Microsoft Engineer Installs Google Chrome During Presentation After Edge Freezes (softpedia.com)

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Microsoft Engineer Installs Google Chrome During Presentation After Edge Freezes (softpedia.com)

Posted by msmash on Tuesday October 31, 2017 @03:20AM from the bloopers dept.

A reader shares a report: We've seen lots of blunders on stage, and still happen occasionally, but this must be the best of all. A Microsoft engineer downloaded, installed, and started using Google Chrome during a live presentation after Microsoft Edge, the default Windows 10 browser, stopped responding in the middle of a demo. In just a few words, Microsoft Edge froze while the engineer was working with virtual machines in the browser, and judging from how fast he proceeded to downloading Google Chrome, this wasn't the first time it happened. Because, you know, sometimes reloading the page or restarting the browser does help, but you can't risk hitting the same error twice, right? "I love it when demos break," he said. "So while we're talking here, I'm gonna go install Chrome," he continued before he started laughing, with many people in the audience cheering. "And we're going to not make Google better," he added when unchecking the box to send usage statistics and crash reports to Google, as if this made things less worse. "We're going to do this again, I'm sorry about this. The age of these machines are [sic] wacked down a little bit, there are some things that just don't work."

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"...There are some things that just don't work." by sirpwn4g3 · 2017-10-31 03:21 · Score: 5, Funny

Like Microsoft Edge.
The best DEMO fail is this one by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 03:27 · Score: 2, Insightful

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IW7Rqwwth84
with Bill Gates himself on stage to watch the BSOD
1. Re:The best DEMO fail is this one by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 11:10 · Score: 0
  
  That one is a classic.
I guess... by jawtheshark · 2017-10-31 03:28 · Score: 1

... he's updating his CV right now....

--
Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
1. Re:I guess... by v1 · 2017-10-31 03:38 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  he is sooo fired. and in the inevitable reference to windows 95 crashing on the live demo, at least in that case the presenter had Bill himself on stage to save him.. Presenter: "And watch as we plug in this.... (BSoD) whoa...." Bill: " and that's why we're not shipping it just yet..."
  
  --
  I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
2. Re:I guess... by barrywalker · 2017-10-31 04:05 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  he is sooo fired. and in the inevitable reference to windows 95 crashing on the live demo, at least in that case the presenter had Bill himself on stage to save him.. Presenter: "And watch as we plug in this.... (BSoD) whoa...." Bill: " and that's why we're not shipping it just yet..."
  Not to be a pedantic prick, but it was Windows 98. Yea, yea, I know - there wasn't much difference at that point.
3. Re:I guess... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 04:48 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Hmm, idk. He's not on the Edge team, otherwise he would be fired. But this guy did what he had to do to get through his demo; persisting with Edge and hitting the same issue several times, which it seems like he expected, would not only have trashed his demo, but it would hardly make Edge look good either, so switching to Chrome at that point cut the losses and minimised the damage all round. If heads were going to roll from this, I think it would be on the Edge team.
4. Re:I guess... by haruchai · 2017-10-31 04:52 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  he is sooo fired. and in the inevitable reference to windows 95 crashing on the live demo, at least in that case the presenter had Bill himself on stage to save him.. Presenter: "And watch as we plug in this.... (BSoD) whoa...." Bill: " and that's why we're not shipping it just yet..."
  Not to be a pedantic prick, but it was Windows 98. Yea, yea, I know - there wasn't much difference at that point.
  Anyone who complains about Wn95 or Win98 has never tried to live with Windows Millennium which was so bad it made everyone think that Y2K was happening a few months late.
  
  --
  Pain is merely failure leaving the body
5. Re:I guess... by Junta · 2017-10-31 05:34 · Score: 1
  
  Additionally, in the infamous BSOD demo, they didn't whip out a Mac to finish the demo.
  
  --
  XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
6. Re:I guess... by fahrbot-bot · 2017-10-31 05:57 · Score: 1
  
  Anyone who complains about Wn95 or Win98 has never tried to live with Windows Millennium which was so bad it made everyone think that Y2K was happening a few months late.
  The only thing with the word "Millennium" in its name that didn't suck also had the word "Falcon" in it and even it had problems sometimes.
  
  --
  It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
7. Re:I guess... by prunus.avium · 2017-10-31 06:41 · Score: 1
  
  To be - sort of - fair. Windows ME was supposed to be a consumer version of the NT Kernel where Windows 2000 was the business version based on the same kernel.
  At some point, Microsoft dropped the NT Kernel and went back to the 95/98 kernel with some of the tools from Windows 2000 due to time constraints. The rush decision and tight timeline did not work well.
8. Re:I guess... by HiThere · 2017-10-31 06:52 · Score: 1
  
  There was a considerable difference between MSWind95 and MSWind98 for my use case. MSWind98 could not play music at a consistent tempo from the score editing programs that my wife was using. I had to reinstall MSWind95.
  
  --
  
  I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
9. Re:I guess... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 08:59 · Score: 0
  
  Windows 97 managed to be worse than millennium.
10. Re:I guess... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 10:09 · Score: 0
  
  Windows ME wasn't that bad.
  It didn't work with AMD or Cyrix Cpus worth a tinkers ding dong, but if you ran on Intel with Intel Chipset, it was fine.
  I bought it opening day, and did have a problem with it, except 1 hardware failure and ME didn't cause that.
11. Re:I guess... by mattack2 · 2017-10-31 12:27 · Score: 1
  
  Wrong:
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt01...
  and I think this one was at least decent:
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt00...
12. Re:I guess... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 12:32 · Score: 0
  
  Anyone who complains about Wn95 or Win98 has never tried to live with Windows Millennium which was so bad it made everyone think that Y2K was happening a few months late.
  O ya. The only worst thing I ever tried was an early beta build of win 98.
13. Re:I guess... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 12:33 · Score: 0
  
  Robbie Williams had that song Millennium. It was probably the only decent thing he has ever done.
14. Re:I guess... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 12:42 · Score: 0
  
  Windows Me should have been called Windows 2000.
  Windows 2000 should have been called Windows NT 5.
  Windows XP should have been called Windows NT 6.
  Windows Vista should have been called Windows NT 7.
  Windows 7 should have been called Windows NT 7.1.
  Windows 8 should have been called Windows NT 7.2.
  Windows 8.1 should have been called Windows NT 7.3.
  Windows 10 should have been called Crippled Spyware Marketing Platform.
15. Re:I guess... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 16:40 · Score: 0
  
  You don't know what you are talking about. 98 was the worst of the bunch (especially the SE version), ME was the best. It ran fastest and used least resources. It required that you have stable hardware, more specifically quality SDRAM and a hard drive with properly working DMA modes . It did not run that well on EDO ram which is what most of the cheap junk machines had at the time.
16. Re:I guess... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 20:06 · Score: 0
  
  "Windows ME was supposed to be a consumer version of the NT Kernel where Windows 2000 was the business version based on the same kernel."
  No, that started with Windows XP - it was split into Home and Professional versions for that reason.
  Windows Me was a fork of Windows 98 and 95 (i.e. not based on NT at all) with a few teaks to make it look vaguely like Windows 2000 (which was NT 5.0).
17. Re:I guess... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 20:33 · Score: 0
  
  As a non american, how can the user be fired due other people's problems? I can't believe the managers could be that stupid.
18. Re:I guess... by thegarbz · 2017-11-01 02:28 · Score: 1
  
  Because they didn't need to. If it were a recurring problem and the mac was able to demonstrate what you were trying to demonstrate then it wouldn't have been a problem either.
19. Re:I guess... by david_thornley · 2017-11-01 08:29 · Score: 1
  
  In almost all of the US, employment is "at will", which means that the user can be fired for almost any reason. (There are some reasons specifically not permitted.) I'd suspect that a fair number of people are fired due to other people's problems.
  Whether management will fire him is another question entirely.
  
  --
  "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
20. Re:I guess... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-11-01 12:43 · Score: 0
  
  I don't think companies can fire users.
21. Re:I guess... by joemck · 2017-11-01 21:24 · Score: 1
  
  The product that failed was also a beta, not a release version of a product that had been on consumer PCs for over 2 years. This makes failure on stage far more acceptable: you always have the excuse of "that's why we're not shipping it just yet".
22. Re: I guess... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-11-02 04:56 · Score: 0
  
  98se was the best of the win 3.11 descendants
23. Re: I guess... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-11-02 06:26 · Score: 0
  
  Have you MEET IT managers? Ever read the Dilbert comic?
24. Re:I guess... by Agripa · 2017-11-02 08:01 · Score: 1
  
  As a non american, how can the user be fired due other people's problems? I can't believe the managers could be that stupid.
  In most if not all states of the US, absolutely.
25. Re:I guess... by haruchai · 2017-11-04 02:39 · Score: 1
  
  "and I think this one was at least decent:
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt00... "
  Never seen it but I did read the original John Varley short story which was pretty good.
  Come to think of it pretty much every short story in his Persistence of Vision collection was worth reading
  
  --
  Pain is merely failure leaving the body
26. Re:I guess... by haruchai · 2017-11-04 02:44 · Score: 1
  
  "You don't know what you are talking about. 98 was the worst of the bunch (especially the SE version), ME was the best. It ran fastest and used least resources"
  I was Level 3 support back in those days. The biggest complaints that made its way up to me from the LAN & Internet service desks were WinModems & Windows ME issues.
  
  --
  Pain is merely failure leaving the body
Sums it up by wbr1 · 2017-10-31 03:28 · Score: 5, Funny

https://i.imgur.com/9TxWoa9.pn...

--
Silence is a state of mime.
1. Re:Sums it up by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 08:10 · Score: 1
  
  To be fair, this is how I install chrome on windows
  Set-ExecutionPolicy AllSigned; iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))
  SET "PATH=%PATH%;%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\chocolatey\bin"
  Install-Package -Name nuget.commandline
  choco install -y googlechrome
2. Re:Sums it up by irrational_design · 2017-10-31 09:06 · Score: 2
  
  Or, if you are on OSX, the purpose of Safari is to install Chrome or Firefox.
3. Re: Sums it up by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 10:08 · Score: 1
  
  This is why Windows is so much better than Linux. You don't have to use the terminal. Oh wait...
4. Re:Sums it up by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 14:04 · Score: 0
  
  Nope. I use Chrome once in a rare while, but neither of them feel like a real native app, like Safari does.
5. Re: Sums it up by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 20:52 · Score: 0
  
  I always used Chrome or Firefox back when I had a Mac.
  The one and only time I've ever used Microsoft's remote assistance, the (very helpful) tech opened up Edge... To type in google.com and search from there. I do use Edge to keep my work stuff separate from Chrome, but how bad must Bing be if their own staff won't use it.
6. Re:Sums it up by valerio · 2017-10-31 21:24 · Score: 0
  
  Or, if you are on OSX, the purpose of Safari is to install Chrome or Firefox.
  Nope, i've been happily using Safari since they had a Windows version of it (on Windows obviously at the time, now on a Mac). I do have Firefox installed for the odd time that something will break on Safari but that is not that often.
Seems about right by UnknowingFool · 2017-10-31 03:28 · Score: 1

Not even MS can get Edge to work when they want it to work. That's why I don't use it. Maybe in the future when it's actually usable will I look into it.

--
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
1. Re:Seems about right by MightyMartian · 2017-10-31 03:32 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  I tried to use Edge last year. After a couple of hours I went back to Chrome. Visually, it's simply the shits, and it really doesn't work worth a damn. I'd rather use IE.
  
  --
  The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
2. Re:Seems about right by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 04:03 · Score: 1
  
  Maybe in the future when it's actually usable will I look into it.
  So, never then?
3. Re:Seems about right by Aighearach · 2017-10-31 09:18 · Score: 1
  
  OTOH, in Firefox if I have over about 1000 tabs open and never restart the browser, it crashes about every 2 weeks. Of course, it successfully recovers all the tabs 100% of the time, and then works again for a couple weeks without issue.
4. Re:Seems about right by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 10:25 · Score: 0
  
  Hm, on my 1500 tabs it's lasting at least a month and then just becomes somewhat slow so I need to restart it, crashes pretty rarely.
  my 1500 tabs picture
Demonstration by Artem+S.+Tashkinov · 2017-10-31 03:28 · Score: 5, Informative

The snafu begins at 36:46.
1. Re:Demonstration by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 03:46 · Score: 1
  
  And later, when confronted with the default "use your smartcard+pin" for logging in he batted that aside and used his username/password, just like 99.999% of the rest of us.
  So much fake BS everywhere...
2. Re:Demonstration by RavenLrD20k · 2017-10-31 04:14 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Ok...the summary states he said "The age of these machines are [sic] wacked down a little bit..." when if you actually listen to the presentation on that link you can tell he said "The 'Edge' on these machines are locked down a little bit..." Which makes a hell of a lot more sense to convey that security functions are making certain necessary features unavailable for the demo. Bogdan Popa, who wrote the linked article on Softpedia, needs to get the earwax out of his ears.
3. Re:Demonstration by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 04:42 · Score: 0
  
  I also heard, clearly, that Edge was locked down. I suppose that's not what the article's intended audience wanted to hear so the grammar got a little forced to make it fit.
4. Re:Demonstration by Junta · 2017-10-31 05:35 · Score: 1
  
  His smartcad+pin probably would have been faster if he had the card on him, here it replaced the second factor with his phone, which presumably wouldn't happen the smartcard+pin way.
  
  --
  XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
5. Re:Demonstration by spacepimp · 2017-10-31 06:54 · Score: 1
  
  So they weren't aware that their demo relied on features which were locked down?
6. Re:Demonstration by Aighearach · 2017-10-31 09:20 · Score: 2
  
  He should also stop using [sic] unless he actually verified it, because it doesn't mean "it sounded like to me."
7. Re:Demonstration by Trax3001BBS · 2017-10-31 09:34 · Score: 1
  
  The snafu begins at 36:46.
  I beleive the worst thing he did, was to show Chrome could do this out of the box.
8. Re: Demonstration by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 15:26 · Score: 0
  
  He gave it about 5 seconds before giving up to install Chrome. It's obvious he immediately realized that this issue often happens on machines in such a configuration.
  He probably forgot before starting the demo on that machine.
Might be a ruze by TheRealMindChild · 2017-10-31 03:28 · Score: 2

A middle finger to Mozilla

--

"When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
1. Re: Might be a ruze by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 07:16 · Score: 0
  
  Micro-shaft, one of the largest companies on Earth, would not deliberately make themselves look that incompetent AND help a larger competitor (Google) just to spite what is, relative to Microsoft and Google, a company with 1/1000th of the revenues.
2. Re:Might be a ruze by Bryansix · 2017-10-31 07:19 · Score: 1
  
  Maybe not. Chrome just installs faster than Firefox and requires less permissions to do so. FF just started suspending tabs and the speed has improved vastly.
Potemkin browser by Tailhook · 2017-10-31 03:31 · Score: 1

I have never seen anyone use or care about Edge. IE still has like 6x the users. Microsoft demos may be the biggest use case it has.

--
Maw! Fire up the karma burner!
1. Re:Potemkin browser by PingSpike · 2017-10-31 04:09 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Actually, if you compare October 2015 https://www.netmarketshare.com... to September 2017 https://www.netmarketshare.com... it looks like most of the IE users left for Chrome and basically none of them moved to Edge.
2. Re:Potemkin browser by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 04:49 · Score: 0
  
  What do you mean I use Microsoft Edge on every new Windows Install... I use it for exactly one thing: To download Chrome!
3. Re:Potemkin browser by AvitarX · 2017-10-31 06:06 · Score: 1
  
  Adobe typekit seems to open in it by default, that's the only time I use it.
  I assume it's some kind of OS hook that requires Edge, but I'm too lazy to actually check.
  I use it about 3 times a week to browse and sync fonts.
  
  --
  Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
Not what he said at all... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 03:33 · Score: 4, Informative

"The age of these machines are [sic] wacked down a little bit" is totally wrong. What was actually said is "The Edge on these machines are locked down a bit...".
1. Re: Not what he said at all... by Monster_user · 2017-10-31 03:37 · Score: 2
  
  Then where did the [sic] come from?
  
  Lazy "journalism"?
2. Re: Not what he said at all... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 03:44 · Score: 1
  
  Fake News!
3. Re:Not what he said at all... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 03:47 · Score: 1
  
  If Edge was locked down by group policies, or trust settings, he should have tested his demo before the presentation to get the right permissions set to allow it to work. If that is the case, I'm guessing this guy might be out of job.
4. Re:Not what he said at all... by UnknowingFool · 2017-10-31 03:51 · Score: 1
  
  I don't know. You can't really anticipate every situation. I've had training classes where machines refused to work for some unknown reason. They work for some people and not others. They work the week before, the hour before. etc. As such I didn't have time to troubleshoot the exact problem. I had students move to other machines. IT just re-imaged the faulty ones.
  
  --
  Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
5. Re:Not what he said at all... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 04:09 · Score: 0
  
  Right before he mentioned Edge being locked down, he said to someone offstage, "I know I forgot". I take that as admission of fault for the failed demo with Edge.
6. Re:Not what he said at all... by PingSpike · 2017-10-31 04:12 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Naw, he probably did a dry run last night, but then Windows auto updated at 3am to a new version of Edge that was broken. Rookie mistake not removing the ethernet cable and burning out the wifi with a soldering iron.
7. Re:Not what he said at all... by Junta · 2017-10-31 05:27 · Score: 1
  
  It was a made up hand waving that is less embarrassing then the more likely explanation of them having a bug in javascript under edge.
  
  --
  XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
8. Re:Not what he said at all... by cwsumner · 2017-10-31 05:53 · Score: 1
  
  If Edge was locked down by group policies, or trust settings, he should have tested his demo before the presentation to get the right permissions set to allow it to work. If that is the case, I'm guessing this guy might be out of job.
  Engineers have this unfortunate tendency to assume other people know their jobs. But the guy running the show was in Marketing and Sales, and he had the guys who drove the delivery truck set up the computer... 8-P
9. Re: Not what he said at all... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 06:03 · Score: 0
  
  There is a grammatical error in the (misquoted) text. "The age" is singular, but the verb "are" is plural. "[sic]" was added by the person who quoted the bit to indicate that the mistake was in the source. It's short for "sic erat scriptum", which means "thus was it written". Of course in this case the entire quote is wrong, so the remark is quite misplaced.
10. Re: Not what he said at all... by Chris+Mattern · 2017-10-31 06:31 · Score: 2
  
  [sic] because "age" is singular, hence the verb "are" is grammatically incorrect. The transcriber got the statement totally wrong, but did recognize the error in what he thought the presenter said.
Re:"...There are some things that just don't work. by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 03:33 · Score: 0

And my cable box.
Re: Sums it up, officially. by Monster_user · 2017-10-31 03:36 · Score: 2

Yup, that is now the official purpose of Edge, as demonstrated by an official Microsoft employee.
Friend of a friend is my enemy. by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 03:37 · Score: 1

Well Microsoft Cloud also uses Linux. So who does Microsoft fire for setting up that example?
A more serious question... by wbr1 · 2017-10-31 03:37 · Score: 4, Funny

Did this engineer not know that Windows 10 also has IE installed? It is just a simple start menu/cortana seach away. Not favoring MS productrs here.. IMHO Edge and IE both suck in very different ways. Edge sucks becuase it is immature and doen't know any better. IE sucks because it apparently has decided that sucking is its purpose in life.

--
Silence is a state of mime.
1. Re:A more serious question... by UnknowingFool · 2017-10-31 03:43 · Score: 1
  
  I'm guessing IE would not work for the demo either is the reason he didn't use it or at least it would require downloading multiple addons like Silverlight, etc. The demo was using newer technologies and IE has been feature frozen for a few years now.
  
  --
  Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
2. Re:A more serious question... by wbr1 · 2017-10-31 03:55 · Score: 2
  
  Silverlight does not run in chrome anymore, and would also require extra add-ons/extensions if it did. In fact just abou tanything I can think of as a web extension tech requires some sort of extra install - except javascript.
  Javascript sort of works in IE you know.
  This just shows that even MS engineers do not trust prefer MS software in certain circumstances.
  
  --
  Silence is a state of mime.
3. Re:A more serious question... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 04:13 · Score: 1
  
  IE's purpose is to install Chrome.
4. Re: A more serious question... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 04:27 · Score: 0
  
  Maybe he couldnâ(TM)t add the Edge compatibility meta tag for IE to recognize any Javascript commands after 2008.
5. Re:A more serious question... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 04:51 · Score: 0
  
  Very funny but on windoze I only use IE to download another browser, usually Firefox ESR
6. Re:A more serious question... by leonbev · 2017-10-31 05:19 · Score: 1
  
  If Edge was locked down due to an overly restrictive Group Policy, you can be damned sure that IE would be locked down as well. There is a reason that Microsoft is getting away from IE... it's plugin system is a security minefield.
7. Re:A more serious question... by wbr1 · 2017-10-31 06:13 · Score: 1
  
  This is MS.. they cant put the engineer or device for the domo in a group with the appropriate GPOs set? come on
  
  --
  Silence is a state of mime.
8. Re:A more serious question... by guruevi · 2017-10-31 06:26 · Score: 1
  
  Most likely the software doesn't work with old-IE (IE6-10), only new-IE (Edge). There are only a few reasons IE10 is still included and it's not because its a good alternative.
  
  --
  Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
9. Re: A more serious question... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 10:15 · Score: 0
  
  Great that you can install group policies that can be easily overcome by downloading a new browser from the 'locked down' browser. Sounds very secure.
10. Re:A more serious question... by lucm · 2017-10-31 17:34 · Score: 1
  
  This just shows that even MS engineers do not trust prefer MS software in certain circumstances.
  no it doesn't. The guy clearly said that Edge was locked down on that machine, and Chrome is the easiest to use because it installs in the user profile and does not require breaking gpos.
  That's usually my first go-to when I deal with a locked down browser, next is getting a portable Firefox or Opera.
  
  --
  lucm, indeed.
11. Re:A more serious question... by lucm · 2017-10-31 17:37 · Score: 1
  
  You don't seem to understand how big companies work. The guy probably got a loaner or disposable vm for the demo. This wasn't a huge demo for the international press, it's just some guy showing new features in the azure console. Get real, there's no news here.
  
  --
  lucm, indeed.
12. Re:A more serious question... by geekymachoman · 2017-10-31 19:15 · Score: 1
  
  > IE sucks because it apparently has decided that sucking is its purpose in life.
  IE's purpose in life is to download Chrome. Same as Edge's purpose now.
Misquote at the bottom by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 03:39 · Score: 0

the quote should read "The Edge on these machines are locked down a bit"
Kiwi translation by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 03:43 · Score: 0

Correct caption "Edge in these machines is locked down quite a bit, there are some things that just don't work"
Incorrect caption "The age of these machines are [sic] wacked down a little bit, there are some things that just don't work"
Re:"...There are some things that just don't work. by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 03:44 · Score: 0

If it's not streaming, I'm not wanting. I stream everything. On principle. Even live TV - I encode it, and then stream it to myself.
Re: Sums it up, officially. by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 03:55 · Score: 3, Informative

They're getting pretty desperate: I opened Edge on a new laptop to download another browser and the homepage was not their stupid msn.com site but a pitch to keep using Edge for performance reasons.
Fond memories of yesterday by puddingebola · 2017-10-31 03:57 · Score: 1

https://youtu.be/IW7Rqwwth84
Re:"...There are some things that just don't work. by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 04:01 · Score: 0

Creimer's trolls. Halloween is turning them into retarded fucks today. More so than usual.
Chrome still sucks by gx5000 · 2017-10-31 04:03 · Score: 1

Opera FTW

--
End of Line.
1. Re:Chrome still sucks by Teckla · 2017-10-31 04:17 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Isn’t Opera owned by some dodgy Chinese company now?
2. Re:Chrome still sucks by AVryhof · 2017-10-31 04:22 · Score: 1
  
  Vivaldi!
  
  --
  Make America grate again!
3. Re:Chrome still sucks by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 05:07 · Score: 0
  
  Opera is gone - Made in China now.
4. Re:Chrome still sucks by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 06:13 · Score: 0
  
  It's owned by the Chinese private equity firm, Golden Brick Capital (as in capitalist). The company, Opera Software, is still located in Oslo, Norway and is under the same management. There's nothing dodgy about that (unless you're racist, bro). Welcome to the global economy.
5. Re:Chrome still sucks by wbr1 · 2017-10-31 06:14 · Score: 2
  
  It's also chromium based.
  
  --
  Silence is a state of mime.
6. Re: Chrome still sucks by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 06:27 · Score: 0
  
  And every company in china is part of the ccp
7. Re: Chrome still sucks by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 06:37 · Score: 0
  
  Only to the extent that the government is a shareholder.
8. Re:Chrome still sucks by jason777 · 2017-10-31 08:52 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, which is why you now use Vivaldi
9. Re:Chrome still sucks by gx5000 · 2017-11-01 00:12 · Score: 1
  
  DO a side by side, you won't be disappointed.
  
  --
  End of Line.
Whiteboards by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 04:14 · Score: 1

This is why I only do demos on a whiteboard. It will never freeze up or crash on me, especially in the middle of a presentation! This whole internet thing is a fad anyway, if you ask me...
1. Re:Whiteboards by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 04:28 · Score: 0
  
  This is why I only do demos on a blackboard with chalk. I'll never find all the pens dried out, especially in the middle of a presentation! This whole whiteboard thing is a fad anyway, if you ask me...
2. Re:Whiteboards by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 04:28 · Score: 0
  
  This is why I only do demos on a whiteboard. It will never freeze up or crash on me, especially in the middle of a presentation! This whole internet thing is a fad anyway, if you ask me...
  By insisting that the board be white you are subtly failing to be diverse and inclusive.
3. Re: Whiteboards by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 04:51 · Score: 0
  
  I use a stick and sand, no chalk dust or blackboard scratch sounds to worry about.
4. Re: Whiteboards by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 05:08 · Score: 0
  
  Oh I wish I had a stick, my company is too cheap, we only have fingers.
5. Re: Whiteboards by guruevi · 2017-10-31 06:28 · Score: 1
  
  In my company, my fingers got chopped off after I tried to take some sticks from the C-level executive suites.
  
  --
  Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
6. Re:Whiteboards by Megane · 2017-10-31 06:40 · Score: 1
  
  And that is when you find that all the marker pens in the room are dry, because the only other guy who doesn't use the projector is that mousy guy who doesn't put the caps back on tightly enough. Or someone put sharpie markers in instead of dry-erase markers.
  
  --
  #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
7. Re: Whiteboards by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 08:44 · Score: 0
  
  Microaggression!
8. Re:Whiteboards by lucm · 2017-10-31 17:46 · Score: 1
  
  Or someone put sharpie markers in instead of dry-erase markers.
  Those are a hoot, especially on them fancy $3,000 smartboards
  
  --
  lucm, indeed.
well by c · 2017-10-31 04:17 · Score: 3, Insightful

In Microsoft's defence (and believe me, I don't defend them often), if they're eating their own dog food and running development versions of Edge (like they should be) and/or if the system they're demoing on is a development system, then it shouldn't come as a huge surprise to see something shit the bed like that.
I don't doubt that Google folks have the occasional moment like that running Chrome or Android or whatnot...

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Log in or piss off.
1. Re:well by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 05:03 · Score: 0
  
  Ugh tell me about it.
  Our products on my high spec $4000 workstation at work run slower than on my home laptop. If anything we dogfood too much to the detriment of our own productivity.
  AC for obvious reasons.
2. Re:well by leonbev · 2017-10-31 05:23 · Score: 2
  
  There is a part of me that makes me think that this was some viral marketing attempt to get me to watch a demo video on Azure server migrations. If you watch the presentation, you'll see that he didn't exactly try all that hard to get it working with Edge before downloading Chrome.
  Azure is surprisingly open source friendly, and it wouldn't be totally surprised if this was was a (staged) attempt to demonstrate that.
3. Re:well by leonbev · 2017-10-31 05:28 · Score: 1
  
  And, YES, I know that Chrome isn't an open source browser. Please don't remind me of that. I should have said "multi platform friendly" instead.
Open source by fluffernutter · 2017-10-31 04:22 · Score: 1

The thing that makes this news is the fact that the *biggest* competitor's browser was used, and thus the hat was tipped to them so to speak. Why wouldn't the presenter asked his/her self what the best way would be to diffuse the situation. At the least, hat should have been tipped to Mozilla Firefox. While it still would have received guffaws, at least having the day saved by 'open source' is better than having the day saved by Google. The more obscure open source in this case the better, but likely the presenter had to think quickly and needed something that was sure to work.

--
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
1. Re:Open source by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 04:29 · Score: 0
  
  I know what you are saying, but he actually wanted it to work, rather than tip his hat to any specific item.
Different web browsers on a single machine by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 04:23 · Score: 0

I am not a M$ Engineer and neither do I deliver live presentations, but I have so many web browsers on my machine just to make my footprint on the web a bit random. I have IE, Edge, Opera, FireFox, SeaMonkey, Chrome, Chromium, Opera, Yandex, Iron, Palemoon. If the M$ Engineer don't want to get embarrassed in front of his audience, he should have installed Google Chrome weeks before he delivered his presentation.
1. Re:Different web browsers on a single machine by Megane · 2017-10-31 06:49 · Score: 1
  
  Last night I was using the mbed online compiler, very much in The Zone, when it just stopped working. In my main browser it wouldn't even show the IDE screen, just a blank page. I tried other browsers, and even browsers on other computers that I had a remote screen connection for. All were broken, though some other browsers showed the IDE screen, which still wouldn't compile. It worked this morning, so it was obviously some sort of outage, but at least I knew it wasn't something that happened because of my web browser.
  Yeah, I know, my big problem was depending on The Cloud for something. At least it was an excuse to make another attempt at getting the offline compiler working, but again I failed, apparently due to Python versions (and even a module that I had to download, but wasn't documented anywhere), and error messages where things were just left to throw exceptions without any explanation. Literally "it don't work" tier errors.
  
  --
  #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
Live demos on stage are frightening by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 04:23 · Score: 0

Let he who has actually performed live demos in front of an audience throw the first post.
1. Re:Live demos on stage are frightening by ledow · 2017-10-31 06:10 · Score: 1
  
  Why would you need to?
  Pre-record the actions you intend to perform.
  Then the "live" performance will work as you intended, on your timing.
  Who would do something RANDOM in a live performance? You test, test, test and then - if you have an ounce of sense - pre-record it for the demo.
2. Re:Live demos on stage are frightening by rogoshen1 · 2017-10-31 08:25 · Score: 2
  
  sort of like lip syncing a live performance huh? that never, ever ends badly for the performer.
Just a thought... by hyades1 · 2017-10-31 04:26 · Score: 1

Maybe this guy and that Apple engineer they just fired can get together. Who know what they might come up with.

--
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
1. Re:Just a thought... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 09:25 · Score: 0
  
  Bring on ex-googler James Damore as well, and things could really turn disruptive. They could... make the world a better place!
Edge did not freeze by Dwedit · 2017-10-31 04:28 · Score: 1

Edge did not freeze, it was configured to be more locked-down within the corporation. So in order to get around locked-down clients, he simply installed Chrome rather than reconfigure Edge.
1. Re:Edge did not freeze by freeze128 · 2017-10-31 04:34 · Score: 2
  
  Group Policy makes Microsoft Presenter Install Chrome.
2. Re:Edge did not freeze by Junta · 2017-10-31 05:32 · Score: 2
  
  Or that's the least bad sounding explanation he could pull from his ass in the heat of the moment. It doesn't make much sense.
  The two more likely explanations:
  -They have a bug in the javascript under edge they hadn't ironed out
  -There was a bug in their javascript with respect to some dom storage or cookie that the edge browser had picked up along the way that could have also broken chrome, but chrome had a clean slate and had not accumulated crap. Particularly if their framework reacts to cookies, being under 'microsoft.com' probably meant all kinds of completely irrelevant cookies not pertaining to app had accumulated in the browser and were being flung at their server.
  
  --
  XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
3. Re:Edge did not freeze by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 06:25 · Score: 0
  
  Oh please, it makes much more sense than your convoluted explanations which you're pulling out of your microsoft-hating ass.
  Right before he mentioned Edge being lockdowned, someone offstage said something to him to which he replied, "I know, I forgot". That means the simplest,likeliest, and the not-all-conspiratorial-nutcase explanation is is that he forgot to ease the restrictions on the browser before the presentation.
4. Re:Edge did not freeze by spacepimp · 2017-10-31 07:04 · Score: 1
  
  So Microsoft is too stupid to know they needed to have edge work for their demo? You're suggesting this locked down browser was a surprise to the presenter? How could they have prevented this? By making Edge not locked down perhaps?
5. Re:Edge did not freeze by samwichse · 2017-10-31 07:17 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Yes! This is an even better (worse) headline!
  Group policy on Windows 10 has been a nightmare, as different builds seem to fail in new and exciting ways.
6. Re:Edge did not freeze by Junta · 2017-11-01 01:51 · Score: 1
  
  None of the explanations are 'good' for microsoft.
  1) It's locked down and fails to notify the user. Means either edge is blocking it badly or their javascript is terrible at handling error codes. The problem is I have a hard time imagining what sort of group policy would lock edge down so much that it would fail what they were doing, and yet work on *other* parts of their application.
  2) Their javascript has a problem with the edge runtime, which means either edge sucks, or their javascript sucks and/or they hate edge themselves
  3) Their javascript/server struggles with a 'well-used' browser that accumulates stray session cookies and DOM storage. This is probably the most likely scenario, given a long lived browser and a domain like 'microsoft.com'. This happens all the time in web development land, and is probably the *least* specifically microsoft being bad scenario.
  
  --
  XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
7. Re:Edge did not freeze by Anonymous Coward · 2017-11-01 04:13 · Score: 0
  
  Ah.. the usual "I can't think of anything else, therefore Microsoft bad"
  
  None of the explanations are 'good' for microsoft.
  Actually you mean, none of YOUR explanations. Good thing we don't have to rely on you.
In other words. . . by smooth+wombat · 2017-10-31 04:28 · Score: 3, Insightful

he went from one piece of spyware to another.

--
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
1. Re:In other words. . . by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 06:12 · Score: 0
  
  Says the guy who just used a web browser to post his "insight". I'll note you didn't include the name of your non-"spyware" browser. I think everyone here knows why you didn't too.
2. Re: In other words. . . by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 07:12 · Score: 0
  
  Uh, not all browsers are spyware.
  Chromium strips out all the proprietary Google services found in Chrome.
  Firefox and Brave without telemetry do not send any data back to the company.
  All three are open source.
3. Re:In other words. . . by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 10:47 · Score: 0
  
  I use both Pale Moon (primary) and Vivaldi. Neither of them have any spyware and both are vastly superior to "Edge" (it still sounds like a name that an out of touch corporate manager from the 80s would sound cool) and Chrome.
  You should also note that Google's spyware is optional and all of their software and services cost no money. Microsoft's is not optional and their software and services all cost money.
4. Re:In other words. . . by thegarbz · 2017-11-01 02:31 · Score: 1
  
  And notice how it worked but he didn't care? Just like all the Chrome users.
[sic]? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 04:39 · Score: 0

What exactly is the [sic] for?
1. Re:[sic]? by Bryansix · 2017-10-31 07:17 · Score: 1
  
  Why don't you install Chrome and type it in the address bar to find out?
  
  Since I'm not a jerk, I'll paste that result here:
  
  used in brackets after a copied or quoted word that appears odd or erroneous to show that the word is quoted exactly as it stands in the original, as in a story must hold a child's interest and “enrich his [ sic ] life.”.
2. Re:[sic]? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 10:53 · Score: 0
  
  Seriously? Were you a former passenger on the short bus or something? How the fuck have you been able to survive for so long with such poor comprehension skills? GP was obviously asking about _why_ they used [sic] in the article. The statement, and more specifically the word, that they applied it to isn't strange or incorrect.
There is one thing Edge is great for... by Tony+Isaac · 2017-10-31 04:48 · Score: 1

...downloading Chrome or Firefox!
Re: "...There are some things that just don't work by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 04:55 · Score: 0

And Windows 10 updates over slow connections.
Well there's your problem... by sootman · 2017-10-31 05:25 · Score: 2

"And we're going to not make Google better," he added when unchecking the box to send usage statistics and crash reports to Google
I'll bet he unchecked that box in Edge, too. No wonder it crashed! ALWAYS tick the box that says "help make this product better." It makes the product better! :D

--
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
Just because it's not a surprise it's still a fail by mykepredko · 2017-10-31 05:34 · Score: 1

I would think that when you're presenting as Microsoft (or Google, or Amazon...) and you're demonstrating, you must be ABSOLUTELY sure that if there is a problem, you can recover with your company's products.
I would be very interested to know if the presenter still has a job - if Microsoft is serious about making Win10/Edge the number one platform/browser then this guy and anybody else involved with the debacle should be looking for work today.

--
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
Re:Just because it's not a surprise it's still a f by leonbev · 2017-10-31 05:53 · Score: 2

If this was Apple, sure. His manager would have fired him just a few minutes after he walked off stage. Microsoft is more platform agnostic then they used to be, though.
Besides, even if Microsoft did fired him right away, Google might hire him just for the PR value. He's become the cloud hosting equivalent of the old Verizon spokesperson working for Sprint.
Is there a policy that he can't use other browser? by shantanufeb17 · 2017-10-31 05:57 · Score: 1

There are no policies of Microsoft that prevent it's employees from using other browsers. Even Chrome stops responding at times, happened with my Ubuntu a couple of times. It is similar to Priyanka Chopra needing to prove that she is still having an Indian touch , when it's not worthy!

--
I blog for Litlisted. Amazing conversationist, and
Comment removed by account_deleted · 2017-10-31 06:11 · Score: 1

Comment removed based on user account deletion
Pudding Proof by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 06:17 · Score: 0

Does literally anyone know a Microsoft engineer/programmer who uses MS products in their own time (or even in the office)?
I know two, and both of them are 100% Apple users (albeit in one case he uses a hackintosh).
Office demo by eminencja · 2017-10-31 06:25 · Score: 1

I remember a talk by some unenthusiastic Novell(?) engineer talking about OpenOffice a couple years ago. He would say things like you know, this really sucked, now it sucks a little less. No corporate bs, no nothing. I was quite impressed. Maybe someone will be able to provide a youtube link.
he's not going anywhere by smithcl8 · 2017-10-31 07:02 · Score: 2

Having watched hours of more recent Microsoft demos....Azure, PowerShell, etc......within the past couple years, I can tell you that the surprising part is that he started with Edge. The demos Scott Hanselman, Jeffrey Snover, and Mark Russinovich and so on, do are typically run on Macs or Surfaces, running Google Chrome in either case. Actually, I think that doing so is by design, to show off how cross-platform they think at the "new" Microsoft.
Brave by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 07:09 · Score: 0

Microsoft is so far out of the browser game, it will never recover.
Brave is going to capture a large portion of market share in the coming years. They are the only ones really doing serious innovation on what we fundamentally expect from a browser.
FALSE! by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 07:37 · Score: 0

The person did not work for Microsoft as the title implies.
Re:"...There are some things that just don't work. by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 07:51 · Score: 0

You must be a hoot at parties.
WinME ran fine unless... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 08:23 · Score: 0

A. You had >512 megs of ram and didn't limit the file cache to avoid the stack or heap limitations thanks to all its DOS compatibility hacks.
And B. You didn't mix the old Win9x drivers with the new ME/NT drivers which I believe used their own driver stack that could sometimes become corrupted due to interactions with the legacy drivers, leading to freezes and crashes.
I built a computer for a sibling during that era with Windows ME on a P4 with 1 gig of ram. It never had any issues related to Windows ME, and she used the same install for most of the '00s (It was built in '01 or '02 and since ME was 1/3 the cost of XP, supported all her games/apps, and didn't require online activation, it was all Pros to her.)
Look, there's your battery savings by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 08:46 · Score: 0

Microsoft Edge, selectively stop loading pages using machine learning to save 150% of your battery life.
Re: "...There are some things that just don't wor by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 09:10 · Score: 0

You can tell win10 that your connection is metered.
Re:Just because it's not a surprise it's still a f by c · 2017-10-31 09:22 · Score: 2

if Microsoft is serious about making Win10/Edge the number one platform/browser
I'd say Microsoft has spent the better part of a decade repeatedly demonstrating that they're not serious about it.

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Log in or piss off.
Which browser should I use? by theendlessnow · 2017-10-31 10:04 · Score: 1

I'm confused. Should I be installing "crime", "internet exploder", "sledge" or "firepox"?
Re:"...There are some things that just don't work. by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 10:34 · Score: 0

I especially love how Microsoft is so entitled that they think paying customers owe them "telemetry" (spyware) data, yet they won't reciprocate when they use *free* software that someone else makes.
Re: "...There are some things that just don't wor by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 10:57 · Score: 1

Which breaks other shit.
Windows 10 is just a huge pile of shit. I have been using computers for nearly 40 years and I can honestly say that Windows 10 is the worst excuse for an OS I have ever seen.
Re: "...There are some things that just don't wor by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 11:39 · Score: 1

So true! Ive gotten sick of the crap MS rolls. Change for the sake of change???
ASP.Net MVC Demos and Chrome by smist08 · 2017-10-31 11:41 · Score: 1

I know whenever I've seen MS demos of ASP.Net MVC they had to use Chrome because the web pages would be buggy under Edge. They also explicitly state this as opposed to claiming they are showing cross-platform works. I think generally in MS there is a feeling they should fire the whole browser team.
If this was Apple, the demo would have worked. by Brannon · 2017-10-31 12:55 · Score: 1

nt
1. Re:If this was Apple, the demo would have worked. by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 16:21 · Score: 0
  
  Unlike they're demoing Face ID.
It's just part of a tradition by AlejandroTejadaC · 2017-10-31 13:11 · Score: 1

If you are demoing MS products and you don't know how to save face and recover from a crash, then you are the wrong person to present that product... :-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Re: Sums it up, officially. by just+another+AC · 2017-10-31 13:35 · Score: 1

Yep. They really optimised the time it took to render the error page.
Edge, broken by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-31 13:57 · Score: 0

Edge crashed for me and it wouldn't restart. The start menu was broken so I couldn't use it to power down or reboot. Anything else that used Edge behind the scene was broken.
oh no by luther349 · 2017-10-31 15:48 · Score: 1

windows software being unstable such a shocker.
flashback by lucm · 2017-10-31 17:42 · Score: 1

^ reading that thread reminded me of that time when I was late and got stuck at the losers table at the office christmas party. My soul still hurts.

--
lucm, indeed.
Re:Just because it's not a surprise it's still a f by lucm · 2017-10-31 17:48 · Score: 1

I would think that when you're presenting as Microsoft (or Google, or Amazon...) and you're demonstrating, you must be ABSOLUTELY sure that if there is a problem, you can recover with your company's products.
Wrong. Microsoft has a culture of not preparing meetings or demos, the idea being that you should know your shit and be able to adapt to what happens. There's been epic incidents but overall it didn't really hurt them.

--
lucm, indeed.
Edge is garbage by slashmydots · 2017-10-31 17:58 · Score: 1

I've set up about 100 custom Windows 10 PCs so far, all different and all manually, not imaged, and I would say that Edge freezes the first time you open it approximately 75% of the time and randomly surfing the web or trying to download a file it's 1 freeze up and crash per hour minimum. From random users' event logs it's around 5 crashes per day. I've gotten over a dozen support calls about just Edge freezing up.
Re: "...There are some things that just don't work by Ilgaz · 2017-10-31 21:55 · Score: 1

I bet there is a Edge developer knowing the exact cause of this bug, perhaps it was fixed but as they tied the browser updates to OS instead of store, they can't release the update to public.
Wondering about Microsoft. by dddux · 2017-11-01 11:47 · Score: 1

I wonder when will we finally start to really see the Microsoft company for what it really is? Just a money sucking, copy and paste and ditch, no worth bloated and spying software company that it really is? Maybe when more of its shilling employees get ditched, I suppose. The web is oversaturated with them.

--
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." - Jiddu Krishnamurti
Re: "...There are some things that just don't work by Anonymous Coward · 2017-11-02 04:55 · Score: 0

And IE :-)