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How Microsoft Develops Its Software
crem_d_genes writes "David Gristwood has a post on his blog that notes '21 Rules of Thumb - How Microsoft Develops Its Software', on which he will elaborate at TechEd in Amsterdam next week. It was derived from interviews with Jim Mccarthy, also of Microsoft. Gristwood: 'As someone who has been involved with software development for over two decades, the whole area of how you actually bring together a team and get them to successfully deliver a project on time, is one worthy of a lot of attention, if only because it is so hard to do. Even before I joined Microsoft, ten years ago, I was interested in this topic, having been involved myself in a couple of projects that, I shall politely say, were somewhat less than successful.' Tips include such features as 'Don't know what you don't know.'; 'Beware the guy in a room.'; 'Never trade a bad date for an equally bad date.'; and 'Enrapture the customers.'"
I agree, too.
Sure, portability is great and all, but a lot of portable code really doesn't feel that nice to use. Ever used Ethereal?. It's powerful. It's cross-platform. But the GUI is terrible, especially if you are used to the "solid" feel of most Windows applications. It's easy enough to use and understand, but it just doesn't "feel" right. And like it or not, feel is a pretty important component of the end-user experience.
Another case in point: don't you just cringe when you load up a big application that was written in Java? Sure, you can run it anywhere, but it feels like silly putty.
If Microsoft and other large developers spent all their time worrying about making code cross-platform, I think we'd get a lot more apps that look like this. Cool, but not very pleasant to use.
Ok, they don't put out the absolute worst tripe in the industry, so we might be able to learn something from them. You are truly wise.
Patrick Doyle
I mod down every jackass who puts his moderation policy in his sig. Oh, wait a sec....
Would you tell that to a holocust survivor? Someone that lost a spouse in the twin towers?
Yes, these Micorsoft's crimes are less important than that.
I disagree. The number of people affected by Microsoft's crimes against humanity number in the hundreds of millions. I'd even go as far as to say that if Bill Gates had been inside one of the Twin Towers when they fell, the other lives lost would have been worth it.
Tired of FB/Google censorship? Visit UNCENSORED!
Why should anyone let it go?
You should let go the case you mentioned because:
1. It was over a decade ago.
2. The people making the claim settled the case for many many many millions of dollars.
3. The act was unique.
Unfortunately, the "solution" did not solve the problem. Microsoft was proven to use illegal monopolistic practices to destroy their competition. So we slap them with a fine, which they promptly pass on to the end user. Since they are still a monopoly they can still do as they please. The act was not unique. They still use the same techniques.
A better solution to illegal monopoly actions is to bar the corporation from that business space. That is the only *fair* solution. They illegally took the space, so they must give it back. Let the competitors that were stolen from get back into that space.
Right now, corporations have similar rights to people, but not similar punishments. A fine does nothing, a scapegoat in jail does nothing. How about holding the corporation accountable for what they do? How about taking away their license when they break the law? Drunk drivers lose their license, why doesnt a corporation?
If the corporations want to be treated the same as people, I say let them, but they get the whole meal, not just the dessert.
GCC was inferior to Visual Studio
This is the dumbest thing I have ever read.
First off, GCC is a -generic- compiler. XLC might be better too - on a PPC. But GCC works EVERYWHERE.
VS won't - hell, MS bought this one too, they could not write it themselves. In fact, they used to licence from Zortech because their own was so shitty.
And MSC? Originally? Where did that come from? Clueless? Lattice Corporation. Like everything else, Microsoft bought it outright - and immediately raised the price from $225 to $275 of course.
Talking about VS being a good product: don't get me started: it's literally abysmal and you know it. Were there more proof needed what a weedy bug farm the MFC is, the world would be unreasonable.
But then again, everyone knows Microsoft laugh at their own MFC and refuse to touch it with a barge pole, don't they? Or can you name any flagship products aside from WORDPAD that have used it?
Messaging etc in VS is a mess. A glorious mess. It has been and remains a very unstable product. MSC under the bonnet has at times been good, but honestly we've been keeping an eye on OVER ten versions since the mid-80's and only two versions have ever been good.
Want to go back to the Watcom days when MSC 7.0 wouldn't even launch?
No sir: VS is not a good product. Moving on, I presume you have something good to say about its abysmally moronic resource editor, but I'd be careful if I were you: you might get legions of angry grunts the world over on your case.
Remarks like yours are what take what could have been a serious constructive discussion and deprave it into nothingness - and considering the parent, I assume we are here seeing the classic Microsoft astro-turfing again.
Begone, evil one.