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Microsoft Launches 'Channel 9' Blog

Posted by michael on from the let's-all-fly-the-plane dept.

Decaffeinated Jedi writes "As reported by News.com, Microsoft quietly launched Channel 9, a blog/discussion forum aimed at improving communication with outside developers, on Tuesday. Named for the audio channel that many airlines use to let passengers listen in on crew conversations during flight, Channel 9's creators state the following in a welcoming message: 'Five of us in Redmond are crazy enough to think we just might learn something from getting to know each other...Join in, and have a look inside our cockpit and help us fly the plane.'"

8 of 311 comments (clear)

  1. Not surprising... by thesolo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Let me preface this by saying that I'm not trying to sound snide or rude. That said, there are several things on the page that don't display properly in browsers other than WinIE, like Opera & Firefox, such as the top bar of the poll on the right. Fix that, and maybe I'll consider going back. Until then, not worth my time.

    1. Re:Not surprising... by thesolo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Since it is running on IIS they have to use .asp and probably some custom software.

      The back-end language & web server shouldn't matter. You should still be able to generate a standards-compliant page that looks great in modern browsers. Instead, their front page has 366 errors on it.

      Now, I'm not one of those people who insists every page has to validate, but this is just sloppy. MSDN, not just Channel 9, reeks of it, too. I suppose one could argue that you can't blame them, as they are Microsoft, so of course they're going to code to their browser, but I don't buy that argument.

  2. They're all "technical evangelists" by Mr.+Darl+McBride · · Score: 5, Insightful
    More than half the guys list their positions as "technical evangelist."

    If you want to reach more folks: Can we instead talk to a developer who wants to talk about the best way of doing things, rather than someone whose job is to come up with problems where MS is the solution?

  3. Re:I hate this ... by Queuetue · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Did you notice #s 6 and 7 on thier "channel 9 doctrine"?

    6. Don't shock the system. Lasting change only happens in baby steps.
    7. Know when to turn the mic off. There are some topics which will only result in problems when you discuss them. This has nothing to do with censorship, but with working within the reality of the system that exists in our world today. You will not change anything by taking on legal or financial issues, you will only shock the system, spook the passengers, and create a negative situation.

  4. Five of us in Redmond... by multi+io · · Score: 5, Insightful
    ...don't know NNTP :)

    Seriously, couldn't this have been handled by an additional group in the microsoft.* usenet hierarchy? Including automatic replication to servers all over the world -- for free...

  5. Re:First Headline by Frizzle+Fry · · Score: 4, Insightful
    If they really wanted to... Microsoft would have fixed the glaring security holes that the open source community has been pointing out for years a very long time ago

    Which is funny because at the same time they are talking about listening, they are also working on the next service pack for their flagship product, and the whole service pack is focussed on nothing but security. But of course, you won't count that since it would get in the way of your complaining.
    --
    I'd rather be lucky than good.
  6. Re:Technical evangelist ? by Jonathan · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Are they really paid to sing all the day : "Microsoft is good and they are friendly" ?

    Yes, that's basically what they do. Plus they try to convince people that their platform is cool and cutting-edge. Basically what every Linux user does for free (although often not very well). But to be fair, Apple's the one that started it as a paid position, and others besides (such as Be) did the same thing, so it isn't like Microsoft is doing something singularly evil in this regard.

  7. Wow, Microsoft discovered blogs by R3 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Questions that arose after a brief visit to Ch.9:

    1. Why would I "help them fly the plane?"
    2. Why would I contribute *anything* to Microsoft(positive/negative comment, let alone code) - so they could turn around and eihter sell it or maybe even use it against me?
    3. How much are Bill Hill and the rest of Microsoft alumni paid for their blog appearances and patronizing comments like "The most important operating system is not Windows"? (coming from a guy on Microsoft's payroll, this comes across as almost hypocritical)
    4. What's up with dorky one-size-too small gray golf shirts?

    Seriously, what is the point of Channel 9?

    Oh yeah, and BeOS called and it wants its color scheme back.