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Microsoft Will Pay If Its Bugs Damage Your Data
RMX writes "CNet is reporting on
a new Microsoft policy where
they will pay if their software damages your data
. There's a pretty low limit on what they will cover and "it also applies even if Microsoft knew or should have known about the possibility of the damages" but at least it's nice that they're specifying exactly to what length they'll go to cover their customers. Is this the "support" from proprietary vendors that corporations like so much?"
See, *this* is the kind of added value that could make commercial software
really worth the money, at least potentially. (I'm assuming here that the
blurb accurately reflects what's actually being done... which is probably
assuming too much, but there's always that, isn't there?) This is the sort
of thing Microsoft should be talking about when they talk about the value
they can provide. Assuming they're willing to actually do it.
Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
This seems like a weak, thinly veiled stab at open source.
E.g., Microsoft: "You run Debian? Great! But who'll pay if your data gets damaged?"
To which the obvious reply is: well, gee, my operating system hasn't ever really damaged my data -- as a matter of fact, last time my hard drive went bad, I was able to recover most of my data. Thanks anyway, though!
Assume I was drunk when I posted this.
I believe that commercial software is, and should be treated as, an engineering discipline. Similarly, I think we need to accumulate some "best practices" that require commercial software to meet standards of robustness, stability, and functionality. We then need to crush, kill, and destroy anyone who fails to meet those standards.
Software's not a game teenagers play in their basements anymore; it's used on airliners, in cars, in hospitals, and all sorts of other places where a system crash is Not Acceptable. While you can find rare examples of folks who are willing to stick their companies on the line when it comes to the stability of their software, this is the exception, not the rule. Accepting financial liability for bugs in software is a good start. It's also, interestingly, something that only a commercial entity can do.
Acius the unfamous
I'm not sure about any other states, but here in Texas if you agree to any settlement then you cannot go back and sue regarding the same issue. For example, lets say you request the 5 dollars and find out later it costed you 5 million in damages. Too bad sucka, you settled for the orignal 5 bucks.
Very sneaky of MS. I gotta hand it to them for that.
Life is not for the lazy.
Scam is a little harsh. They are doing this for the PR and FUD value, pure and simple. "Microsoft stands behind its products. We'll even pay you if we damage your data. Do you other vendors offer this?" Of course, this offer applies only to their spyware tool, but they'll still make the claim, and it will be true. Nobody will bother to make the claim (who wants to spend an hour filling out forms, etc. for $5 ?), and they'll use THAT as evidence of their software's reliability.
Seriously, calling Microsoft for $5 is the last thing on your mind after working on a project for a whole day and having Windows magically lose it. I was building a data parser for the raw outputs from a lab machine one time. The code was fairly simple and straight-forward, but it still took a day to build and ensure that it handled everything properly. After compiling at the end of the day, I went back to the source code to add a few more comments and it was gone. Just up and gone, no evidence of what had happened or anything. This was on my own personal computer that no one else uses, so no one else had messed with it. Immediately after it disapppeared I used some recovery tools, assuming a program had deleted it somehow. But nothing, not a single trace. It really baffled me for a while and I never did find it or figure out what had happened.
Rather than Microsoft Will Pay If Its Bugs Damage Your Data, the headline should have read Microsoft Says Your Data Is Only Worth $5 .
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.