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Microsoft Ties Windows Live Services to OS
narramissic writes "Microsoft is tying its Windows Live services directly to Vista — a move that should sound vaguely familiar, as it is precisely what the company did to make IE ubiquitous among Internet users. 'A new unified installer for Windows Live services will help users download Wednesday's updates of photo-sharing, mail, instant messaging, online safety and other services, the company said on its Windows Live Wire blog. The new installer also will automatically update those services on Windows Vista and XP going forward.'"
Not only does it contain IM, photo-sharing and other similar applications, but it also comes preinstalled with the funeral services for when the applications die.
Hopefully, they will release a Windows Live mortuary sometime soon to make the package even more complete.
The problem with Internet Explorer was bundling with the Operating System (not that it was a technically bad thing to do).
In this case, it's a web download. Big deal. And it probably saves time for those who use all of MSN's services and needs to install/update them. Doesn't Google do this already with Google Pack (including the auto-update) ?
Go somewhere random
Using the Windows Live unified installer also is still an option -- not a requirement
Move along.
"This new suite of applications is a new way that we can make connecting, communicating and sharing anywhere a terrific experience on your Windows PC"
When reading this quote, I couldn't help but be reminded that the root of the word "terrific" is terrify. Which makes it pretty accurate.
wget http://download.microsoft.com/WLinstaller.exe ./WLinstaller.exe
err:module:import_dll Library WINHTTP.dll (which is needed by L"Z:\\home\\kwabbles\\Desktop\\WLinstaller.exe") not found
err:module:LdrInitializeThunk Main exe initialization for L"Z:\\home\\kwabbles\\Desktop\\WLinstaller.exe" failed, status c0000135
No worky. Oh well. Back to reading slashdot.
Just disrupt the deflector shield with a tachyon burst.
I hope I'm not misreading the article, but the summary appears to be incorrect. As I understand the article, Microsoft is integrating Windows Live more within Windows ... but I didn't see that it was being tied specifically to Vista. In fact, the article says "The new installer also will automatically update those services on Windows Vista and XP going forward."
Call me confused, but I think Windows Live will still install on XP. You don't need to upgrade to Vista to run Windows Live, if you already have XP.
I understand that making something easy to use makes it more likely to be used. But unless MS force feeds it to you when you boot or install Vista and XP, why would people choose Live over the more established brand names such as MySpace and YouTube?
MS would need a big marketing push to gain mind share, and I don't think an optional web install will do it.
I've been using Hotmail since '99, before M$ bought them out. After that, Hotmail (like other M$ products) became slower and more bloated with every "update". Now they can't(or don't want to because of backroom deals) filter out junk mail which goes directly into my inbox because spammers are spoofing my own e-mail address( how irritating )! Then there's the constant "legit" M$ spam which gets into my inbox at least 3-4 times a week no matter what my filter settings are. Fuck that. My primary account is now a Gmail one.
We at Microsoft are committed to improving the user experience by (I'm going to fucking kill Google....) encroaching our monopoly into every facet of computer usage (I'm going to fucking kill ISO...). The latest in our long-term plan to completely undermine the capacity for any other software company to influence you is our integration of our software update mechanism with our Windows Live Service (I'm going to fucking kill Sweden.... At Microsoft we believe that competition is more unhealthy than AIDS or swallowing plutonium, and we always seek to find new and inventive ways to completely fuck over any potential competitor. (I'm going to fucking kill Firefox... Another important strategy is planting our arrogant, brain-dead employees on such evil forums as Slashdot, to defend our market-crushing actions. (I'm going to fucking kill Richard Stallman...). We have already submitted the Department of Justice to our terrifying (and patented) Microsoft Bob Rays, which have rendered them simpering, inept and blind half-wits. (I'm going to fucking kill Ubuntu...). We at Microsoft value you, the consumer, for your deep level of mental retardation which allows you to continue funneling billions of dollars to us (I'm going to fucking kill Linus Torvalds...). Thank you for being perhaps the dumbest generation of idiots that the world has ever known (I'm going to fucking kill OpenOffice...).
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Actually, this is for Vista and XP from what the article seems to infer/state.
Regardless of what the other guy who responded to you said, Yeah, it is optional now... but it is also still in beta. Only time will tell whether this becomes another "Automatic Update" item... ah well...
StarTrekPhase2 - The Five Year Mission Continues!
And which of your counter-examples has been convicted of being illegal monopolies?
Theres a difference between unethically leveraging a product and illegally leveraging a product.
Both suck, but both are completely different beasts.
Ice Cream has no bones.
It was a lot better than ICQ or AIM, which were the other big two. ICQ started really going down hill especially when spammers started to figure it out. I pretty much stopped using it in late 1998/early 1999. AIM is, well, AOL. While I've not doubt the packaging helped it, I think it was also that you were getting ICQ expats looking for something new that didn't bite. MSN may not have been perfect, but it was the best I found.
It's one thing to be anti-competitive, but having to compete with yourself in order to not be a monopoly seems a bit stupid.
Well if they were "let off the hook" by the Feds, then clearly the original ruling was in error, and so was this article, for using that legally loaded work, "tying."
Conclusive evidence of more of that Linux-biased, Microsoft-hating Slashdot meme at work.
(tongue so far into my cheek that it hurts, on this one.)
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
From the perspective of using Windows Vista, I just installed the beta of this optional software, and it's very welcome providing a centralized desktop environment to manage my Live services. Makes life easier and faster. In the end isn't that what software should strive to do?
It's actually reverse of what you think. Apple launched .Mac and offered it as it sits today. Whereas M$ released the services and /afterward/ is now tying things in. So, they really aren't the same, business-wise that is i.e. no shady business practices from Apple this time 'round.
Heh, well... the number thing did work - I still remember my number from... 11 years ago.
Common, people, actually go and look at what they are doing for a change. This isn't something that is being bundled with Windows (Vista or otherwise), it's a download, just like the Google Pack. You can still get the programs seperately, or you can use this new installer to pick and choose. This isn't something that will come in the form of an Automatic Update, because not only is it from different product group ("Windows Live... is branding and nothing more), but things like Live OneCare require a Paid Subscription past the trial period. Rant over. Karam down the drain. I'm just sick of seeing so much FUD on Slashdot, anti-Microsoft or otherwise. I know it's not going to stop, but can we at least calm it down a little?
Sorry, I RTFA and it was the worst heap of rubbish I've read all day.
It's author seems to be utterly and completely clueless about everything mentioned.
There's not a single thing that justifies the word "tying" that I can see. Microsoft have some OPTIONAL add-on set of services that you can install if you feel like it. It's not mandatory and they're not saying it will be. It's no more "tied" to Windows than any other piece of software.
I think I'm going to start a blog where I too post nonsensical tech stories with headlines solely designed to push the buttons of reactionary Slashdot readers, then clean up on the Google ad income.
G.
IE used to be an 'optional' download - back when Netscape came in a box and was $49.95.
if you steal from one source, that is plagiarism, if you steal from many, well, that's just research.
It's actually the clearest evidence of Microsoft's monopoly we have.
In a competitive market, producers are forced to continually improve their products so customers will buy them in preference to anyone else's.
In the computer OS market, Microsoft is having to coerce people into "upgrading" to their newer versions because there's no improvements their customers actually want.
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."