful guitar to .Net, is like comparing an Apple to a PC :)

  57. Pirate WHAT? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The article is referring to microsoft's .Net services, like Passport, etc.
    You're talking about .Net the development environment. Sure you could pirate Visual Studio .Net, but that wouldn't get you on Microsoft's distributed .Net service, which you probably won't ever need to use unless you're developing a web site that is going to use Passport authentication.

    Hell, you can already download the compilers and SDK's from Microsoft for free anyway.

  58. They ARE giving away copies of Visual Studio .NET by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    At least they gave me one copy of their fully-functional beta. I didn't even bother installing it since I don't develop on windows anymore. I couldn't care less about that .NET bullshit.

  59. Double Dipping and the Boston Tea party by NZheretic · · Score: 1

    For Users
    http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-7617467.htm l
    """Microsoft expects to earn most of its profits from .Net My Services through subscriptions charged to consumers. At the same time, it will charge its business partners and developers a small fee to gain access to the .Net My Services user base. Muglia said fees for companies participating in the service will be "nominal."

    Analysts have speculated that Microsoft will charge consumers a base fee of $25 to $50 per year, plus a usage-based fee depending on which services are used and for how long."""

    In the late afternoon of December 16, 1773, men disguised as Indians boarded the tea ships and dumped the tea into Boston harbor.

    Maybe it's time to revisit that particular "tradition" with a few new twists.

  60. Can MS pull it off? by marijnm · · Score: 1

    I'm wondering, it's a much used practice to either give away the client part and ask money for the 'server side' or SDK or the other way around. Now they charge for both. Why don't they give away free access for a limited time? That way, everybody could try it out and walk into the MS trap.

    That's a bit like they did with windows as well. They didn't give it away, but they also didn't try very hard to stop all the copying for personal use, as long as the big companies bought licenses.

    I think (and maybe it's wishfull thinking) MS underestimates the diversity on the Internet. The holes in their Internet related stuff won't help much either...

    MarijnZZ
    (hmmm, a javascript vi editor would be nice...)

  61. Er, this is simple people. by DeepFyre · · Score: 0

    One person has noticed this that I can see so far and hopefully I can reiterate:

    This is only for access to the Passport system for the single sign on.

    Hence the cost per application.

    I think too many people are knee jerk reacting to this, making comments before using their heads.

    My only criticism is that Microsoft say this will only just cover their costs, which I'm a little suspicious of, since bandwidth use would be minimal. I think that the costs would be recovered very quickly given the projections of the number of companies signed up for this. I'm guessing that even eBay have to pay a lot of money for the privilege of this, since I bet they have a custom contract as well.

  62. Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by pubjames · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What I don't understand about Microsoft's .NET strategy is

    a) Where is the evidence of demand for it?
    b) What are the benefits for the customer?

    I regularly buy flights on the net, also books. I tend to use the same companies each time. They have my details, I just need to select the product I require and click the accept button. I know that my info. only resides with them, and I trust them not to spread it around.

    Where does .NET fit into this?

    I am imagining going to a web site, say Amazon. The site asks me "Can Amazon access your hobby list to make recommendations?" Er, sorry, no it can't. "Can Amazon access your calendar so we can find when your birthday is?". Er, nope. "Can Amazon access your address book so we can tell your friends about our great products?" Absolutely not. "Can Amazon access your job profile so we can suggest some business books?". No, and stop asking the dumb questions. The answer is no.

    There are lots of, for instance, on-line calendar services available, which can be accessed from any web enabled device or WAP phone. Do people use them that much? What would Microsoft provide that I can't already get? And would it be worth paying for?

    Please, someone tell me, I'm dying to know. What is the benefit to me, Joe Consumer, of .NET???

    1. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by danaris · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I'm imagining something a little scarier. Going to a website, say A(MS)azon. The site says, "Based on the hobby list I just accessed, here are some recommendations." "Happy birthday, Dan! I just read your calendar through Passport/.NET and found out it's your birthday!" "Here are some business books based on your job profile..." etc. Why should they bother to ask, once MS controls the whole (.)net?
      Of course, that would never work for me, since I will never have a Passport/.NET/M$ account/identity. But would that then mean that I would no longer be able to use the (.)net for anything besides reading news on Slashdot?

      Dan Aris

      --
      Fun. Free. Online. RPG. BattleMaster.
    2. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by nerpdawg · · Score: 1

      nod. i could see advantages to upgrading previous microsoft products, but this is nuts. even if it were cheap, i just plain don't need it. nt and 2000 work. for all their flaws, they can do 99.99% of the things i'm going to need to do with a computer. i can understand the whole "you get roped into upgrades by new apps only being available for the new ms whatever" argument, but i just don't think that's happening this time. either it will, and i'm wrong, or microsoft has gone seriously off the deep end. oh, well. whatever.

    3. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by pubjames · · Score: 2

      The problem as I see it is that nobody is going to tell Microsoft what they need to know in order to make .NET useful (to marketeers). And not just because they are Microsoft, but I think that most people are wary about giving any personal info.:

      Imagine these scenarios:

      a) a telesales person phones you and asks for your date of birth. Average person responds "Go away annoying person!".

      b) a rep. comes to your front door and asks your date of birth. Response "P** off".

      c) you get a mailshot asking for your date of birth. Response - in the bin.

      d) you want to buy a product from a web site. It asks your date of birth. Response: 1/1/1970.

      Do they seriously believe that people are going to give them that info?

    4. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by cholokoy · · Score: 1

      Its total ease of use for the horde of unsuspecting "lambs." For the technically adept, this is not an issue but for an ordinary "joe" or "sue" they find it a nuisance to enter their information everytine they interact with a merchant. The same information they did the other day when they bought a sweater that was on sale. Now they're buying some cool home stereo system and maybe tomorrow, some school stuff for the kids and they are from unique merchants. Question now is, they have to remember their login info for each merchant when they come back to order something else, maybe a new TV that is on sale maybe six months after they bought their stereo system because the merchant is having a sale again. How are they going to remember that information when each merchant has its own way of defining the login info. - some require your phone number, others email, while others a username. How do you remember all of them? Now you will see that passport makes sense. Single sign-on and authentication means no hassle for them. What they do not realize is that their identity can now be easily "hacked" as most of the systems Microsoft creates are insecure.

      --
      Return the bells of Balangiga.
    5. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by pubjames · · Score: 2

      Now they're buying some cool home stereo system and maybe tomorrow, some school stuff for the kids and they are from unique merchants.

      But does this really happen? Do you know of anyone who regularly buys stuff from lots of different merchants on the web?

      I would have thought that the vast majority will stick to only a couple or three merchants, and even then they will be quite picky about what infomation they give to them.

    6. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by bubbha · · Score: 1

      Right on... I do not mind entering my credit card information. I prefer to do that almost always. My address is a bit of a pain but not so much that I want to be taxed by Microsoft to avoid it. My household buys maybe one thing a week over the web. Finally, my login. Would it not have been a lot simpler to associate login management with my client-side browser software rather than have Microsoft keep it for me for a fee? Really, this has to be a simple programming problem. Like I come up on a web page that wants me to login (maybe the browser detects the input tag with the password attribute) and a window pops up with all of my user names and passwords. Then its cut and past or whatever. Really. These guys but the creep in feature-creep. Jeeze.

      --
      I want to be alone with the sandwich
    7. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by Andrewkov · · Score: 2

      Just wait until you can't access 80% of the Internet without a passport account. The next few years should prove to be very interesting.

    8. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by AtariDatacenter · · Score: 2

      It gets even better.

      Joe! I will pay you $5 to take a survey about your Xbox and to let me see which games you play on it. Don't worry. This will be kept confidential in accordance with my "privacy policy" which says I can share it with all my business partners.

      Joe! I see that you have an UltimateTV. Congratulations ! With your permission, I can access your viewing and recording history in order to provide you with a better Internet experience. I'll even throw in a 20% discount off your first purchase! Would you like that?

    9. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do you want fries with that?

    10. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by mgkimsal2 · · Score: 2

      Mozilla does this in the latest versions (login popup) but it doesn't help in many situations. I need to log out of my session and relogin to my machine so Mozilla's using a different profile, and shows a different list of usernames to use. I don't want anyone who can walk up to that machine to be able to use my username/password on multiple websites.

    11. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by DrSpin · · Score: 1

      These people probably find it hard to lock their front door too, but after a couple of VCRs have gone missing, they'll get the message.

      Sure I want my credit card details held by M$, then "Grabbet & Runne Inc, Shoplifters to the unsuspecting" can open an account with M$ and find out who to burgle, and which credit card numbers to use when pulling a scam at the bank.

    12. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by (H)elix1 · · Score: 2

      "Can Amazon access your..."

      Unless, of course, they default everything to YES. We all know how Joe Sixpack changes the default anything...

    13. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by revscat · · Score: 4, Interesting

      d) you want to buy a product from a web site. It asks your date of birth. Response: 1/1/1970.
      Do they seriously believe that people are going to give them that info?

      Yes, they do. And people will.

      I have been involved in setting up several web ventures; a handful of them were even successful. One project I was working on involved credit scoring with hooks into buying insurance and such. Before setting off on this we did some research on how willing people would be to become a part of this, seeing as how it required more than the usual amount of personal information. The company we outsourced the research to came back with some truly unexpected results: over 60% of the respondents either were willing to give their information, or didn't have strong feelings against it. Only around 25% of the people we surveyed responded negatively.

      Remember, this was information such as social security number, credit history, mother's maiden name, and so forth -- the most personal of information. This took us completely by surprise; we were fully expecting this to be a major hurdle to overcome.

      Eventually the effort was killed not by lack of market potential, but by legislation prohibiting the distribution of such information directly to the consumer. (This was backed largely by the credit reporting agencies and their lobbies.)

      So do I beleive that .NET will be successful? Absoultely. If it offers even the most trivial of benefits to consumers, they will flock to it like cattle to the slaughter.

    14. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by thogard · · Score: 1

      2/29/69 is nice for sites that require you to enter a birthday. Another useful one is 2/29/00.

    15. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by dynweb · · Score: 1

      While YOU may not want those features, guess what? A lot of consumers do. And no, you are NOT Joe Consumer, no matter how much you try to convince yourself that you are. Believe it or not, a majority of consumers do, indeed, like that kind of personal touch to their webbrowsing. In the grand scheme of things, your kind of people are a significantly smaller percentage compared to the rest of the population.

    16. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by jefflinwood · · Score: 1

      I saw a demo of Microsoft .NET services at a Microsoft site - all defaults are set to no. You get three choices for each "service" a web site or application wants to access "Yes, always", "Yes, this time only", "No, thanks".

      That actually surprised me, I figured Microsoft would default to Yes, and just count on people clicking through. Definitely different than Scott McNealy's approach ("You have no privacy. Get over it."

    17. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by KlomDark · · Score: 2

      Then 80% of the net does not get my business. No way will I use anything that requires passport. If my bank requires it, I'll get a new bank. If an online store requires it, I'll either surf somewhere else or jump in my car and drive to a real store.

    18. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by bannerman · · Score: 1

      The benefit to you, Joe Consumer, is that with one unified login you can purchase things and sign up for services that DO need that information. It keeps you from needing a list of logins, passwords, credit card numbers and paper records of all your purchases.

      All of that information will be online, secure (in theory) and no matter where you are in the world it will be there for you.

      It's a great service. The only downside is that the world's biggest monopoly owns it, and wants to make bank from it. And they will.

      Now would be a Really Good Time for the open source community to step up and offer a truly secure alternative with better functionality. Good luck guys.

      --
      I keep forgetting my place. Jesus is for losers. Why do I still play to the crowd?
    19. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by pubjames · · Score: 2

      Yes, but my whole point is, whilst it sounds great, does it really reflect reality? For most people, are the benefits really there?

    20. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by epukinsk · · Score: 1

      Well, look at AOL Instant Messenger. A great little app, that stores some useful stuff on AOL's server for you--namely your buddy list. Wherever you go, if you have your username and your password and an internet connection, you have your buddy list.

      Microsoft wants this to happen more and more. You can get your email (hotmail) from anywhere, you can use Word on your buddy's computer who hasn't bought it, you can access your documents from anywhere, your photos, etc... All the good data is stored on the server, all that hangs around locally is the generic program data and a nice big cache.

      So if everything you do needs to grab stuff off the server, do you really want to authenticate everything? Type one user/pwd into winamp, one into AIM, one into Outlook, another for slashdot? No, passport allows you to log in once, and forget about it.

      Yeah, when you buy a couple of things online now, it's not hard to type in a couple of passwords, and have to enter your personal information every now and then, but damn! It gets more and more annoying every day. And when *everything* you do on the computer wants to be authenticated (not a bad idea) it's going to be unbearable.

      I just hope sun or whoever goes ahead and provides a nice open alternative to passport, because it's not a bad idea.

      -Erik

    21. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by Grishnakh · · Score: 2

      a) Where is the evidence of demand for it?
      This isn't about seeing a demand and creating a service to fulfill it. It's about creating a new business market and generating revenue from it.

      b) What are the benefits for the customer?
      This is really irrelevant. The question is, what are the benefits for Microsoft?

      See, when you're a monopoly, questions like "how can I help my customers?" or "how can I take advantage of a market opportunity?" just don't come up. Instead, the questions are "how can I get more money out of my customers?" and "how can I create a new market and make customers pay me?"
      Sure, they need to create some perceived benefits, but when you can control things the way MS does, those benefits don't have to be worthwhile. It's like trading in your 2001 car for the new 2002 model because there's been a minor styling change.
      Is it worth it? No. Will people do it? With MS-ware, yes.

    22. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by DrCode · · Score: 2

      Funny; I've never had to login to buy something on the net, nor do I have to keep lists of credit card numbers and records. Just as in mortar-and-brick stores, my one credit card seems to work everywhere.

    23. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by Elwood+P+Dowd · · Score: 2

      Mod parent up? Even if it's +1, No soul. It's still interesting.

      --

      There are no trails. There are no trees out here.
    24. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by Jason+Earl · · Score: 2

      I honestly don't think so. AOL's working on a competing standard, as is Sun and a pile of banks. None of these standards are going to become so prevalent that sites will require them, at least not anytime soon.

      The few surviving web business all are smart enough to realize that cutting off AOL customers is a long walk off a short pier. And there is no way that AOL is going to support Passport. Nor are people likely to rush out and replace their current PC with something running Windows XP (the prime driver for .NET). Lastly, it is not particularly likely that end users are going to pay a significant amount of money to have their computers automatically fill in web forms. Especially if this feature only works on a handful of sites.

      After all, most folks already have a relationship with all of the sites that they currently visit. Does Microsoft honestly think that people are going to pay to have them manage this information? Even worse, does Microsoft actually think that organizations (like your bank) which have spent a great deal of time and effort on their customer databases are going to turn these crown jewels over to Microsoft? And for what?

      Microsoft is desperate to create a bottleneck for the Internet so that they can create a tollbooth their (in much the same way that you pay your ISP for service). My guess is that they are going to have a hard time finding enough people, both users and developers, to make this a de-facto standard. Especially if one of the other authentication standards can be bundled with a service you already pay for (AOL would like your ISP to provide the service).

      This doesn't even take into account the very real possibility that Microsoft will have a well publicised security breach, or that they won't be able to provide a reliable enough service for it to be useful. If either of those things happens, Passport will be finished for serious (read, your paying extra for it) use.

      You have got to hand it to Microsoft, then have serious chutzpah, but they aren't likely to pull it off (IMHO).

    25. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by maxpublic · · Score: 1

      Prove it. Back it up with something more substantial than your personal opinion, like, say, with *empirical evidence*.

      If you can't do this, you're just arguing out of your ass. Not at all uncommon here, but fun to point out nevertheless.

      Max

      --
      My god carries a hammer. Your god died nailed to a tree. Any questions?
    26. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by Cro+Magnon · · Score: 1

      "2/29/69 is nice for sites that require you to enter a birthday. Another useful one is 2/29/00."

      Website Response: Hi, $your_name, it has come to our attention that you are only 1 years old, which is below the legal age to purchase $your_porn_mag. Therefore we must require either a note from your mother, or an extra $24.99 to ship your copy of $your_porn_mag.
      Have a nice day.

      --
      Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
    27. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't see why a web browser can't include a feature that let's us send our personal info to any shopping site that we want to buy stuff from.

      I don't see the value in MS storing this info for me. When is Mozilla going to stop messing about with chat programs and start making a "send personal info?" popup.

    28. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by gol64738 · · Score: 1

      Just wait until you can't access 80% of the Internet without a passport account. The next few years should prove to be very interesting.

      boy oh boy, i really can't wait for something like that! imagine, it will be a time when free thinkers like myself will be forced into the internet underground. we will finally have a separation between the MS morons and the computer elite.

      a new cyberage will dawn....
      the underground will be strong, the rest will be weak.. wow, just like real life!

    29. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by G00F · · Score: 1

      Notice they didn't have "no to everything".

      --
      The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive
    30. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by G00F · · Score: 1

      just put in the new information, mozilla will ask to save it. The next time your at the site, you will have a choice.

      --
      The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive
    31. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about this:

      http://www.cio.com/behavior/edit/survey7.html

      You=minority (and jackass too)

      Thanks

    32. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by Godwin+O'Hitler · · Score: 1

      Does Microsoft honestly think that people are going to pay to have them manage this information?
      Apparently they do. And I'd be surprised if they'd gone into this blindfold.

      --
      No, your children are not the special ones. Nor are your pets.
    33. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by Godwin+O'Hitler · · Score: 1

      You can get your email (hotmail) from anywhere, you can use Word on your buddy's computer who hasn't bought it, you can access your documents from anywhere, your photos, etc...

      Wouldn't aiming at a market like this be like aiming at a market of people who watch other people's TVs?

      --
      No, your children are not the special ones. Nor are your pets.
    34. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by Isofarro · · Score: 1
      or whoever goes ahead and provides a nice open alternative to passport, because it's not a bad idea.


      Yes, in principle passport is a good idea. But there's a big flaw in its design. You have to go through passport.com to authenticate. That's one single point of failure.

      Yes, Microsoft has stressed they want passport to be a federated service, where details can be stored in other systems - like your pin number for ATMs (hole in the wall). Fine, so someone other than Microsoft holds your data - but they still need to go through passport.com before they can get to the federated other party.

      There is a nice open alternative coming, in the form of dotGNU - which I believe has a much better security and availability structure, and not reliant on one company's server to always be there.

    35. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by maxpublic · · Score: 1

      I guess they don't teach basic science in college anymore.

      The link to the survey you gave dealt with a *self-selected group of people*, no different than a Cosmo magazine survey. As anyone who's had Statistics 101 can tell you, *these surveys mean jack* - they're completely non-scientific and utterly worthless.

      You'll note that I challenged you to provide empirical evidence. Apparently you can't.

      Max

      --
      My god carries a hammer. Your god died nailed to a tree. Any questions?
    36. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by bannerman · · Score: 1

      Funny, the top 5 places where I buy things on the net on a regular basis all require accounts.

      www.cdw.com
      www.compuplus.com
      www.ebay.com (uses e-mail address, thankfully)
      www.microx-press.com
      www.gothicauctions.com

      I work for a small business with limited credit. We have about 6 credit cards. I'm constantly getting a new number from the accountant when he says "Luke's card is maxed out, use Steve's" or something like that ... it's not a big deal, it's just a little extra hassle. And the way I understand the .NET initiative, its going to take care of that problem for me.

      --
      I keep forgetting my place. Jesus is for losers. Why do I still play to the crowd?
    37. Re:Evidence of demand, benefits for customer by bannerman · · Score: 1

      Right now? No. Not enough places use a unified login. In the future? Perhaps. In the future, I hope to go to a web site and have the choice of "Use my Microsoft Passport account" or "Use my [insert name of open source alternative here] account". I'd love to have my web-based e-mail, ebay, slashdot and all of my online merchants use the same login and password- without the risk of someone working at ebay stealing my password and using it at cdw.com or something. I'd love to be able to just give my authorization and have my secure payments made without the hassle of a credit card- and then choose from my list of authorized shipping addresses. Basically, I want a paypal that everyone accepts. That's what Microsoft .NET promises me. And I'd prefer to not use a Microsoft product.

      --
      I keep forgetting my place. Jesus is for losers. Why do I still play to the crowd?
  63. whatszatt .NET by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    .NET, ????

    uhh, I think we made a security hole in your
    NET , its umm really insecure and ahhh well we aren't going to fix it and ahhh, well you can't fix it either. So relax and enjoy it.

    "OBEY!!!!!!!!! ME!!!"
    invader bill gates

    1. Re:whatszatt .NET by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      get it NET, the dot is a hole,
      and we put it there. ITs FUNNY.
      NOW LAUGH, its in your license.

      "OBEY!!!!!!!!! ME!!!"
      invader bill gates

  64. Costs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Muglia said for entry-level, small-scale applications, Microsoft will charge developers $1,000 a year for access to .Net My Services and $250 per application they create.


    .NET My Services = HailStorm. If you want to write HailStorm apps, it will cost you. If you want to write generic .NET apps, it will be free.

  65. they sure think it's worth it... by wiswaud · · Score: 1

    "For people who are doing serious business with this--companies using it for mission-critical needs and need a higher degree of quick support turnaround--we will have custom pricing," Muglia told CNET News.com.

    Do i need to add anything before you start laughing, or is it just me? mission-critical? A .NET heart-lung machine perhaps? It'll cancel all further appointments if things go wrong.

  66. So let me get this straight... by Obsequious · · Score: 1

    Microsoft is basically saying, "We're going to make you use .NET to develop software. We're also going to make you pay for us to maintain the infrastructure so it doesn't cost us anything to make you use it."

    This is insane, and it's classic monopoly pricing. Most companies follow general market principles, like supply and demand, and ubiquity. Sun could never get away with charging consumers for a service and ALSO charging app server vendors for the privilege; the vendors and app developers just wouldn't stand for it. MSFT can get away with it because they're MSFT.

    Could someone please explain to me how this is not leveraging a monopoly on the desktop (which will, realistically, require consumers to use .NET) to get an unrelated market (app developers) to pay money? I'm trying to remain objective here, but...

  67. Lets compare prices: by MongooseCN · · Score: 2

    .NET "Entry-Level" subscription
    Subscription: $1000 per year.
    Cost per application: $250

    .NET "Standard" subscription
    Subscription: $10,000 per year.
    Cost per application: $1500

    Linux
    Subscription: $0 per life
    Cost per application: $0
    I don't get it, is this for support on your product you are developing? What about a university or a person making a program on their free time? There's no way some high school kid is going to pay $1250 to hack around on some code while learning C.

    1. Re:Lets compare prices: by johnh6 · · Score: 1

      It sounds more to me like Microsoft has invented a new way to tax its users. How do you justify charging a developer to write applications for their platform???

      --
      It takes a village of idiots to build a kingdom of morons.
    2. Re:Lets compare prices: by javajerk · · Score: 1

      > .NET "Entry-Level" subscription
      > Subscription: $1000 per year.
      > Cost per application: $250

      > .NET "Standard" subscription
      > Subscription: $10,000 per year.
      > Cost per application: $1500

      > Linux
      > Subscription: $0 per life
      > Cost per application: $0

      Ahh, this only figures out as an advantage for the L-Thing (won't use the forbidden word) because you forgot the TOTAL COST of OWNERSHIP.

      Really, you can't go and compare apples to pears, can you?

      ;-> Lars

      (yeah, sure this was a joke. Never trolling, never.)

    3. Re:Lets compare prices: by Bandman · · Score: 1

      Right. I get your point, and agree with you...BUT
      Lets be honest with ourselves. Has Microsoft ever..EVER wanted to help someone who couldn't benifit them financially? The fact that the high school hacker-larva isn't able to give Microsoft money is the reason that he can't have the subscription.

      Microsoft's history is a string of increasingly brazen attempts to aquire more and more money by means fair and foul. Aquiring money is what business is all about, and capitolism is a Good Thing(tm) in practice, mostly because communism doesn't work out except on paper. In capitolism, you have to play by some rules though. Microsoft has not played by these rules. It's just another attempt in that direction. I can't see why anyone would be suprised...I thought even Microsoft had a limit until they started forcing people to pay > $1000 for a $400 console.

      War is Peace. Choice is Slavery. Ketchup is a Vegetable,

    4. Re:Lets compare prices: by ethereal · · Score: 1

      Well, you mean beyond just charging for MSDN and dev tools, right? Aside from those pre-existing taxes.

      --

      Your right to not believe: Americans United for Separation of Church and

    5. Re:Lets compare prices: by ers81239 · · Score: 1

      You guys have it all wrong.

      .NET My Services are just that: 'Services'.

      For example, lets say you wanted to write an application like quicken/money/gnucash. You could write a bunch of custom interfaces to all the banks, or you could subscribe to Microsofts .Net My Services Banking Service. This gives you one common interface, and Microsoft manages everything. You may not even need a database, because they will do all that for you.

      I'm both a Microsoft and Open Source developer, with all of the anti-Microsoft leanings of your average slashdotter.

      I just thought I'd set the record straight by pointing out that these costs are not for developing applications using the .NET platform, these are fees for accessing Microsoft's .NET services.

      --
      there are 2 kinds of people. those who divide people into 2 kinds, and those who don't.
    6. Re:Lets compare prices: by bmajik · · Score: 2

      No.

      You completely don't understand at all.

      The pricing structure applies to "creating and hosting .NET services that plugin to the Microsoft .NET MyServices system"

      As in, you go to MSN.com, your app is a little side-bar box that users can have on their page...

      This has NOTHING to do with the cost of the VS.NET IDE, the cost of redistributing runtime components, etc etc.

      No, your comparison should look more like this:

      .NET Subscription Prices

      vs.

      Cost of hosting on a site with unfetted access to php, perl, oracle, etc

      or even

      Cost of getting your application on the AOL.COM home page, and plugged into everything an AOL user can do online.

      Guess what - you're not going to get either for free.

      --
      My opinions are my own, and do not necessarily represent those of my employer.
    7. Re:Lets compare prices: by Gummbah · · Score: 1

      Cost of hosting on a site with unfetted access to php, perl, oracle, etc

      Hah, I got all that for free at work. Including personal space. Gotta love running the network and the systems. :)

  68. Re:I thought Microsoft had learned this lesson bef by fulgan · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This is actually a much more complex problem: ".net" is a buzzword use for everything and it's opposit on today's MS products: from "application framework" to productr denomination to general startegie to actual technology to services.

    It's actually becomming a real problem in the developpement because so many people are confused by this that they think that only "VS.net" can create web service applications and that only ".net server" can be used as a server plateform.

  69. Mono has nothing to do with .NET My Services by Carnage4Life · · Score: 2

    I see things like this, and my first reaction is that it confirms my biases that Miguel de Icaza et al. have gone completely off their rocker by thinking that they can work with Microsoft and support .NET using Mono or anything else developed as true free or open source software.

    Mono has nothing to do with .NET My Services a.k.a. Hailstorm. Miguel said as much when I interviewed him for Slashdot and the same thing is on the Mono FAQ page.

    Mono is a development platform, .NET My Services are web services provided by Microsoft. What exactly makes you thing there is any relationship at all?

    1. Re:Mono has nothing to do with .NET My Services by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mono is a development platform, .NET My Services are web services provided by Microsoft. What exactly makes you thing there is any relationship at all?

      Asking how anything microsoft might affect our beloved open source stuff == karma

    2. Re:Mono has nothing to do with .NET My Services by rknop · · Score: 2

      Mono is a development platform, .NET My Services are web services provided by Microsoft. What exactly makes you thing there is any relationship at all?

      From the About Us page on the Ximian website, "...announced Mono Project, a community initiative to develop an open source, Linux-based version of the Microsoft.NET development platform."

      It's little statements like that that make stupid people like me think Mono might just have something to do with .NET.

      The FAQ you point at claims that Mono has nothing to do with Passport-- although I think my questions still stand. Would users have to pay if they use Mono to hook into passport? (Presumably yes.) Would Mono developers have to pay if Mono had the capacity to hook into Passport? (No clue).

      That FAQ doesn't say a damn thing about "My Services", whatever that is. The article says something about creating applications which can hook into "My Services." Is this going to include anything that uses the .NET API (that thing which Mono is emulating)? Again, I don't know. Saying "Mono has nothing to do with .NET My Services" doesn't even come close to addressing any of the questions I ask. Indeed since Mono trumpets itself as a replacement of some of the things in .NET, it's only natural to ask how Mono is affected when there is an article about licensing fees of some portion of .NET (particularly if the vocabulary is not the same as what's in the Mono FAQ).

      -Rob

    3. Re:Mono has nothing to do with .NET My Services by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Right - makes stupid people think it is related.

      now, it is. The charge is for using the dotNET My Services, which is an ONGOING service provided my MS that you can inporporate into your applications.

      Project Mojo is about running the runtime and the SDK which is for running programs (including, but not limited to the services).

      Get it?

    4. Re:Mono has nothing to do with .NET My Services by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good God, you're a dumb-ass. Just admit that you didn't read the article and stop posting bullshit justifications. The fees are for .NET My Services development, which the article clearly states if you had bothered to read it (or if the Slashdot editors had bothered to read it).

    5. Re:Mono has nothing to do with .NET My Services by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What exactly makes you thing there is any relationship at all?

      The answer is that microsoft ahs been putting an unbelievable amount of effort specifically into confusing people to the point where they can no longer tell the exact difference between any of MS's various products under the ".net" umbrella. This is, in fact, the point of ".NET": it will allow microsoft to weld their products together even after they are no longer to explicitly "tie" them together, because everyone will be so confused as to the exact differences between Hailstorm, SOAP, Passport, My Services, MSN, XP, and the four seperate API items that ".NET" comprises that they will wind up believing that six completely distinct products/services are one and buy all six just because they think you have to buy the other five for the one they want to work.

      People complain that if you don't like one of microsoft's products, you can get out at any time and use an alternative. This is innacurate. The technically proficient can get out any time they want, because they understand how the computer works. More than half of the marketshare that makes Microsoft a monopoly, though, literally cannot get out, as they are literally unable to do anything besides walk into CompUSA, say they want a computer to write e-mail on, and do whatever the employee tells them. There is no where else clear to go. They have not the expertise or free time to work out what it means for there to be "alternatives" to the programs they use, how to install those "alternatives", what the difference would be or even whether they would want the alternatives. Their eyes are closed and they are trapped. Only one company at this point is offering to lead anyone out of the mess they're in *in a language that the layperson understands*, and that one company is not worth bothering with because their prices are way higher.

    6. Re:Mono has nothing to do with .NET My Services by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've reprinted this from a conversation on the mono list. Hopefully, it will allay some of your fears.

      >Hello,
      >I was wondering if anyone working on Mono has taken a look at .Net
      >My Services (Hailstorm) and what your thoughts are on it. Is the
      >Mono project/ximian going to try and accomplish the same sort of
      >project as an alternative to the MS approach. I'm sure that the
      >main goal right now is getting Mono into a finished stable form but
      >I was just curious what everyone's thought on it are. I'm not against
      >MS, but I believe that competition/alternatives breed innovation and
      >ultimately benefit everyone.

      .NET My Services has two sides of it:

      * The Service Providers and their backing storage (Passport
      authentication, Alarms, Calendars, etc).

      * A very simple API to access those

      Ximian is not in the business of becoming a backing storage provider, or
      be part of the announced federated authenatication system. Other people
      will (Microsoft, maybe some banks, maybe ISPs, maybe authentication
      authorities, countries, god knows what else).

      The APIs are pretty trivial operations on a database "add record",
      "update record", "delete record" kind of thing. There are no .NET
      classes yet to access them, and I dont think doing some at this points
      makes any sense.

      So the short answer is: no ;-)

      Miguel

  70. Moving to a services business will be painful by mav[LAG] · · Score: 5, Informative
    Microsoft's business right now is selling millions of CDs with the same code on it to as many customers as they can. There are multi-billion dollar niceties like marketing and getting existing customers to buy newer versions of the code but ultimately Microsoft's core business is to get as many of those discs out the door and installed onto customers' hardware - by whatever channel they can.

    .NET and its components represent a shift away from this. A huge shift. Instead of selling code, the company wants to sell services. And when you sell services, a lot of things change about your business model which can be very painful while you're trying to make the move.

    • Services are different from boxed product. Well doh. But more than one IT company has been bitten by that in the past. Charging for a service means customers generally demand that service from you. If they don't get it, they go elsewhere. And on the Web, there are plenty of places to go - most of them for free.
    • Offering services means your infrastructure has to change - radically. Instead of a finely tuned assembly line turning out the latest products, a services-based business must offer the best infrastructure in the game to customers. Don't believe me? Then check out the unique selling points of any systems integrator you can think of. Our Global Network Brings Economies of Scale! We Will Manage Your Infrastructure! Does Microsoft have the reputation for security and reliability that goes with running an infrastructure? Not at the moment. Not even nearly.
    • There are limits to the economies of scale in a services business that aren't there in a software business. As one of the linked articles says, Microsoft has many millions of Windows users out there, but hardly any monthly billing relationships with any of them. It has to find some way of getting to that ideal, but it will find that selling millions of CDs is a very different proposition to selling millions of relationships - because that's what it is. Sure you can wrap it all up in words like Convenience and Access Anytime Anywhere but a service contract is a relationship. It takes post-sale time and effort - something which Microsoft will have to learn because the company doesn't know a hell of a lot about it now.
    • Services represent a trust relationship - packaged software often represents a grudge relationship The lock-in of Windows can be very easily side-stepped in a services model. Don't like the service? Don't sign up for it. Don't like the levels of service you got last month? Don't pay for them. Or go somewhere else.


    Make no mistake - moving from a boxed product model to a services-based model is hard, whether you are a small dealer or Microsoft Corp. And often the two have clashing priorities. At the moment Microsoft spends hundreds of millions making sure its channel works hard at getting product out to the end user. If they ultimately want to move to services-based revenue and electronic upgrades, the channel could well find itself out in the cold eventually.
    --
    --- Hot Shot City is particularly good.
    1. Re:Moving to a services business will be painful by ethereal · · Score: 1

      That is the insightfulness that those Gartner folks are always grasping after. Mod up, please.

      --

      Your right to not believe: Americans United for Separation of Church and

    2. Re:Moving to a services business will be painful by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Add to this the fact that Microsoft has shown very little skill in providing services.

      What is that saying about the leopard and his spots?

    3. Re:Moving to a services business will be painful by Eric+E.+Coe · · Score: 1
      "make no mistake" - You know, I am getting tired of that turn of phrase. Bush is using it constantly and it seems to be an infectious meme. I'm sorry, but if I want to make a mistake (and cometimes, even when I don't), then I will, dammit!!

      (BTW, excellent analsis - no critisism of your commentary intended.)

      --
      An esoteric scratched itch:
      Homeworld Map Maker Tool
    4. Re:Moving to a services business will be painful by bubbha · · Score: 1
      Don't like the service? Don't sign up for it. Don't like the levels of service you got last month? Don't pay for them.


      The assumption here is that the cost of changing is low. Microsoft's challenge will be to make the cost of switching too high. This will be easy from the perspective that they will (unlawfully I believe) leverage their OS to tie you into their services. From the other side, this will be difficult since most companies should know by now that if their service is sufficiently lucrative, Microsoft will copy and brand it - putting the originator and all other competitors out of business.

      The poster also discusses relationships. Remember that it will not just be users that they have to pamper but they will also have to cut deals with other companies to establish a web presence that exploits Microsoft's proprietary (or I should say propriaterily implemented) features.

      --
      I want to be alone with the sandwich
    5. Re:Moving to a services business will be painful by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm glad someone else noticed this too.

    6. Re:Moving to a services business will be painful by Godwin+O'Hitler · · Score: 1

      Doesn't matter if they don't have the know-how or experience. They'll just spend 8.3 zillion dollars to hire people who do.

      --
      No, your children are not the special ones. Nor are your pets.
    7. Re:Moving to a services business will be painful by DemiGeek · · Score: 1
      Although I agree with your statements, there's some more to add to this. The services Microsoft will be offering will be provided to application developers, not to end-users directly. I suspect MS will be one of it's own customers, and integrate applications built on their own services in XP.

      Some scenario's:
      1. MSN will include links to MyInbox
      2. Outlook will offer a service which connects to the online MyInbox and MyCalendar, including synchronization


      The trick here is that they charge application developers, not end-users. MS will create a consumer-hype around the MyServices concept, and get as many people dependent on these services through free teasers like the ones listed above.

      When a certain level of dependency on the services has been reached, every self-respecting company in the consumer-business will have to pay MS to be able to use the services.

  71. Making money coming and going! The MS way! by gmkeegan · · Score: 1

    "I think the numbers are quite reasonable. The applications are putting a load on us," Muglia said. "These numbers are barely covering (our costs)...We're not making money with these numbers.

    Muglia reiterated that the bulk of the revenue needed to keep .Net My Services running will come from customers. "We think the predominant place is to focus on users' value and charging end users (customers) for that value."

    So they cover costs with the developer fees and everything from the users/consumers is profit? And because they're going to get millions of users just because Windows will come preinstalled they'll make millions (or more?)

    BTW, did anyone catch Bill on Frasier?

  72. Yeah, the alternatives free NOW. by Gannoc · · Score: 2
    Don't you guys see the scheme? Sure, a place to get your weather, stock quotes, etc is all available on the web for free now, who needs .NET????

    Until its available to businesses, and all those place that offer free-everything realize they can start charging people for it after paying a $1000 fee to Microsoft. The other scenario is that even if only a minor percentage of people sign up for .NET, the "free" sites lose that advertising revenue.

  73. In related news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...Microsoft announced that the new .Nimda Everybody's Service would be offered as a budget complement to the .Net offering.

  74. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  75. Do the math... by Hagabard · · Score: 1
    Or simply use Currency Converter here.

    This is what I got...

    FXConverter - 164 Currency Converter Results

    Wednesday, October 24, 2001

    10,000 US Dollar = 19,711.4 Australian Dollar
    10,000 Australian Dollar (AUD) = 5,073.20 US Dollar (USD)

    1. Re:Do the math... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think he was referring to the price hike from the US price to the rest of world price... i.e. something that costs $100 in the US is priced at $200 worth (then converted to local currency) in another country. A common practice.

    2. Re:Do the math... by laptop006 · · Score: 1

      That's not the issue and I said that.

      Microsoft, and many other companies *cough*APPLE*cough* DON'T just convert the price, they whack it up by 20-90%, sometimes over 100% has been seen. And NO the GST does not come into it, as almost every person that would buy this would be a business and then its a non-issue.

      --
      /* FUCK - The F-word is here so that you can grep for it */
  76. Re:I thought Microsoft had learned this lesson bef by Jagasian · · Score: 2

    Its called Predatory Pricing , and for a monopoly like Microsoft, such a thing is illegal in the USA. Yet Microsoft has done it with Internet Explorer, their SDKs, and many other things.

    Maybe you can argue that IE is free now, but oh, you just wait. Microsoft will gouge the money out of you someway or another.

  77. .NET / ActiveX by dr_doogie01 · · Score: 1

    Tell me if I'm wrong, but isn't .NET just ActiveX with nobs on?

    So Microsoft are now going to start charging users for use of these 'online' controls in a VB/C++ environment?

    how long will that last for? third-party developers will stamp on them..... or will .NET not allow true 3rd party development?!?!? ramble..ramble...ramble...

    "Guns for show, knives for a pro" - Fletcher

    1. Re:.NET / ActiveX by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >> Tell me if I'm wrong

      You're wrong.

    2. Re:.NET / ActiveX by King+Of+Chat · · Score: 1

      Actually, you're both wrong. In it's first incarnation, local .NET components do sit on top of COM - IIRC remoting is done via SOAP, not DCOM. Dunno what this does to security - at least DCOM has a security model, even if it's only there to drive you mad and blind (try it across NT domains with connection points). This is a bit like the way OLE used to sit on top of DDE (when nobody used it) until they sorted that out.

      As to when the "real thing" will be available, well reading this makes me wonder.

      --
      This sig made only from recycled ASCII
    3. Re:.NET / ActiveX by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, lots of parts of .NET in it's current incarnation are just layers over the standard COM stuff that's been around for a while. What it sounds like from register article is that MS is moving towards a "Pure .NET" environment where these services would be more independant of Windows and integrated with some sort of SQL engine. Maybe their longterm dream of the "Cairo" OOOS will finally ship :) -- but I would be highly suspect of any v. current+2 prediction or MS PR.

  78. Their Plan... by Greyfox · · Score: 2

    Not only will they be setting tolls for developers, but I'll bet you there will be a charge for every transaction that happens on .net. As Microsoft's stated goal is for every economic transaction that occorus on the Internet to go through .net, this means that there will be an unavoidable Microsoft tax on every internet financial transaction. The Microsoft tax on computers will have become a Microsoft tax on everything. They will have successfully have challenged the government's monopoly role in collecting unavoidable taxes.

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

    1. Re:Their Plan... by hattig · · Score: 2
      If .NET using companies have to raise their prices because Microsoft is charging them more all the way down the chain, then great. That means my company which is not using .NET can charge less and thus become even more attractive to the end consumer.

      Honestly, I think that Microsoft will have grabbed a total world monopoly in anything to do with computers by 2010. OS, hardware, network, payments, authentication, subscriptions... everything. And people will pay heavily - Microsoft may charge $250 per application at the moment, but when they have the developers tied in and trapped, that will be $2000pa. Transactions may start at 2% of transaction value, but in a few years that will be 5%, then 10%.

      Competition is good. Make Linux and other free operating systems great. Make them compete on both the desktop and as wonderful integrated servers that are easy to program using simple, easy languages. Improve the paradigm of the internet (uh oh, dilbert time) by having web browsers that can not only load a web page, but can dynamically update that page as a bit of new data arrives (e.g., a new post on /. would appear in the correct place at the time it was posted - no reloading necessary). It doesn't have to be .NET, it can be better, and it can happen sooner, and it can be safe, secure and reliable.

  79. Re:I thought Microsoft had learned this lesson bef by BLAMM! · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    For starters, this is the ".NET My Services" service, it is NOT the .NET platform itself, nor is it an SDK. People are free to write .NET applications for NOTHING and all the SDK is online at msdn.microsoft.com

    This is the point I wanted to comment on. In the article Muglia says, "The applications are putting a load on us. These numbers are barely covering (our costs)...We're not making money with these numbers."

    It seems to me that if .NET is such a burden to support, perhaps they should have made it more intuitive, dev-freindly, and included better documentation. Instead they put out a crap product and expect the user to pay for the extra help they need to actually get anything out of it. Gee, where have we seen this before. Oh yeah, practically every app MS spews out. Except now it seems they're getting more confidant with the grip they have on our collective balls.

  80. So I guess this means no Open Source by thedarkstorm · · Score: 1

    Okay, if the book charge is $1,000 for a small app, and $250 'per' application. How can any grass-roots group want to develop a open source / or free application to give away without some company acting as a benefactor? This smells like a plan to 'weed' these groups away from .NET at all which makes me wonder about the MONO project. WHy couldn't they have done this like Borlands plan with Kylix? One set for free/opensource one set for pay??

    --
    ... hey ... I had a .sig, bu then MicroSo$$ embraced it...
  81. Shock, Surprise by IntelliTubbie · · Score: 3, Funny

    Dear God, what are they? Some kind of proprietary software company??? Next I bet you're going to tell me that the license has restrictions in it!

    Cheers,
    IT

    --

    Power corrupts. PowerPoint corrupts absolutely.

  82. It shuts out the little guy. by Anton+Anatopopov · · Score: 1
    Back in the day, all you needed to code was an apple ][ and a brain. Now you have to have all kinds of software from Micro$oft.

    At prices like these, I see microsoft losing out big time to other platforms like Linux which don't have the extortionate pricing structure.

    Another side-effect will be the large scale piracy of Microsoft's product. Is this what they really want ?

  83. This is not the "price for .net" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is for .Net My Services - which is simply some services offered by Microsoft.

    As far as I know, the Framework will be free, and will include a C# compiler (not sure though), dropping the price to $0 for developing your own stuff, not including the license to the Windoze box of course.

  84. Surprised? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anybody surprised? They are just using the model they've used all along: first it's free and almost looks like a good idea, then you pay a little bit, then you pay licensing fees and they own your application.
    a beauty!

  85. Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Developing .net: $1,000, Having your users get hacked by a security hole: Priceless,
    for everything else there is *card

  86. This is for their supply of .NET services/hosting by Otis_INF · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If you have your own server with the .net runtime, you don't need to pay this fee, since you don't use the My Services service. If you want to store your service at their site, or/and you want to use their services, thus build f.e. a shell around the functionality they provide, you have to pay for the usage of these services, like you have to pay for the cable TV services you get.

    Alternatively, other companies will be providing the same services for perhaps less or free. All you really need is a .NET runtime and VS.net. So stop crying this fee is for building .net applications.

    --
    Never underestimate the relief of true separation of Religion and State.
  87. Re:I thought Microsoft had learned this lesson bef by cholokoy · · Score: 1

    Back then the market was not yet developed as it is now with Microsoft controlling the desktop. IBM's OS/2 was not yet popular as Windows so its not really a good comparisson. The rationale now is that if you develop in the Windows you will have a bigger pond to catch the fish.

    --
    Return the bells of Balangiga.
  88. the .net subscription model by Alien54 · · Score: 2
    when do you think the next version of .Net will be released, and how much do you think it will cost? $1000 over 20 years versus $1000 a year is a very different thing. Also, you *can* get a decent guitar for $160 instead of $1200, and would be advised to while you are learning to play, and you'll discover that the two have very different uses.

    Of course like any thing else, MS will want to take this stuff to the subsctiption model. It will be too tempting other wise.

    This contrasts well with Open Source, where many of the tools a much lower priced.

    Some people will sneer and say you get what you pay for. This is not alway quite true, as some around here will certaainly attest.

    --
    "It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
    1. Re:the .net subscription model by sqlrob · · Score: 2, Informative
      Of course like any thing else, MS will want to take this stuff to the subsctiption model. It will be too tempting other wise.

      I know this is /., but read the article. IT IS $1000/year. Sounds like a subscription to me.

  89. A fee for subscription? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    .WAr3z for .NET Subscription Subscription: $0 per year (Though subjective to ratio sites) Cost per application: $0.00

  90. benefits for vendor, cutsomer screwed. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting
    I am imagining going to a web site, say Amazon. The site asks me "Can Amazon access your hobby list to make recommendations?" Er, sorry, no it can't. "Can Amazon access your calendar so we can find when your birthday is?". Er, nope. "Can Amazon access your address book so we can tell your friends about our great products?" Absolutely not. "Can Amazon access your job profile so we can suggest some business books?". No, and stop asking the dumb questions. The answer is no.

    What makes you think they will ask? Clippy, retired from irritating users, will be trying to compile all of those things to give to whoever wants to tap the information. You can bet all of that crap will be stored on your hard drive in some file that will crash the OS if removed. Why build a four terrabyte database on your victims when you can make them do it for you.

    The most disgusting thing about this is that it may work. M$ will continue to twist the arms of big vendors to maintain the stupid Windoze only OS sales, and they will break their old OSs. Joe sixpacks will either quit buying computers (like he already has), or he will migrate eventually. Getting my own wife to use anything but windoze was like pulling teeth, though she understood why. If the greedheads see the migration working, they will try to tap it. They are all licking their chops.

    If M$ can't collect my information at home, they have me at work. Service packs and "upgrades" have been adding privacy invasion tools on our NT machines for years. Think Outlook, MSIE 5, remote desktops, bleh. Soon the company will be putting up a ton of money for Win2k, which has yet to be tested with more than 150 company applications. XP has been prove to break Word templates, so more costs will be incured there on thousands of broken documents. But it's worth it, right? Gotta keep current.

    -Twitter.

  91. But Microsoft? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You may have valid points but each has the same answer.

    This is Microsoft we are talking about here!!! Would anyone trust any of these functions to MICROSOFT???!!!

    ONLINE BANKING WITH MICROSOFT??? THINK ABOUT IT!!!

  92. Dumbasses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It is not for developing with .NET !!!

    It is for using the .NET "My Services". To develop with .NET all you need is the .NET Frameworks or VS7.

    Get it right you fucking bigots!

  93. Headline misread by richie2000 · · Score: 1

    I first read the headline as "Microsoft gets Trolls as .net developers" and bounced. But it would probably be a good way of getting them off of Slashdot. :-)

    --
    Money for nothing, pix for free
  94. Re:I thought Microsoft had learned this lesson bef by micromoog · · Score: 2
    Now Linux are on the verge of driving out Mucrosoft using the same tactic.

    Just keep telling yourself that.

  95. It's not the service, it's the "users" by nyjx · · Score: 1
    This has been touched on above but not explicitly. Mcrosoft are selling two things:

    1. (Minor): a standard interface to an on-line address book,.. whatever.
    2. (Major) access to their user's data (with the use's permission).
    They are playing a chicken and egg game. Most users will want to store their personal data in one place (their machine or some server) and not enter this in 10,000 times. No how does my application X access Johnny's data when he logs onto my site? It's authenticates the passport and get's its from the microsoft server.

    So you get access to a "service" which allows you to "serve" anybody who uses a passport. If passport becomes the worldwide standard you'd defn be getting your money's worth at $250 a pop. Let's bet that the cost won't stay there, Wait for it 1) to increase, 2) to become "per transaction" based. That's where the money really starts flowing.

    However I believe that the principle behind .NET is a no-brainer good idea - people need a service like this. Clealry however it should be based top to bottom on an open standard so that anybody is able to host personal passport data (e.g. W3c P3P.

    On a realistic note thought I think open ways of doing this will emerge - because many people will want a slice of this pie and people won't be held to ransom. Microsoft will obtain a big first mover advantage but also carries a lot of cost. What is critical is to check out the patent situation in the area (because you can bet your life there will be a large arsenal of them).

    Roll on the OpenSource standard passport + third party providers to host that data.

    --
    .sig
  96. Microsoft is losing it's grip by wackysootroom · · Score: 1

    If MS keeps milking developers for more money, they will ultimately lose out. Developers are the life blood of MS. What would they do without shareware?

    My boss has a saying....
    Microsoft thinks that they have everyone by the balls, but eventually, those people will beome eunuchs (UNIX).

  97. Microsoft tax by BitwizeGHC · · Score: 2

    The "Microsoft tax" historically referred to the cost of bundling Windows in with a computer. This is due to Microsoft's licensing Windows on a per-CPU basis rather than a per-copy basis, essentially making it more practical to bundle Windows with every machine rather than a competitor's OS. Consumers indirectly paid the price for an OEM copy of Windows, or they didn't use computers at all, whether they wanted to or not. The general exceptions to this rule were Mac users and people savvy enough to build their own machine from parts. These days things have changed but most computers still come with the cost of Windows bundled into the price tag. It's a "tax" because you didn't have a choice: it was a computer with Windows or no computer at all.

    If .NET takes off, the implication is that in order to do business online, you will have to sign up (and pay) for a Microsoft Hailstorm account because that's what online business will "standardize" on. However, it's not entirely clear that that will happen, especially with this news...

    --
    N4st0r, trixx0r h0bb1tz0rz! Th3y st0l3 0ur pr3c10uzz!
  98. Great news for Microsoft's competitors? by AtariDatacenter · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Now I get why Microsoft would be eager to get this into Linux, and every other viable competitor. .Net isn't about just web services. It is about programs. You can be charged $5/month for a backup program after 30 days. Of $2/month for extra calendar features. Or $1/month for an online backup of your config files.

    If *just* Windows goes into renting software, then the Linux community has a GREAT advantage. Why? People absolutely HATE having the meter running. Any service which has a flat rate, when reasonably priced and sometimes even slightly more expensive, will ALWAYS win the consumer. It is a historical truth.
    If only Windows adopts .Net, and the renting of software, they're writing the first chapter in the mainstreaming of Linux. That is, providing, the Linux community doesn't adopt .Net!

    Seems like it would be a strategic advantage NOT to have software rental on Linux. And this is a plus for the open source community.

    1. Re:Great news for Microsoft's competitors? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't forget it has to be easy to use, even for complete morons. All that nimda stuff? Cuz morons run Windows, right? Well these people should be able to run Linux, but make sure you've got big descriptive labes next to everything for them.

  99. Opposing Open Source by heikkile · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I think it is pretty obvious that one of the main purposes of this move is to exclude Open Source development from this platform. Not many contributors to OS software are willing to pay such amounts, and you can bet there is a clause that prevents people from sharing one MyServices license even inside the same project.

    --

    In Murphy We Turst

    1. Re:Opposing Open Source by smaughster · · Score: 2

      I think it is pretty obvious that your pretty obvious statement is based on nothing since the article is about .net services, not about developing for .net As a developer, you can build your own services, for no fee.

      --
      I intend to live forever, so far so good.
  100. has Microsoft gone .NUTS ?! by beanerspace · · Score: 2

    This is unbelievable. It would also seem like good news to other aspects of the distributed object market.

    Consider Java/Corba, SOAP and even DCOM if MSFT continues to support it in it's current implementation (I doub it). None of them combined get as much press attention, as .NET ... but might when free-lance writers that drive various e-zines and smaller publications have to ante up $1000 bucks to get their twinky little demo to work.

    And talk about timing, how many cost-cutting/concious companies will want to add as much as $10,000 to the cost of a project. Even at that price, Government contractors are going to think twice.

    It seems to me as of Microsoft is going down the same path of destruction Digital Equipment and IBM traveled when they were kings of their hills. This thought that "nobody gets fired for hiring/using microsoft" ... and that the customer will pay exorbitant prices to play.

    Moreover, it makes the time right for third party companies to begin creating component libraries that will either emulate, compete or obviate .NET's own component-warez.

  101. The learned their lesson from Walmart by glrotate · · Score: 1

    Send the competition packing, and then jack up the prices.

  102. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  103. Oh my ... you have to pay money? by bruthasj · · Score: 1

    Uh, not sure if most slashdotters heard of a thing called MSDN. No, it's not a knock-off of OSDN. Yes it was there before.

    Point is not to flame. But rather state, people are going to pay money, even to develop for an operating system (OS applies here since they'll make an OS out of .NET in the future, just watch). I know it's an amazing concept. But companies, developers and the like have been purchasing compilers and/or libraries to develop for operating systems since the dawn of Unix. Nothing new. I mean, look at those VB catalogs floating around. They charged like 200~300 bucks for some stupid form making utility. And the funning thing, is people buy them!

    MSDN subscriptions were in the 1,000 ~ 10,000 range, so nothing new or amazing there. Yeah the library is bigger than .NET. But, hey, if you were a monolopy, what would you do? People are going to buy this stuff.

  104. .NET Data Centers & Terrorist Attacks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    From the CNET article:

    The company is constructing multiple data centers to house information related to the service, and it will recruit partner companies to offer services and host customer data.

    Suppose, for the sake of argument, that .NET was a fantastic success, and that it became an integral part of the business infrastructure (like the power grid, or the telco grid, or the natural gas pipelines). Are these .NET data centers in freestanding, cheesy office parks, or are they deep underground in hardened bunkers? Do these data centers have multiple, redundant power sources? Do they have have multiple, redundant lines to the internet backbone? Do their air filtration systems filter out that pesky anthrax bacterium?

  105. as a wise man once told me... by Rai · · Score: 1

    there is no money in hell.

  106. It's too bad... by denzo · · Score: 2
    I wonder if Microsoft plans on offering an Academic discount below the quoted $1,000 entry-level price. My first tastes of programming were with MS's QBasic, then in college I bought their Academic version of Visual Basic (which was bundled with NT 4.0 for free) for $99. That was quite a deal, especially for the bundle. It made the appearance that Microsoft had a market for learners on a tight budget.

    If $1,000 is going to be the lowest Microsoft will go, then I'm sad to say that beginning developers in the Windows/.NET arena will be stifled. They'll approad other venues, such as Linux, Qt, etc. for learning how to program.

    I guess in the current economy, inexperienced, entry-level programmers are not important to Microsoft, making it that much harder for college graduates to get their foot in the door.

  107. Look at Sun ['s Java]? by Martin+S. · · Score: 2

    OK,

    Sun's Java: open, mature, stable, scalable, portable, free licence.
    Microsoft .Net: closed, immature, unstable, unscalable, expensive ($1,000-$10,000+) licence.

    1. Re:Look at Sun ['s Java]? by ayjay29 · · Score: 1

      Look at This...

      (.NET 28 times faster than J2EE).

      Also, the SDK is FREE!!!

      --
      Offtopic, Inflammatory, Inappropriate, Illegal, or Offensive comments might be moderated up.
    2. Re:Look at Sun ['s Java]? by Martin+S. · · Score: 2

      Look at This [gotdotnet.com]...

      FUD (c) Microsoft 2001.

      http://slashdot.org/~ayjay29/

      By a M$ astroTurfer.

    3. Re:Look at Sun ['s Java]? by scrytch · · Score: 2

      Sun's Java: open, mature, stable, scalable, portable, free licence.

      Mature? Please. The language isn't even at feature parity with C++, the runtime still uses a fixed size heap (and proceeds to eat up half of it for hello world). Hell, it didn't even begin supporting mousewheels until recently ... does drag and drop from the outside environment even work yet?

      I can write .NET apps in haskell and mercury. When will Sun start recognizing other languages on their VM, let alone supporting their efforts?

      --
      I've finally had it: until slashdot gets article moderation, I am not coming back.
    4. Re:Look at Sun ['s Java]? by ayjay29 · · Score: 1

      FUD?

      No, not really, it's a benchmark test with a ported version of Sun's application. OK, I admit it's probably biased, but I would be interested to see Sun's response to it.

      M$ astroTurfer?

      No again. I have worked on projects with MS (COM, ASP) and Linux - Java - Oracle. I like both platforms, they both have their strengths.

      I have been working with .NET for four months, I was sceptical at first, but to me it looks like a very good platform.

      You seem to be dissing it as unstable, it's in beta, and it seems pretty solid to me. And have you any experience of .NET being unscalable?

      --
      Offtopic, Inflammatory, Inappropriate, Illegal, or Offensive comments might be moderated up.
    5. Re:Look at Sun ['s Java]? by NutscrapeSucks · · Score: 1

      The only thing I'll toss out there is that the Oracle app server isn't known to be one of the best performing, and AFAIK isn't widely used.

      But, that's sorta the point of J2EE -- lots of different implementations with different characteristics. The results are somewhat believable (Java is not Fast), but would be a hellava lot more credible if there was more than one J2EE server tested (for example BEA and IBM, which have a huge marketshare lead over the others). But, on "gotdotnet.com", it's probably more of a feelgood for the MS customers anyway.

      --
      Whenever I hear the word 'Innovation', I reach for my pistol.
  108. Some stuff offered. by cadfael · · Score: 1
    Microsoft says customers who sign up for .Net My Services, expected to debut in full next year, can expect to eventually get one-step access to electronic documents, contact lists and calendars; instant alerts on stock changes, weather forecasts and flight delays; and automated transactions, such as online banking, ticket purchases and stock trades, from Microsoft and its partners.

    I do not mean to mindlessly flame Bill and the boys, but don't we already have all this, and the fact that I have different options from people doing their own solutions imply that maybe one single overarching architecture in the background may actually limit innovation?

    I know that the cost of doing business with M$ in Canada has opened the door where I work to Linux and other open source solutions to internal software and product development. I also know that we can't afford the lack of consistency from M$ in their security, format, and licensing models.

    Some folks here say that the best thing going for Linux is that its not M$. To an extent, that is true. I think rather it is that Linux is not managed in the way M$ is.

    --
    -- The Hollow Man
    Non illegitimati carborundum
  109. smells like... by Sfing_ter · · Score: 1

    Hmmmm... M$ licensing models seem to me to be corporate terrorism :}

    That goat is lying!

    --
    A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing. Emo Philips
  110. Re:I thought Microsoft had learned this lesson bef by mgkimsal2 · · Score: 2

    "...perhaps they should have made it more intuitive, dev-freindly, and included better documentation"

    I think the costs they were referring to were bandwidth costs, not other costs like documentation and support.

  111. Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I hate to point this out, but that's still cheaper than paying TrollTech for the right to use Qt (and by extension, KDE)!!!

  112. dolls by Jacek+Poplawski · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Microsoft sets tolls?
    Microsoft should rather sell dolls. That will be better for anyone.

  113. Re:I thought Microsoft had learned this lesson bef by barneyfoo · · Score: 1

    Just keep telling yourself that.

    Ok :)

    Linux is great. I dont know why anyone would pay $200 for Windows 2000 Fischer Price edition, when redhat 7.2 is really really awesome, and comes with so much software. I am a power user, granted, and therefore I know quality when I see it. And MS really only has marketing and momentum. As things stand right now, it can barely compete on quality/quantity/price of software.

    I think it's great to be optimistic about linux growth. Nobody knows what's gonna happen in 5 years, and people that preclude possibilities are lying to themselves. Plain and simple.

  114. Re:I thought Microsoft had learned this lesson bef by 21mhz · · Score: 1

    Wrong. It's like a library charging for development of software that uses their services.
    Pfft. I'd rather connect clients with the library across the road, which charges for service only.

    --
    My exception safety is -fno-exceptions.
  115. UNTRUE -- Mod Parent Down! by Saeger · · Score: 1
    MS plans to charge devs who want to integrate MS's own centralized brew of ".NET My Services" into their apps. (and I hope those plans backfire -- I don't want a Passport status quo forced on me.)

    The core SDK has always been free (except for some juicy core stuff that MS keeps to themselves, and their "shared source partners.")

    --
    Power to the Peaceful
  116. Whew! by Starky · · Score: 1
    "I think the numbers are quite reasonable. The applications are putting a load on us," [Microsoft's] Muglia said. "These numbers are barely covering (our costs)...We're not making money with these numbers."


    Thank heaven.


    They already spend (from what I read) $100-$200 million / year developing and improving Internet Explorer. (I hope my source is correct on that, though I can't seem to dig it up just now.) That is roughly the GDP of the country of Dominica. And they pay other companies to adopt it as their browser technology. What could their motivation possibly be to spend this much money on a product they give away for free? (Yes, that last question was a joke, folks ;-)


    Frankly, I was worried the company was going to go bankrupt.

    --
    -- My choice of computing platform is a symbol of my individuality and belief in personal freedom.
  117. Sensationalist Slashdotters: .NET != MyServices by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    It's been said by other posters, but I have to join in and remind people.

    It's about time that /. is no longer filled with sensational slashdotter bullshit.

    Yes, bullshit.

    CNet's articles are normally pretty crappy, but /.'s linkup, especially the subject line (and the description too) are complete and total bullshit, intended to rally anti-MS slashdotters around something the article's title and description misstate.

    How many times do informed .NET developers have to remind the general /. community that:

    .NET !=

    • MyServices
    • Subscription software
    • Software as a service
    • Forced use of Passport
    • the list goes on and on...

    People who are in desperate need of getting an informed clue before posting:

    • all article submitters
    • all /. article moderators
    • most slashdotters posting replies to .NET posts
  118. Re:I thought Microsoft had learned this lesson bef by corwinss · · Score: 1

    God Bless our Free Country, where it takes so long to get through all the appeals courts that Microshaft will have already shut the competitor down by the time the supreme court gives them a slap on the wrist and says "pay them $100 million of the $3 billion you have earned while waiting on appeals, sorry that you had to spend another $100 million on lawyers - that only leaves you with $2.8 billion. Life must be so hard. Oh yeah - don't do this again"

    --
    "Who am I" and "Why are we here" are not the problems.
    The problem is when someone asks "Why are they here."
  119. There's no intelligent life down here... by sheldon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Scotty beam me up!

    Once again it becomes blazingly obvious that the bulk of Microsoft's detractors haven't a clue which end they use to go to the bathroom, much less what .Net is.

    This is about .Net services. You know... the idea of web services? Like this is what it'll cost if you want to utilize Microsoft's services as part of your system.

    Has nothing to do with the .Net programming environment, which from everything I have seen thus far indicated will be available free as in beer. Except for a number of value add pieces, such as the IDE, ASP.Net caching, and a performance tuned compiler.

  120. A little light.. by eastshores · · Score: 1

    I have been looking at .NET for a long time now and at first I too was somewhat confused about what the definition was. .NET is not a product or a server or even a platform, rather it is all of these things. The .NET My Services in my opinion should not be considered a part of .NET the platform, instead think of it in the sense of an ASP (provider not page) Microsoft is using the web services platform built on .NET specifications to develop a suite of services. End users will see the use of these services for free by way of applications which have integrated the services. The developers who integrate the Microsoft services into their application will have to pay a fee, similar to licensing components for application development today. The price may seem a little steep but realize that not only are they providing a functional service for your application, they provide the infrastructure to ensure that the service is available to meet your application user's demands. I myself don't see the day that I would use the .NET My Services, however, the platform that is exposed by the collective effort from Microsoft across their development and server products is a very exciting one. So I respect .NET for what I feel is a good vision for distributed development, and where I don't agree with Microsoft, I am not forced to.

  121. Poor M$ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My Services is going to fail miserably and go the route of the Channels bar of Windows 98. People are much smarter than they used to be about all this.

  122. Re:I thought Microsoft had learned this lesson bef by Ratbert42 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Anyone remember an old game (c. 1989) from Business Week that used to come in boxes of 5.25" floppies? You would run Microsoft for 5 years and see how well you did. The best I could do was to practically give away the software for 3 years, then once I had market share crank up the prices 1000%. Maybe Gates & ape-boy Ballme[r] have been playing that game.

  123. Re:This is for their supply of .NET services/hosti by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    But since "My Services" includes the passport auth it might as well be mandatory.

    You can't run your own passport system. What exactly would be the point of running your own .net server without paying for "My Services"?

    ??

  124. Re:I thought Microsoft had learned this lesson bef by mooneyguy · · Score: 1
    ...all you people who like to speak before you have done your homework.

    On slashdot??? Never!

    ;-)
    --
    Mooney Guy N4074H
  125. Re:I thought Microsoft had learned this lesson bef by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    'Exactly when did we become IBM?' - Bill Gates

  126. As usual ...people get screwed.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They do like they always do ..get you interrested, make promises then turn around and screw you.

    Im not a ms fan .and i hope that the patent the other company has on .net technologies will explode in their face.
    My morro is simple .. do anything you can to reduce them to the same they reduced their competition.Dismantle them,put them in peices and close them.

  127. Re:I thought Microsoft had learned this lesson bef by BLAMM! · · Score: 1

    A $1000 from every developer for _bandwidth_? I accept the possibility of this, but I think the cost of manning a help desk to cover tech support requests is a more likey source of these costs. And I maintain the position that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Putting an ounce effort into making a better product results in dropping a pound of tech support. Unfortunately when the goal is greed and not pride in one's work, there is no incentive for putting in that extra effort.

  128. It's the old pusher game... by deepvoid · · Score: 1

    You know how the pusher gives you free sample of a controlled substance? You get addicted and the next thing the prices get real high, since you FEEL you can't do without.

    There isn't a single technology in MS which isn't available elsewhere. The fools who geared their entire IT departments to rely on MS for development have only themselves to blame, since they took the free sample, and since their jobs now depend upon getting the stuff, MS will be happy to provide it at higher and higher const. Since the stuff is by all accounts "controlled", the developer is stuck in the nasty situation by a culture willing to settle for MS mediocrity.

    Oh, well...

    If you want the fancy IDE and the semi-useful library of interfaces to the OS, you can do one of two things; you can continue to pay an escalating rate or you can brew you own.

    Warning: Just like the established pushers are the ones who call the authorities in when they get small time competition, you can count on MS to call in the authorities (via lawsuits, guerrila licensing, namebrand misdirection) anytime somebody tries to produce an OS and development system to compete with theirs. Think BeOS among others. Remember IBM produced a stable, resilient OS with all of the features of Windows 95 but made the mistake of licensing the technology to MS; Can you say OS2 Warp?

    --
    Fast machines, powerfull AI, impulsive invention,... All I lack is a good espresso machine!
  129. Re:I thought Microsoft had learned this lesson bef by BLAMM! · · Score: 1

    Modded down as flamebait. My first time! I feel like a real /.er now. :)

  130. .NET Platform not free either by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    The .NET platform in the beta program is free for download. However, it is very doubtfull that it will remain so once it goes live.

    Perhaps when they mention the 1000/year it's for the priviledge to work with C# ?

  131. Re:Rich Bastards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Foot long grilled chicken on parmesan oregano w/ everything except for hot peppers & onion, with BBQ sauce. Thems good eatings!

  132. ".NET" vs ".NET My services" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There seems to be some confusion here...

    from what I can figure...

    .NET is the platform

    .NET My Services is a set of services built on the .NET platform.

    is this the case?

    What if you don't want to use any of the My Services stuff and just want to build your own code from scratch on the .NET platform?

    from the article -
    "Developers can choose to support some or all of those [services] in the applications they develop and will be charged accordingly"

  133. Piracy fo Microsoft Products... by johnsbra · · Score: 1

    With the high cost of the .net tech, people will be less apt to pay for the tech. This will lead to even more piracy. hmmm do you think they ever thought about offering less costly software and better service, no, microsoft would have to be good for that to happen.

  134. Verizon and mission critical services? by Topgun1 · · Score: 1

    And I thought their wireless service couldn't get any worse!

  135. Thank Goodness! by jcr · · Score: 2

    I was afraid that MicroSquish might actually have been bright enough to make this whole ".net" scheme catch on.

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    1. Re:Thank Goodness! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was afraid that you might actually have been bright enough to read the article rather than to accept outright lie that Slashdot put forth in this story. Oh well, some people never learn, I guess.

  136. Re:I thought Microsoft had learned this lesson bef by mydigitalself · · Score: 1

    maybe you haven't been using the same .NET beta that myself a number of my friends have been using...

    as JAVA developers we have been incredibly impressed by the "intuitive" and "dev-friendly" environment. up till now the best JAVA IDE we've come across is IntelliJ, but now this .NET thing kicks its ass!

    for instance...
    right-click discover services. ba-da-bing, the IDE queries your web server, extracts all the WSDL it needs and you are immediately ready to start developing thin clients on top of web servers.

    right-click, new web service... creates all the class structures for you and takes you right to the "insert your code here".

    um... intuitive package importing, collapsable code regions and namespaces...

    of course, this is all lost on hard-core linux fans. "if i can't do it in vi then it sucks".

    maybe you should give the beta a test drive and you may be as impressed as we are (and yes, we have all been VERY anti-microsoft for the last three years).

  137. Re:Piracy Ploy... by oogoody · · Score: 1

    Maybe MS is actually trying to increase piracy
    with their toll so they can use it as more
    evidence for copyright martial law?

  138. JDK = free by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think that you wanted
    JDK.price = free
    ||
    JDK.price == free

  139. .NET application developement is free by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Let's be really clear on this: developing .NET applications is free, but developer access to some .NET services are not. In fact, ASP.NET (next gen server side scripting language) is free with your purchase of a Microsoft OS that includes IIS. ASP.NET compiles to Microsofts new CLR (Common Language Runtime), the same platfrom that all other .NET languages compile to. This free application development software will compile to binaries that are as fast as C.

    What a .NET developer will pay for is access to .NET software services run by Microsoft (essentially some large applications like Passport and My Services). A developer can, for a price, integrate data and functionality from these .NET services into their own applications. Passport and My Services do sound like useful things to leverage in third party apps providing that they are widely used and stable. I see no reason why a developer shouldn't pay for access to these services, especially considering how much money Microsoft has dumped into them.

    As a developer, you could use ASP.NET and write your own web services for user authentication, calendars, and productivity software at no cost to you.

  140. Similar to.. by NSupremo · · Score: 1

    Charging for the Xbox. Something no person wants, needs, or enjoys.

    --
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_U.S._Election_co ntroversies_and_irregularities
  141. Concerts? by smittyoneeach · · Score: 1

    Are we in danger of some benefit concerts for the small developer? Code Aid, featuring all of your usual country-rock suspects...

    --
    Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
  142. missing the point. by *weasel · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's not for the costs of the tools (ala msdn).

    It's for the costs of access to their prebuilt -services-. If you have the skill to write and support your own shopping cart, you don't shell out $1000.

    I mean, the price bar was set by Verisign. They'll charge you $1400 a year for a certificate and 'payment services' (cybercash).

    If you snub Verisign and hit up Thawte ($125) for your certificate, and MS for your 'payment services' ($1000) it looks like you're -saving- $375 to me. And that's if MS .Net services -don't- include CA. (which would be a shameful oversight)

    Is everyone so terrified of writing their own web calendar that they feel 'robbed' by 'having' to buy .Net services from MS?

    But I suppose writing a well-thought article/post that points out that MS is -saving- you money (albeit a slight bit), or even just releasing their services at the already established going rate, just doesn't get the hits.

    --
    // "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"
  143. And .Net is offering us WHAT NEW SERVICES? by TheCeltic · · Score: 0

    I can already use online calendars, email, checking, banking, stock quotes, etc FOR FREE... so what exactly is the rational by which I would justify PAYING for these?
    Let's see... Robinhood=take from the rich give to poor, MS=take from poor and give to the rich. They want to take free services and charge people for them. If society is dumb enough to go for that, then we deserve what we get.

    --
    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= - The Celtic - =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
  144. Summarizing 101 by Fizzlewhiff · · Score: 1

    When you summarize an article, why not include the important facts, like what it is that exactly costs money. It's using the .Net services, you know the ones Microsoft is hosting that has everyones panties in a wad over privacy and what not. They're not charging you extra for writing in ASP.NET or VB.NET or C#. It's only if you use their passport and wallet shiznit.

    --

    'Same speed C but faster'
  145. Why do you care? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Really, I don't think it would be possible for me to care less. I develop everything on Linux, the only thing I use windows for is games. I have not run into a situation where I HAD to do anything on windows in a long time. Linux is a much better platform for development, in ANY field (well I don't know about games).

    I really don't see how them overcharging their customers really affects me at all. Except possibly that I will get more business because MS developers are a dime a dozen and we are a rarer breed....thanks MS, charge more if you like :P

    jik-

    1. Re:Why do you care? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do people moderate here anymore? I have watched my comments to see if any get made a 1 or -1 or anything for a while now and noticed that they simply stay at 0. So, noone gets to see if what I said is usefull or not....

      Is there anyone that moderates or is it that your comments only get through if your a slashdot user?

      jik-

  146. Re:More on the broad front (ChiliSoft ASP by eddy+the+lip · · Score: 1

    FWIW, i think this is the ASP tool you're talking about.


    i've never used it, but others have told me it's fab. Alternatives, woohoo!

    --

    This is the voice of World Control. I bring you Peace.

  147. Suddenly by gluteus · · Score: 0

    $399 for an MP3 player doesn't sound so bad.

  148. heavy costs by tregoweth · · Score: 1

    "Today Microsoft revealed the cost of signing up as a developer to .Net. Entry level is $1,000. Standard level $10,000. Custom support will cost even more."

    Is that with or without your soul?

    1. Re:heavy costs by alecto · · Score: 1
      Is that with or without your soul?

      I imagine that's not an issue any more for those seriously considering the offer.

  149. FUD is funny by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This fee is to use MS's .NET MyServices, not to write code. Developing for .NET and deciding to plug into MS's prebuilt services are 2 totally different things.

    You can write code for .NET for *free*, yes, free. VB.NET, C#, J#, C++, free. But my guess is that wouldn't exactly make headlines at /.

    You just need .NET framework (free). It comes with all the compilers.

  150. The reason I learned java... by SCHecklerX · · Score: 2

    ...was that the C libraries on OS/2 cost so damned much money, and I was in it as a hobbyist. It was NOT worth it for me to pay that kind of money, even though I could have made some pretty nice apps. So instead I made a lot of REXX scripts, since that is what I had on the OS for free (well...included, anyway) and later learned java, as it was a free download.

  151. Can you people read??? by Da_Monk · · Score: 2, Informative

    The article even says that this is for ".net my services" normal SDK models will still apply for everyday use. write all the stock quote and weather apps you want for free. jesus. learn to read an article before spouting off on just how evil and criminally insane microsoft is. anyone who has a copy of beta2 of studio .net also has a copy of the sdk, so charging a thousand for it really does not make much sense...

  152. Offtopic!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    you stupid fucks, this is very *ON* topic. I've been in development for over the past 10 years, and hell if me or my organization is going to pay for this! This is seriously fucking stupid that they would charge this much, let alone charging at all! Nobody is going to use it. Microsoft will be out of business within the next 10 years. They will realize nobody is paying then they will lower the prices and offer incentives to come back to the old .NET only to realize that everyone is comfortable with Linux now and doesn't even want to USE crappy Microsoft products, let alone pay for them.

  153. Re:I thought Microsoft had learned this lesson bef by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Except that makes no sense. You're paying the same $1,250 whether you distribute a single copy of your application, or a million copies. The cost has no relationship to the bandwidth.

    This is simply a development tax. Want to write software for Windows? Open your wallet.

  154. Re:I thought Microsoft had learned this lesson bef by Iamthefallen · · Score: 1

    Linux is great. I dont know why anyone would pay $200 for Windows 2000 Fischer Price edition, when redhat 7.2 is really really awesome, and comes with so much software. I am a power user, granted, and therefore I know quality when I see it. And MS really only has marketing and momentum. As things stand right now, it can barely compete on quality/quantity/price of software.

    Why? Because I know windows, when I start the computer up I want to be able to use the applications in it right away. When it's work time I don't really care much what OS is better or how much support/applications/information is avaliable, I know how to use it already. I boot up, start my app, and create the stuff I'm there to create. Biggest reason for not swapping to Linux is that I don't know it that well, I'm not tempted to spend weeks or months trying to figure out an OS when I already know one, no matter how much greater the other one is.

    But some day...when I have the time...

    --
    Wax-Museum Fire Results In Hundreds Of New Danny DeVito Statues
  155. Another misleading Post Title... by Master_Ruthless · · Score: 1

    The "toll" mentioned here is only to licence certain web services that many casual hobyists and professional developers alike will never need or use. You don't want to pay for Passport integration? Do your own e-wallet, pretty much everyone does now. You don't have to pay 10,000$ to get use of the IDE, as posters on this thread are suggesting.

  156. CORBA, ActiveX, JavaBeans.... .Net by Ars-Fartsica · · Score: 2
    Well, the demand for .Net is as contrived as the "demand" that was supposed to materialize for every other code transport protocol that has been rammed down our throats over the last decade.

    I remember being told I would be dead in the water unless my code was transportable as a JavaBean...well, I'm still here....and where is that universal repository of JavaBeans everyone is hitting?

    The more this stuff is rammed down our throats, the better plain old sockets look.

  157. Was monkey boy wrong? by evil-beaver · · Score: 1

    Wasn't it Steve Ballmer that said "Developers! Developers! Developers!" ? has that standard MS line changed to "charge developers! charge developers! charge developers!" ?

  158. Essential misunderstanding by mmaddox · · Score: 2

    It's apparent that there is a serious misunderstanding here. .NET is not "locked" to some subscription model. Rather, .NET's "My Services" is locked to the subscription model.

    My Services is part of Microsoft's drive to make the Web Services - provided by MS in a centralized format - available to the developer community. Clients who need the "stability" of the Microsoft hosting and management will be able to make use of it through their annual subscription.

    Developers who want to write Windows code will only have to purchase MS's development tools (Visual Studio .NET), or make use of another environment (Codewarrior, GCC, etc.). You can STILL write native code for Windows without a subscription, and you can write managed code (C#, VB, managed C++) without a subscription. You can even write your own web services without a subscription. If you want to plug into the MS My Services model, though, you pay.

    It distresses me to see such poor journalism, particularly when press about .NET is already confused enough with Microsoft's TLA-of-the-week and other marketing-speak. Do a little research, people, before you start spouting off!

    --

    What'dya mean there's no BLINK tag!?

  159. Stop the Presses!!!! by NinjaWorm · · Score: 1

    What the heck is Bill thinking ?
    Should he not wait and see what the court is going to do to MS befor they make a bunch of plans.
    What if they rule that .NET and XP must be put on hold for 2 years until so that the companies that weree damaged as a result of MS's missuse of its Monopoly.
    Or what if they rule that I.E. must not be packaged with XP. Would that not mean that .NET standards could be out the window in a years time ?
    Bill must be snorten the good stuff to maintane a ego like that when his company is about to be beatin into submission by the courts.

  160. .NET hah by BryanHughes · · Score: 0

    haha. $1000? Too bad .NET isn't going to be worth the waste of a good $0.05 CD-R.

  161. Re:I thought Microsoft had learned this lesson bef by micromoog · · Score: 2
    I think it's great to be optimistic about linux growth. Nobody knows what's gonna happen in 5 years...

    I agree. I just don't think Linux is "on the verge of driving out Microsoft" anytime soon. It takes a whole lot more than a good product to become a market leader.

  162. bullshit, troll by Erris · · Score: 1
    Let's quote the article:
    Developers can choose to support some or all of those in the applications they develop and will be charged accordingly.

    Muglia said for entry-level, small-scale applications, Microsoft will charge developers $1,000 a year for access to .Net My Services and $250 per application they create.

    For standard use, which Microsoft expects will involve the majority of users, Microsoft will charge $10,000 per year for using .Net My Services and $1,500 per application.

    If that's not a toll on development, I'm not sure what is. The client is charged per application that the developer was charged to make. That's some some service service, thank you, thank you.

    Talk about a viral liscense. They must consider anything that links to their new "Service" a derivative work. The only problem is that it's not going to be catching.

    --
    DMCA, Hollings, Palladium. What might have sounded like paranoia is now common sense.
  163. Even scarier by DrCode · · Score: 2
    You get a letter from you insurance company:


    Good news! In order to make paying your bill more convenient and to keep our costs low, we have signed up with MS Passport so that you can (and MUST) easily pay your bill on the .NET.


    This is followed by similar letters from your mortgage bank, phone company, electric utility...

  164. WRONG! by devleopard · · Score: 1

    Read the article - it's about charging developers for access to .NET services. However, the post sounds like MS is charging for access to the .NET platform - talk about FUD.

    --
    The best thing about a boolean is even if you are wrong, you are only off by a bit.
  165. Re:I thought Microsoft had learned this lesson bef by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Let me get this straight...you want us to go and, like, click on the link and, like, read the article for ourselves?

    Putz.

  166. Subscribing to VS by DCMonkey · · Score: 1

    Back before Windows 95 came out you could (and probably wanted to) subscribe to Visual C++ to keep up with the releases as they tweaked support for Windows 95 in the months leading up to its release. IIRC a year got you the 4.X series and then 5.0

    --
    DCMonkey
  167. Re:I thought Microsoft had learned this lesson bef by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Basicly the charges listed here would be like paying for web hosting with a lot of extra services. The list of services on MS' website is basicly a set of collaboration, authentication, document storage, email and voice mail, calendars, contact lists, and a number of other services. Basicly it's like asking MS to host your web site, your file server, applications servers, and email, and also allow you to write your own software to host on their servers which can access any of the information stored on or retrieved by their servers (that you've payed for access to).

  168. More "insert your code here" crap by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 2, Insightful

    How about "If I can't read it with a non-MS editor then it sucks?"

    First of all, any IDE that generates a mountain of horsesh8t and then sends your cursor to the "insert your code here" point is IMHO garbage. One thing I like about Java (compared to, say, MS Visual anything) is the way that the "generated code" is hidden in superclasses. MS sticks it in your face. (Well, Sun does it too in Forte for Java, but that's why nobody uses it.)

    Collapsible code regions sounds like a bad idea, like the "design time objects" that MS encourages you to use in Visual Studio. With those, you're basically editing gibberish that's being presented to you as text (with "cool looking" COM-based GUIs embedded within the text). But whooo, you don't have to scroll over that collapsed code now! I've had to migrate an app away from ASP where the code monkeys used design time objects and I believe their sole purpose is to make porting away from NT impossible. Any ASP that was inflicted with these warts had to be completely rewritten from scratch.

    In any case, an IDE with cool right-clicks in it seems like a really poor reason to introduce vendor lock-in with such a nasty vendor. How easy is it to maintain these thin clients? Can they be migrated to other platforms or are you essentially editing closed-format object code (being viewed as source) with that IDE? When choosing a technology on which to base a project, you should look at the longer-term strategy, like ease of maintenance, adherence to standards, etc. MS is hoping they can offer you an IDE with some flashy toys in it and fool you into going down their one-way street.

    Maybe I'd try it out anyway, but it would mean installing IIS, which I would like to avoid. Which is pointless, because it's probably running on half the computers in the office without anyone knowing anyway. How about "right-click discover patches for latest security holes"? Now THAT would be useful.

    1. Re:More "insert your code here" crap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >How about "right-click discover patches for latest security holes"? Now THAT would be useful.

      Yeah, but then my right click button would wear out.

    2. Re:More "insert your code here" crap by mydigitalself · · Score: 1

      i completely grok your points, however you took my post out of context. i didn't go into much detail as the POINT i was addressing was the "intuitiveness" and "user-friendlyness" of .NET. i've developed on just about anything and everything for well over 10 years and when i picked up the .NET ide and played with it it was incredibly INTUITIVE and USER-FRIENDLY.

      yes you can be an idiot who doesn't know how to program and make a mess of things giving more senior coders a tough time to refactor/migrate your code with it. but i'll cast my mind back to when i first learnt perl and think about some of the reall bad code that i wrote during that period.

      don't blame the ide for bad coding techniques...

  169. Proposed Consent Decree between MS and US by john1843 · · Score: 1

    Microsoft's monopolistic market power is based on its leverage of the Windows/Office platform and revenue streams. Therefore, the best resolution to the antitrust case is one which increases competition by reducing the ability of Microsoft to leverage the platform and revenue or otherwise invade the privacy of the customer as a result of the foregoing.

    Here is my proposed consent decree:

    1.).Net Framework: Microsoft must open source (BSD license) the .Net framework including any modifications thereof or successors thereto. This will permit two things: a.) relatively rapid porting of the framework to alternative operating systems while eliminating potential inconsistencies due to multiple framework development efforts (i.e. freeing resources devoted to the redundant Mono framework) and b.) platform independent applications (i.e. applications written exclusively to the .Net platform should be capable of running on Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, etc. a la Java). Microsoft would be bound by decree to certain source and object code publishing and documentation requirements a la Sun's voluntary efforts related to OpenOffice.org.

    2.)Incorporation of Nonessential Functionality in Products: Microsoft must offer a simple means of avoiding the installation of or removing the following functionality post-installation: a.) all applications or network-based services not integral to the proper operation and maintenance of the Windows operating system (i.e. explorer, movie maker, photo editor, imaging software, media player, messenger, games, MSN Explorer plus whatever .NET services evolves into); b.) any network authentication source; c.) any advertising or sponsorship links. Related to this, Microsoft must not require the use of any network based service to use its desktop applications (i.e. why is Passport required to open my Money 2002 file?). Microsoft must further x.) permit third parties to utilize an API facilitating equivalent functionality for authentication and provision of services to the Windows platform/Microsoft desktop application as that used by Microsoft for .NET services; y.) give users the ability to chose any third party provider; and z.) simplify that choice by listing alternative providers with 2% or more of the market for any given class of network service where this list is sorted by market share.

    3.)Privacy Management: Microsoft must not distribute any information it gathers about its customers/users to any third party without the explicit, opt-in, time-limited consent of that user. Microsoft must provide a simple, secure method for any customer/user to view all information that Microsoft has gathered with respect to that user and permit the customer/user to delete any or all of such information. Microsoft must use its "best efforts" to secure such information from accidental divulgence to third parties. Absent explicit, opt-in, time-limited consent, Microsoft must demonstrate that it does not utilize internally or distribute certain user information including contacts, calendar, and financial information except as absolutely essential to the provision of that service.

    4.)Pricing/Marketing Restrictions: Microsoft must offer standardized, openly published pricing to any customer for a given volume of products. Microsoft must not enter into any agreement which would have the contractual or de facto result of exclusivity for Microsoft.

    5.)Compatibility with Other Office Programs: Microsoft must offer the OpenOffice XML file filters for the following Microsoft Office versions: 97, 2000 and XP via a download from its Office support website and must bundle these filters as one of the default supported file formats in any future Office version or any service pack for an existing Office version. Further, Microsoft must publish the file formats for the following desktop applications: Office including FrontPage and Publisher, Visio, Project, and Money including the current version, two past generations, and all future versions (three months prior to commercial release of a product utilizing the new format). The DOJ would reserve the right to add to this list of products.

    6.)Open Source Device Drivers: Except to the extent that such incorporates third party copyrights, Microsoft must release the technical specifications and open-source (BSD license) its source code, to every extent possible, for all devices and peripherals supported by the current version of Windows (i.e. scanners, printers, sound cards, video cards, hard drives, USB devices, controller cards and chips). Program management for this effort will be similar to the open source .NET framework program. With respect to third party copyrights, Microsoft must use its best efforts to obtain a BSD license for such copyright so as to permit full disclosure and incorporation of that code in third party operating systems.

    What would you add or do differently?

  170. The trolls are wild, must be that login problem by Erris · · Score: 1

    Yes, they are going to CHARGE you just for writing an application, as was pointed out by M$ themselves in the first few lines of the article. I suppose they will try to levy that toll on anyone who wrote an application using their tools or not, so free developers may need apply before they try. At that rate the city library might have to pay a M$ tax too. I'd prefer my libray used a reasonable, peer reviewed free program like postgress or mysequel and left M$ out.

    --
    DMCA, Hollings, Palladium. What might have sounded like paranoia is now common sense.
    1. Re:The trolls are wild, must be that login problem by vinay · · Score: 1

      No, you misread.

      They're going to charge developers to access microsoft run .net services such as calendars, wallet, and doc. storage services.

      .Net My Services defines a range of services available to consumers, from online calendar and contact-list access, to document storage and electronic-wallet services. Developers can choose to support some or all of those in the applications they develop and will be charged accordingly.
  171. This story is misleading FUD by Zico · · Score: 5, Informative

    What Microsoft is charging for is for developers to hook into the .NET MyServices (formerly Hailstorm). That's because to use them, you'll be using Microsoft's own resources, i.e., Microsoft's bandwidth and servers. I think most people by now realize that the business model of giving this away for free is just about dead.


    If you're developing apps that don't use .NET MyServices, there's no charge. You can download the .NET Framework SDK for free and write your programs in Notepad if you want. This includes standalone apps, server apps, and even web services -- just not .NET MyServices.


    Unless Slashdot is just interested in shoving FUD down the throat of all its readers -- and I would hope you'd consider it an insult to your intelligence that they would do this -- they really should correct the story submission.

    1. Re:This story is misleading FUD by Wesley+Felter · · Score: 2

      It's true that .NET My Services will cost money to run, but why not charge the users whose data is being stored/manipulated? Why charge app developers?

    2. Re:This story is misleading FUD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Simply because Microsoft doesn sell it's service ot end users. It expect the company it will bill that small amount to charge the end user and ultimatly gain money. That's the whole business plan.

  172. Zope? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Since Zope does everything that .NET reportedly does, and has been doing so longer, who cares?

  173. Of course... by --daz-- · · Score: 1

    ... the headline is completely misrepresentative of the actual content of the article and the readily available facts of the matter.

    The real truth is that if you want to use Microsoft's .NET My Services (Calendar, contact-list, document storage, etc) in YOUR application, you can license it from MS for a fee.

    Last I checked, there are companies who actually charge people for the use of their software, I don't think this is anything new.

    As always, the real truth is that developing for .NET is free and always will be.

  174. User's identity by krym · · Score: 1

    Have you ever thought that actually Passport service does not bind accounts to real identities. This should limit possible applications drastically. Probably only PKI can solve it, but I think that most people do not want to pay $100 for a cert...

  175. Re:I thought Microsoft had learned this lesson bef by Hard_Code · · Score: 2

    Excuse me while I reserve my judgement on whether Microsoft will not eventually find a way to make these heretofore distinct and independent entities, merged in one ugly ball that is only available through a process which ultimately deposits money one way or another in Microsoft's pockets.

    --

    It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
  176. Worthless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This has been the most absolutely worthless discussion on Slashdot in a long time. There are PLENTY of interesting things to discuss about .NET MyServices, but because of the FUD in the posting, it never got discussed.

    Sheep. Sheep. Sheep.

  177. You have to pay? by Publicus · · Score: 1

    I never knew that! That's ridiculous! I thought the real potential for free software was for the end user - not having to pay for software. I never knew that it cost so much money just to develop software for MS platforms. I would think that as the free tools for developing software for the *nixes get better that will become a real strength.

    --

    My Karma was at 49, then they switched to words. All that work for nothing!

    1. Re:You have to pay? by talks_to_birds · · Score: 1
      • "..I never knew that it cost so much money just to develop software for MS platforms.."

      Really?

      Check out the costs for MSDN, and all the tools...

      You'll pay, and pay, and pay...

      How did you think BillyG got so rich, anyway?

      t_t_b

      --
      I'm on PJ's "enemies" list! Are you?
  178. Free compiler? by qubezz · · Score: 1

    I'll be impressed when the Windows installation has a 'development' checkbox that installs source and IDE. But anyway... I wonder how many development houses are going to jump on C# and start programming on it. If you've got lots of seasoned VC++ programmers, why even bother? One more way to keep people on Windows is make them learn a non-portable language... QT is money to license for commercial products, but at least you can take QT and the skills learned on it to other platforms.

  179. only a monopoly can charge for dev tools by Splork · · Score: 2

    Only a monopoly or seriously vertical market (game consoles for example) can charge the people that it -needs- in order for it to stay popular for development tools necessary to create applications for their platform.

  180. keep dreaming by ihxo · · Score: 0

    Linux is so far behind in the "user friendly" department, I think it'll be 2010 (maybe even 2020) before we see any competition of Linux and Microsoft on the desktop market.

    and before Linux win microsoft in the desktop market, there's no way Linux can win the server market.

    so keep dreaming .....

    1. Re:keep dreaming by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not really. I have many friends that have never down any heavy computer use in the past save MS Office. They have much more trouble getting "up and running" than windows users moving to Linux. It all comes down to what your "mother" OS teaches you. If it is Linux, you will always think linux is easier with limited exposure to windows and vice versa.

      I have uses DOS,Windows,applesoft (?apple2),Mac OS, *nix, vms, etc. and after a while it all seems the same. Different eye candy same thing.

  181. Re:I thought Microsoft had learned this lesson bef by Daimaou · · Score: 1

    My experience with these you-don't-have-to-be-a-developer-we'll-code-for-yo u IDEs is that many programmers that use them tend to write poor code.

    Most of the time, developers that use these IDEs exclusively are either poorly trained to begin with or become lazy and depend to much on them. Their code reflects that.

    I own JBuilder, and I use it occasionally because I like it's debugger, but most of the time, I just code in a regular old text editor and compile at the command line.

    I would rather keep my options open and my talents sharp, so I'll avoid MS's latest code generator.

  182. What? by 4of12 · · Score: 2

    I thought Microsoft was interested in gaining developer support for their new initiative.

    I can hardly see where setting trolls for .NET would help gain developer goodwill.

    Besides, posters on Slashdot will troll for free - but I doubt they'd pay for the privilege to troll .NOT

    --
    "Provided by the management for your protection."
  183. Don't forget the "just the demo" M$ hell joke by epsalon · · Score: 2

    Well, that's the demo. In the real thing they'll switch the default. WIN3.1 let you see your file extentions by default. WIN9x does not.

  184. If you succeed, you will fail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What happens if you create a wildly successful .NET service? You will never reap the ultimate benefits - MS will make their own version and drive you out of business through their control of the system. Don't waste your time.

  185. So long microsoft, take your last breath. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well... this is the final straw. Now Microsoft has decided not only to charge users on a yearly basis, but also to impose a tax on developers. Ten thousand bucks!

    This sort of nonsense can do nothing to harm the OpenSource community : far from it - it strengthens our cause. The OS is free, the development tools are free, the support is plentiful. How can microsoft win?

    X

  186. MODERATE UP! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well observed.

  187. Two different groups by crucini · · Score: 2
    How do you argue with this:

    Since you ask, I argue that the people making Microsoft products are smarter than the people using Microsoft products. A framer building a wooden house might drive nails with a heavy framing hammer (emacs). But a home owner replacing a rotted board on his front steps might use a lighter hammer (IDE), even though it's not 'optimally efficient'. His ego is not linked to driving home the nail in two strokes. He just wants to get the job done, preferrably without smashing his thumb.

    Can you imagine an average Windows application programmer developing his own elsip?

    Of course, if the home owner advocates using a tack hammer to build a house, he's going to get laughed at.
  188. bullshit. by Erris · · Score: 1
    Let's quote the article:

    Developers can choose to support some or all of those in the applications they develop and will be charged accordingly.

    Muglia said for entry-level, small-scale applications, Microsoft will charge developers $1,000 a year for access to .Net My Services and $250 per application they create.

    For standard use, which Microsoft expects will involve the majority of users, Microsoft will charge $10,000 per year for using .Net My Services and $1,500 per application.

    That's hard to misread. Why Muglia would say that they will charge $250 for the privalige of writing an application if it was not so? Of course, such "service" fees are nothing next to what M$ thinks people will pay to use their garbage.

    --
    DMCA, Hollings, Palladium. What might have sounded like paranoia is now common sense.
  189. Why pay ?????? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    why pay for a sollution that has not prove yet it is working when we can have Java for free and use powerfull & opensourced software and applications servers on our linux for free ????

    I pray for the dotGNU and dotStuff to stop their job, because the only thing that they will do is advertise the MS solution and not make the migration to linux easier !!!

    Java is not the panacea, but it as evolve since years gaining hors-power and maturity ... i do think that linux/*bsd that will to build an enterprise solution should realy have a look at what java may offer ;-)

    "What can java do for you today ?"
    :o)

    AR34'.

  190. JBuilder is great! by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 1

    They withhold a bunch of useful features from the free versions, but you can write patches and implement them yourself using their Opentools API. It's not really an "API"- they just left a portion of the internal classes unobfuscated and gave them public modifiers, so you can monkey with them. The documentation sucks- it's basically a bunch of javadocs that are riddled here and there with 404s so you have to use System.out.println() and reflection to figure out how to do certain things. And it's a bit overengineered from running on top of Swing. But it does let you alter the IDE and add stuff to it. I added a "delete dependency cache" button to my toolbar to get around their annoying "rebuild doesn't really rebuild" bug, and a split pane view for viewing two source code files at once. Their class-structure tree and their debugger seem to be off limits to customization, however.

  191. aaa by crucini · · Score: 2

    Many people have pointed out that this is the price of access to Hailstorm, not the price of access to .NET. I don't think the prices are high at all. In fact, they're ridiculously low for entry into the controlled space Microsoft is creating. Why don't you phone up Yahoo and Google and ask what they'd charge to let you put your button on their site? I don't think it will be as cheap as what MS is offering.

    I'm seeing a lot of comments like "Programmers will .... " or "Programmers won't .... ". These posters don't seem to realize that the software industry is shaped by businesses, not programmers. If you are hired to work on a .NET-related project, you will not know or care what arrangement the company made with Microsoft. The audience that Microsoft is addressing will not balk at the price.

  192. Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Damn, you are stupid.

  193. I think the whole .net idea stinks! by G00F · · Score: 1

    I don't want any single place where my information is store unless I have FULL and COMPLETE control on what is in there, and who can access it.

    Such a place exists for me. Its my computer. It sits behind a nice little firewall, where people looking to make money of me can't reach it.

    I'm glad sun is making an aternative. But the world at large is far far better with out such a thing. A central place of information for people to make money of me.

    --
    The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive
  194. That's not that bad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Consider this. Programming API's cost that much or more for specifc applications. 3d, crypto, printing, wireless and just about any arena you can think of.

    1k for entry for a whole environment is not that bad.

  195. That sounds about right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Only around 25% of the people we surveyed responded negatively.

    That sounds about right--one out of every four people online are not knuckle-dragging protohumans.

    Too bad the ratio isn't that good in the real world.

  196. Well, it certainly isn't a surprise.... by Evil_Furby · · Score: 0

    All small developers are out with that high of an entry price in place. It will be interesting to see who does buy into the .Net stuff and see how much their cutomer support will cost them. I can assume that the customer support costs will be astronomical.

    --
    OH NOES! TEH INTARWEB IS BORKEN!
  197. Re:I thought Microsoft had learned this lesson bef by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So you probably imply that all the developper using Visual Studio are writting poor code ? Man ! I am pretty sure Quake 3 was written with a vim port to win32, or is Photoshop written with emacs on cygwin? Sometimes I am impress by how the mind can bend facts on what is actually wants to hear....

  198. You're a fucking moron by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    .NET My Services IS NOT the same as .NET.

    Maybe you should bone up on your reading comprehension skills bud.

  199. Yes Really by eWulf · · Score: 1

    Until you can cut and paste universally, from all major applications to all major applications then Linux will remain a leper. In my opinion this is the major factor holding back the usability of Linux. Windows users don't, and don't have to, even know the names of the applications they use. The menu systems are unified and they have useful context menus and tooltips. In this respect windows \ office is light years ahead of the linux counterparts. You should be able to select a table of data from a web browser, press Ctrl+C, Alt-Tab to your word processor, press Ctrl+V and have it paste in a table, complete with identical formatting. You should be able to select an area of a picture from your graphics program (which should be in ONE window ie not The Gimp), press Ctrl+C, Alt-Tab to your word processor, press Ctrl+V and have it paste in the section of picture and wrap the text.

    --
    "If Stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out?" - Will Rogers
  200. VS.NET Beta Requirements -- the real "toll" by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 2

    As numerous people have pointed out, this isn't a bar to small developers working with .NET. However, what is a bar is that the Visual Studio.NET betas require ludicrous system specs to run.

    I took the copy home from work to try out, since no-one on my development team was going to risk their work PC and I didn't mind reformatting my HD if it all went wrong. Sadly, I didn't get that far, because my little PII/350 with 192MB and Win98 wasn't even close to good enough to install the beta. That's a machine that was sate-of-the-art about 3 years ago, in case anyone's counting. It's still good enough for Quake III to be playable, but I can't even write "Hello, world" on it?!

    The typical development PC at the office isn't much higher spec than that, because normally there's no need to upgrade. The typical expendable development machine certainly isn't. Note in particular that the beta seems to need Win2K (or presumably XP now) installed. Most of our work machines don't have that yet, because our clients (who often specify the systems on which our software must run) are only just starting to contemplate shipping Win2K systems.

    So, as a direct result of Microsoft's absurd requirements to install this beast, I haven't tried it. And since I'm one of the few in the office who could be bothered, another Microsoft Certified Partner company is unlikely to upgrade any time soon.

    Now that should be worrying Microsoft.

    --
    If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
  201. My Whatever by FrankHaynes · · Score: 1

    Does anybody else agree with me that this tendency to create cutsie little names like "My Computer", "My Services", "My Billy Gates" is a bit demeaning to the user?

    It sounds like my first day of kindergarten class, as Mrs. McGee was handing out little name tags that said "My name is..."

    It's hard to believe that "professional" developers lap up this stuff so readily. Oh well, back to the usual ranting...

    ---

    --
    slashdot: A failed experiment.
  202. The don't want to move... by Lord_Sy · · Score: 1
    moving from a boxed product model to a services-based model is hard, whether you are a small dealer or Microsoft Corp

    Microsoft don't want to move... they just want to cope with EVERY possible channel. They won't stop making shitty software for lame users if .NET gets successful :)
    --
    --- "pero toda poesía es hostil al capitalismo"