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Microsoft to "publish code" to Instant Messenger
VFVTHUNTER writes "According to this article at cnet, MS, in an attempt to gain a share of AOL's Instant Messenger Service Market, announced today it is going to publish the protocol to its own messenger service. " It's important to note it's NOT the source code, just the protocol.
Hey! We're talking about a Microsoft protocol, here! Of course there are going to be bugs! But don't you worry, a service pack'll be released any time now.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
I won't even read that protocol on mere principal. Besides if I were to make a client, 3 years from now it'd be non-fuctional as MS "featurizes" it and makes older versions unusable.
Only if "registered users" counts as a running tab of their userbase. After doing a sequential scan of their database one weekend, I found that quite a bit of their UIN's are either canceled accounts, or null space where they presumably "bumped" the user number up to reach a certain goal. ICQ is a fad. I don't see it growing beyond that category any time soon.
and did ICQ not pioneer the IM concept?
No. America Online did in the form of a Buddy List in mid-1985. AOL was called Quantum Computer Services back then, and their online service was called QuantumLink. You'd get a list of logged-on friends at the top of your screen when you were in their "People Connection" area. I remember alpha-testing the chat areas on my Commodore 64 with my dad when I was 6 years old. :-)
why do none of the other messengers use the ICQ protocol?
Because it's a clusterfudge. Honestly, I wouldn't build on top of that protocol if my life depended on it. ICQ just folded shoddy user authentication and an IRC notify list into a proprietary platform with pretty graphics, that's all. Nothing innovative there.
They figure: "This whole thing with AOL back and forth is getting really old. There's gotta be something we can do."
Then, one of those guys who REALLY doesn't like working for Microsoft (but does so for the money/experience) approches the executives and says: "Let's release the Source Code!"
The executives ponder it, and eventually come out with: "No....but we can release the Protocol specifications!" thinking that they can get the public to write MS compatible versions of an Instant Messenger (They don't have a choice. It's the Microsoft specs that are public. AOL pulled theirs, remember?) Once the Microsoft(compatible) Instant Messenger is on every computer on the Planet, AOL is forced to do 1 of 2 things.
1) Give up on Instant Messenger completely, eliminating them from the market. This gives Microsoft a good foothold in the IM market, with little competition. (Now we go after ICQ HAHAH!)
NOTE: ICQ is owned by AOL, so they're not totally out.
2) AOL can pull it's Instant Messenger software behind the America Online wall, and make it a "Member Exclusive" service you can't get with any other Provider, (Just like Web access and Chat!)
Either way, guess who won? Guess who Cheated? If you're smart, you'll get the same answer.
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon?
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon? :P)
(If you can't figure out how to E-Mail me, Don't.
It now reads: Microsoft's next messaging move: publishing protocol
Interesting, I guess it's easy to get it right when there are thousands of netizens doing your homework for you.
slashdot broke my sig
Will this cause licensing problems for people releasing their own version of clients/servers using the protocol under alternative licenses? (e.g. BSD, proprietary, etc.)
It's a simple tactic - sell worthless information for vast sums of money to increase the difference between your products and your competitors. Result - your competitors buy themselves into bankrupcy, you win at little/no effort.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)