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Microsoft Launches Blogging Site

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the bandwagon-jumping dept.

Jeff Clark writes "In yet another attempt to take over all of the Internet, MSN has launched a blog service called MSN Spaces with the new version of MSN Messenger due out shortly. Features include comments, stats and trackbacks just like every other blog out there. Another built-in feature is also available where you can send pictures from your camera-phone directly to your Space. Now you can let Mom know just exactly what happened at that party last night!" Reader JDBaker adds, "Microsoft have released the first public beta of MSN Messenger 7. It can be downloaded direct from Microsoft, and carries the same build number as the recent private beta release. New features include: Winks, Set Status Before Login, Drag and Drop Backgrounds and Feedback."

25 of 286 comments (clear)

  1. Because thats what we all want. by -kertrats- · · Score: 5, Funny

    Animated smilies that make noise. The illiterates at my school are gonna be overjoyed at the prospect. I'm just going to be annoyed.

    --
    The Braying and Neighing of Barnyard Animals Follows.
    1. Re:Because thats what we all want. by onepoint · · Score: 5, Funny

      A helicopter was flying around above Seattle when an electrical malfunction disabled all of the aircraft's electronic navigation and communications equipment.

      Due to the clouds and haze, the pilot could not determine the helicopter's position. The pilot saw a tall building, flew toward it, circled, and held up a handwritten sign that said "Where am I?" in large letters. People in the tall building quickly responded to the aircraft, drew a large sign, and held it in a building window. Their sign said "You are in a Helicopter."

      The pilot smiled, waved, looked at his map, determined the course to steer to SEATAC airport, and landed safely. After they were on the ground, the copilot asked the pilot how he had done it.

      "I knew it had to be the Microsoft Building, because they gave me a technically correct but completely useless answer."

      Onepoint

      p.s. Just need to make you all laugh. Have a cup of coffee on me.

      --
      if you see me, smile and say hello.
    2. Re:Because thats what we all want. by ch-chuck · · Score: 5, Funny

      the copilot asked the pilot how he had done it.

      "I knew it had to be the Microsoft Building, because they gave me a technically correct but completely useless answer."

      Then then co-pilot says, "Gee, you must be a Linux user". "How did you know that?" says the Pilot. "Because here you are in a broken helicopter, you didn't know where you were, and suddenly now it's Microsoft's fault".

      --
      try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
  2. And I have no doubt... by Tuxedo+Jack · · Score: 4, Interesting

    That MS will bundle this with the next version of Windows, thus going up against LiveJournal and taking a large percentage of the new bloggers with it.

    --

    Striking fear in the authors of godawful fanfiction, I am here, appearing in darkness, Tuxedo Jack!
    1. Re:And I have no doubt... by Paska · · Score: 3, Interesting

      While we are on the subject of messenger, and bundling it with their OS.

      Does anyone want to tell me why Microsoft make both MSN Messenger, and Windows Messenger? And why Windows Messenger (The featureless version) was added into WinXP and now MSN Messenger?

    2. Re:And I have no doubt... by Billly+Gates · · Score: 3, Funny

      They wouldn't do that.

      That would be illegal and unethical. This is Microsoft we are talking about here. Last thing they want is the DOJ investigating them and breaking them up.

      --
      http://saveie6.com/
    3. Re:And I have no doubt... by rp8774 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Windows Messenger is more for corporate networks and supports Exchange internal messaging.

      MSN Messenger is the consumer version with more frills and contains advertising and other useless things. This version doesn't support Exchange messaging.

  3. An even better feature by l1nuxpunk · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Another new feature of the MSN beta that the article fails to mention is it's un-godly amount of bloat.

    Seriously, does anyone really need the Nudge function? To all those of you who don't use MSN (whom I hold the deepest respect for, btw), all Nudge does is shake your window and the recipients window in some weird kind of internet seizure.

    Looks like I'm going to migrate back to IRC.

    --
    Prontab.net - Porn for geeks. (nsfw)
    1. Re:An even better feature by pmjordan · · Score: 3, Informative

      If you're looking for a better IM network, why not try Jabber? There are loads of clients out there, which won't break, since the protocol is entirely open. If your client of choice doesn't support other networks, you can talk to people who aren't on jabber using server-side 'transports' to connect to other networks via Jabber itself.

      ~phil

    2. Re:An even better feature by thepoch · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yahoo Messenger has this same feature. It's called the Buzz feature. You buzz a person, it goes "Ding Dong!!!" and shakes the window and sets it on top. I've done it to annoy a few people. I put in "I'M NOT WORKING" in big bright red colored font, then shake the window. If the boss is looking, then I've hit jackpot. This is the reason I use gaim. When someone buzzes me, I get a *Buzz* text. Nothing more.

    3. Re:An even better feature by NSash · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I thought the grandparent was trying to move away from un-godly bloat.

  4. Forgotten new feature by smooth+wombat · · Score: 5, Funny
    New features include: Winks, Set Status Before Login, Drag and Drop Backgrounds and Feedback."

    They forgot to include the ability to have your system come to a crawl at an even faster pace with quicker ad and spam delivery

    --
    We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
  5. Missing product for Google? by Ford+Prefect · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I was reading through the list of things Microsoft were adding, thinking that it's just another place Google are at already, then I realised that while there's Gmail, there's no Gmessenger or similar as far as I'm aware.

    How long do you reckon before Google launches such a thing, potentially pushing MSN Messenger out the market? :-)

    --
    Tedious Bloggy Stuff - hooray?
    1. Re:Missing product for Google? by shird · · Score: 4, Informative

      They have "hello"

      --
      I.O.U One Sig.
  6. Spin... by Sheetrock · · Score: 5, Insightful
    In yet another attempt to take over all of the Internet, MSN...

    How about, "In yet another attempt to make the Internet relevant to the average person?" Why is this a laudable goal for everybody but Microsoft to strive towards?

    To have a one-stop shop for communication is pretty much what it's all about. E-mail, instant messaging, fax, voice, photos, movies, TV, radio, and the blog (considered to be the future of websites) converging in a simple-to-use way. This should be something to look forward to.

    --

    Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.
    -- Dr. Spock, stardate 2822-3.




  7. All of your bloggers are belong to us! by deletedaccount · · Score: 5, Funny

    Great. MS making it easier for another swathe of barely litterate nobodies to spout off uninformed bollocks on the internet. Not like erm, us... erm. Bugger. *gets coat*

  8. Destroying internet darwinism by dnaboy · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Dammit-

    MS is trying to do it again. They're trying to break down any barriers to setting up a blog. Great. Now I can be chastized for not reading my 8 year old cousin's blog, or even better, my 90 year old grandmother's.

    What happened to the days when there was SOME barrier to entry, that at least made you put a LITTLE thought and energy into feeling important enough that people should read your every thought?

  9. Re:private areas to the blog by jtcedinburgh · · Score: 3, Informative

    Try WordPress. Open source, PHP/MySQL based, nice. jtc

  10. The Nudge function is essential. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more?

  11. Re:private areas to the blog by lucabrasi999 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I mean to use it like a diary?

    Not to sound like a Luddite, but why would you need a web-log in order to keep a personal journal? If you want a personal diary, you could just turn on your laptop/desktop and use your word processor. Or, you could just purchase paper and ink and start writing. Or am I completely missing the point somehow?

  12. Irrelevant Links by echocharlie · · Score: 3, Funny

    Why the links to "every other blog"? Those are not blog sites, just links to blogging software. More appropriate links would have been to sites like these.

    --
    AnimeNEXT anime convention
  13. First Microsoft blog by robyannetta · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hi, my name is Rob, and I'm a Linux advoc*$#*&^ NO CARRIER ^^^^^^^^^^^^

    HELLO. MY NAME IS ROB AND I AM A MICROSOFT ADVOCATE.

    [insert MSN advertisments here]

    --
    - Just my $0.02, take with a grain of salt, your mileage may vary.
  14. Moderation? by MacGod · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I wonder if there will be moderation of blogs. If for example, I create a vehemently anti-Microsoft blog (possibly one that borders on slander), will the block/censor it? How does this work on other blogs?

    I think the question is more valid for Microsoft's blog service because there are more anti-Microsoft people than anti-Google people (or whatever). And many of the anti-Microsoft people would find it cute or ironic to post an anti-Microsoft blog on Microsoft's own servers.

    --
    "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one " -Albert Einstein
  15. blog = mirror for narcissist?? by B5_geek · · Score: 4, Funny

    As if the "internet-generaton" isn't full enough of themselves, why dear $deity are blogs so bloody popular?

    I just don't get it. If you are so self-absorbed that you feel the need to publish every thought & whim about yourself on the web (as if the anybody on the planet actually cared about you), how/why would you then go searching for and reading other peoples mutterings?

    As a previous person stated, there used to be a barrier to entry that prevented a lot of this drivel from poluting the electrons; but alas now it's easy to whine and pout in public.

    I think Fight Club got it right: "You are not a beautiful & unique butterfly." We are faulty-carbon units that need a swift kick in the ass more then we are getting.

    People please, get over yourselves. * If you agree with anything that I have stated here, please come to my blog at http://blah.blah/ at sign my guestbook! **

    *PS: I was not refering to any of the beautiful butterflies that visit /.
    **PPS: For the humour impaired - I was joking

    --
    "The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." ~Plato (427-347 BC)
  16. Re:yawn: another MS copycat product by finkployd · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The difference is that these products are coming from people volunteering their free time to write them. They are scratching a specific itch, or filling a need by producing software that in some cases is better than commercial counterparts.

    Microsoft is spending billions on R&D, hiring the best minds it can, so I would hope they are being held to a higher standard than some geeks who write software for themselves and their friends. Yet we see that even with this diference, Microsoft still just ends up copying everyone else and making (in many cases) poorer quality software than the open source geeks.

    Finkployd