Bottom line - we built an optimizing compiler into the Chakra JavaScript engine that eliminates dead code where it finds it.
It's a fun conspiracy theory that we'd somehow 'game' SunSpider in this way, but it doesn't make sense that we'd go to all that risk to cheat on just one test out of 26.
Hi there, I work for the client platform team here at Microsoft and thought I'd take this opportunity to quickly answer the valid questions you raise.
Firstly, we're not trying to hide anything in terms of developer APIs or documentation. We've got a good set of reference material online that is targeted at someone developing Silverlight content for display on a website. On the other hand, Moonlight is developing a compatible implementation of the Silverlight runtime, which is a pretty specialist requirement. There are different needs that Miguel and team have - for example, how to parse ill-formed content, and there are internal development specs that will help in making a 100% compatible implementation.
Secondly, the codecs themselves are licensed implementations of the VC-1 standard. We're not in a position to put them into the public domain, unfortunately, but making binaries available at least exposes the functionality.
Hope this explains where we're coming from and dispels at least in part the perception that every strategic move has evil intent!
It's astonishing to see how far the USA is prepared to be isolated from the rest of the world when it comes to technological standards like this. The rest of the world is switching to Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) for digital radio as a replacement for FM, with countries like the UK being particularly advanced in their adoption. Here's a map showing DAB adoption across the world - notice the big empty space where the US is? Instead the US have decided to go it alone with this hybrid solution that will be the NTSC of the radio world. What a pity...
I've had a DAB radio for six months now and have been really impressed with the sound quality, ease of tuning and extra information that's displayed with each broadcast. No more trying to guess the band playing a particular song - it scrolls automatically along the LCD display. Want to see what stations are available? Just scroll through the list, rather than speculatively twiddling a knob and trying to identify something through the white noise. There's a whole world out there that the US is missing out on...
If there was ever a better example of a post that should be marked "Flamebait" than the parent, I've yet to see it. Yet it's marked as "Insightful". How odd...
It's a pity - Nintendo's first-party games have often set themselves apart from the competition. But once a console starts to appear to fail, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy - it's very hard for a console to pull itself back when it's on a downhill slide.
If only Nintendo had produced some more innovative games like the PS2 EyeToy, rather than spending large amounts of effort updating established franchises. Games like that are console sellers, because they appeal to all ages and move gaming outside of a comparatively small niche.
I work in the.NET & Developer Group at Microsoft UK. For the record, there is no UK version of GotDotNet - this is just someone cybersquatting. Check the whois record at Nominet.uk. There's no need for a UK version of course - this is a worldwide community site.
Interestingly, I notice that someone's registered slashdot.org.uk...:-)
Oops - looks nasty. Waiting for the predictable flood of comments to say that of course Linux is perfect and Windows is the worst operating system ever invented, but can't we all save a lot of hassle and simply cut and paste from the last time we went round this loop?:-)
In the meantime, in the unlikely event that anyone wants to install the patch, the location is here.
That makes no sense. Whatever you think of the licence terms, Microsoft's shared source program means that it's quite possible to get access to the source code without working for the big M. This program is available for Windows and a number of other products.
Anyway, buffer overruns are found on a regular basis on Windows as well as other operating systems - they're an all-too-common programming error still. If they wanted to crack systems across the network, they'd be better to hire a couple of l33t script kiddies than a MS employee...:-)
The "proven JVM" - is that as in "proven to be slower than a one-legged caterpillar"? Why is there not a single benchmark on the TPC performance site that includes Java technology? However, if you want to see an "enterprise scaled application using COM, MTS, or COM+" there are a legion of examples on the site...
I've been playing around with J# for a little while now (http://msdn.microsoft.com/visualj/jsharp/beta.asp ) and it seems a capable development tool. It's absolutely true that it doesn't generate JVM bytecode, nor does it support Java 2 features. But that's not Microsoft playing with the standards, as far as I can see - more due to the terms of their settlement with Sun.
The good thing about J# is that it allows Java developers to target yet another platform (.NET) without needing to throw away all the existing code. Use it, or ignore it - it's up to you.
Slashdot Mirror
Hi there, thank you for the post. I just wanted to add a few observations on behalf of the Internet Explorer team.
Firstly, no browser offers a perfect implementation of the Canvas 2D API specification to date - we've documented and shared a few examples from our test suites here: http://samples.msdn.microsoft.com/ietestcenter/#html5Canvas
As has been well noted, the IE9 build tested was our beta.
Secondly, in response to the specific issues raised, Giorgio Sardo has posted a response on his blog here:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/giorgio/archive/2011/01/14/building-great-browsers-together.aspx
We'll update this entry over time.
Thanks for listening,
Tim Sneath | Microsoft Corp.
Hi, we've posted an official response and explanation at the bottom of this post:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ie/archive/2010/11/17/html5-and-real-world-site-performance-seventh-ie9-platform-preview-available-for-developers.aspx
Bottom line - we built an optimizing compiler into the Chakra JavaScript engine that eliminates dead code where it finds it.
It's a fun conspiracy theory that we'd somehow 'game' SunSpider in this way, but it doesn't make sense that we'd go to all that risk to cheat on just one test out of 26.
Best wishes, Tim Sneath | Microsoft
Hi there, I work for the client platform team here at Microsoft and thought I'd take this opportunity to quickly answer the valid questions you raise.
Firstly, we're not trying to hide anything in terms of developer APIs or documentation. We've got a good set of reference material online that is targeted at someone developing Silverlight content for display on a website. On the other hand, Moonlight is developing a compatible implementation of the Silverlight runtime, which is a pretty specialist requirement. There are different needs that Miguel and team have - for example, how to parse ill-formed content, and there are internal development specs that will help in making a 100% compatible implementation.
Secondly, the codecs themselves are licensed implementations of the VC-1 standard. We're not in a position to put them into the public domain, unfortunately, but making binaries available at least exposes the functionality.
Hope this explains where we're coming from and dispels at least in part the perception that every strategic move has evil intent!
It's astonishing to see how far the USA is prepared to be isolated from the rest of the world when it comes to technological standards like this. The rest of the world is switching to Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) for digital radio as a replacement for FM, with countries like the UK being particularly advanced in their adoption. Here's a map showing DAB adoption across the world - notice the big empty space where the US is? Instead the US have decided to go it alone with this hybrid solution that will be the NTSC of the radio world. What a pity...
I've had a DAB radio for six months now and have been really impressed with the sound quality, ease of tuning and extra information that's displayed with each broadcast. No more trying to guess the band playing a particular song - it scrolls automatically along the LCD display. Want to see what stations are available? Just scroll through the list, rather than speculatively twiddling a knob and trying to identify something through the white noise. There's a whole world out there that the US is missing out on...
If there was ever a better example of a post that should be marked "Flamebait" than the parent, I've yet to see it. Yet it's marked as "Insightful". How odd...
It's a pity - Nintendo's first-party games have often set themselves apart from the competition. But once a console starts to appear to fail, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy - it's very hard for a console to pull itself back when it's on a downhill slide.
If only Nintendo had produced some more innovative games like the PS2 EyeToy, rather than spending large amounts of effort updating established franchises. Games like that are console sellers, because they appeal to all ages and move gaming outside of a comparatively small niche.
I work in the .NET & Developer Group at Microsoft UK. For the record, there is no UK version of GotDotNet - this is just someone cybersquatting. Check the whois record at Nominet.uk. There's no need for a UK version of course - this is a worldwide community site.
:-)
Interestingly, I notice that someone's registered slashdot.org.uk...
Tim
And they accuse Microsoft of never innovating: this is just a straight rip off of the Crimson Skies PC game!
Oh, hang on, I think I've spotted something
There's a juicy irony in the content of that page...
In the meantime, in the unlikely event that anyone wants to install the patch, the location is here.
That makes no sense. Whatever you think of the licence terms, Microsoft's shared source program means that it's quite possible to get access to the source code without working for the big M. This program is available for Windows and a number of other products.
:-)
Anyway, buffer overruns are found on a regular basis on Windows as well as other operating systems - they're an all-too-common programming error still. If they wanted to crack systems across the network, they'd be better to hire a couple of l33t script kiddies than a MS employee...
"Java and C# are closed languages."
Only one has been accepted by a standards body... and it's not Java.
http://www.ecma.ch/ecma1/MEMENTO/TC39-G2.HTM
The "proven JVM" - is that as in "proven to be slower than a one-legged caterpillar"? Why is there not a single benchmark on the TPC performance site that includes Java technology? However, if you want to see an "enterprise scaled application using COM, MTS, or COM+" there are a legion of examples on the site...
I've been playing around with J# for a little while now (http://msdn.microsoft.com/visualj/jsharp/beta.asp ) and it seems a capable development tool. It's absolutely true that it doesn't generate JVM bytecode, nor does it support Java 2 features. But that's not Microsoft playing with the standards, as far as I can see - more due to the terms of their settlement with Sun.
The good thing about J# is that it allows Java developers to target yet another platform (.NET) without needing to throw away all the existing code. Use it, or ignore it - it's up to you.