Microsoft Using .MS TLD

mqudsi writes "Microsoft is using the .MS top-level domain, assigned to the Caribbean island of Montserrat, for its Web 2.0-flavored Popfly project. You can get your own .MS name if you really want to — there are no restrictions on foreign ownership — at $180 US for 2 years. As of this writing microsoft.ms is available." In an obliquely related note, TechBlorge has up a rumination on the resemblance of the Popfly logo to Tux.

Comments

You mean DUCKS look sorta like PENGUINS?!

[Anonymous Coward]

You'd almost think they were both birds or something.

Re:You mean DUCKS look sorta like PENGUINS?!

[insertwackynamehere]

why is this a troll? I agree, the idea that the duck is a stolen idea from the penguin is stupid. not everything has to become an argument over copyrights and logo stealing just because its microsoft.

Re:You mean DUCKS look sorta like PENGUINS?!

[Hal_Porter]

The best way to look at this argument is to imagine how slashdot would react if Microsft claimed it owned the copyright on all images of birds.

That'll make you cringe

[robot_lords_of_tokyo]

We're a hip crazy cool start up
it's bad enough when people mean it when they write it... it's so much better when it's forced by some guy upstairs.

tux? no...

[larry bagina]

but if they changed the font it would look like something from Apple.

Popfly?

[hobo sapiens]

Anyone check out the popfly site?

I get a kick out of when a large corporation tries to make itself look all independent and hip and stuff with a so-called irreverent site.

Did you look at the About Us page? "the team hustles for resources every day and is innovative, scrappy, and fun" Good night, does anyone really believe that within Microsoft there are real innovative ideas that don't simply involve entrenching the Microsoft brand? Not that there aren't smart people there, it's just that I have not seen many good ideas coming from there as of late (IE7, Vista, Zune, Media Player, Silverlight...need I go on?) And if this team does exist, then surely their ideas are too innovative and rogue for stodgy old Microsoft and outside of some pseudo-web2.0 site won't see the light of day.

Case in point, the only way to log into the site is with a Microsoft passport. Therefore, I don't know what else is there, but from the looks of things, not much. And isn't "web 2.0" supposed to be made with valid markup? Grumble grumble...

Re:Popfly?

[hobo sapiens]

"Maybe once you have the chance to use the site you'll have a more informed opinion on whether the app is cool or not, huh?"

Maybe. One of the few Microsoft products I like is Visual Studio, so they do seem to get IDEs right.

Or not.

From the looks of thing, based on what I see on the Overview page, its the next-gen frontpage all gussied up for the web2.0 (which would have been trendy -- two years ago).

I write loads of web code using jEdit and Firefox. Works great for me. I can write better code than a program, anyhow, at least when it comes web markup, javascript, css, ajax calls, etc. It probably writes code that locks in IE anyhow.

On the positive, the site itself worked with Firefox. On the downside it did not work with Opera. If a company is selling you a tool that lets you write web code, and their site doesn't adhere to web standards (because it would work with Opera if it did), then that's not a great ad for their product.

That in itself created a bad impression. Not trying to be negative, just being honest.

Re:Popfly?

[karmaflux]

Also from the About Us page:

From left to right: John Montgomery (Group Program Manager), Andy Sterland (Program Manager), Alpesh Gaglani (Developer), Tim Rice (Developer), Suzanne Hansen (Program Manager), Steven Wilssens (Program Manager), Vinay Deo (Engineering Manager), Michael Leonard (Test Developer), Jianchun Xu (Developer), Dan Fernandez (Product Manager), Adam Nathan (Developer), Wes Hutchins (Program Manager), Aaron Brethorst (Program Manager), Paramesh Vaidyanathan (Product Unit Manager), and Murali Potluri (Developer).

That's nine managers and six developers. No wonder the team "hustles for resources." They're probably going broke paying management wages to sixty percent of the staff. It says three more people aren't pictured -- we can bet that two of them are more managers.

This team sounds like a developer's nightmare.

Re:Popfly?

[Anonymous Coward]

Ugh. What reason do we have to believe they have millions of $$ in the bank? Who's to say that PopFly's not a poorly funded subsidiary of MS structured as a start-up with equity incentives to drive the group's progress? I'm sick of hearing that this is a poor marketing scheme devised by MS as a way of participating in web 2.0 bullshit. And who can honestly lay the claim that MS has not been innovative? I'm quite the fan of open source tech, but I mean come on let's give credit where it's due... And yes, this is an anonymous post because I don't want to hurt my karma just because a few anti-ms /.'ers have mod points.

Re:Popfly?

[Oswald]

Well, I guess it's to be expected that a post I wrote at 2:00am is so easily misunderstood. I never said anything one way or the other about their goal of creating a system for non-programmers to use for...whatever it is they want to use it for. I'm fine with that.

I'm accusing the whole operation of being created and managed (at the higher levels) by poseurs who think their target audience can't smell bullshit when it's thrown at them. The site reeks of marketing. It smells phony. It reads like it's not written by the people it claims wrote it. And that's a very bad start to a relationship, so people whose antennae are sensitive to stuff like that will stay away.

That's what I meant to say.

Kind of shows the pointlessness

[nebaz]

of 2 Letter country code TLD's, if major corporations get them, and the US doesn't use the .us domain. Too bad it's too late for a whole TLD overhaul.

Re:Kind of shows the pointlessness

[linhux]

I don't agree - in practically every European country (hey, probably almost every country except the U.S.) the local TLD's are in very extensive use, and people are used to getting to a company's _local_ website by going to, say, www.company.fi instead of www.company.com (which would take you to a global, english-language site instead). This goes for both multinational corporations and local companies. Apart from that, a number of very small island countries re-sell their TLDs because they have funny meanings in other parts of the world, but that's really a minority of all the two-letter TLD's currently in use.

I'd say it pretty much works as designed.

Re:why not?

[neoform]

Mmm.. how about letting anyone have any tdl? honestly, why are we all rushing for .com ? Like, what the hell is "com" for a domain name anyway?

I'd much rather type "apple" or "google" than "apple.com" and "google.com", personally I find it'd make a lot more sense.

Re:Per Industry TLD's

[serialdogma]

Yes, next question.

microsoft-rectu.ms

[Anonymous Coward]

microsoft-owns-your-rectu.ms
microsoft-up-your-rectu.ms
microsoft-is-software-for-your-rectu.ms
microsoft-lick-our-rectu.ms
microsoft-sticks-it-up-our-rectu.ms ...et nausia...