Re: Danny Thorpe speaks about Windows Live in Toronto

Eric Grange wrote:

Just fluff talk it seems, in the terms of use there is still

"You acknowledge that Microsoft may in its sole discretion and at any
time make feature or functionality updates to the API or Service that
may impair or end the functionality of the Application."

I don't know. If the plan is to work with other browsers, languages
and operating systems with the intention of gaining a wider audience,
it seems a little short sighted to suddenly break compatibility
somewhere down the road. I suspect that they are looking to duplicate
some of the success that Google has had with this model, and they would
be limiting their audience by forcing everything to be on Microsoft
platforms. I think it's more likely that this clause lets you know
that as the APIs evolve, some may break. In fact, it's almost a sure
bet with their track record on compatibility.

Not that my opinions on some of Microsoft's practices have changed
much. I still think that lock-in and embrace and extinguish are
significant parts of their business model and deeply rooted into the
culture. But different projects behave differently. I've heard that
the .Net team is very cooperative, while the Visual Studio team (you'd
think they would be the same)... not so much.

I just think that it would be counterproductive for them to undermine
themselves, at least in this case, which is good for me. I didn't get
that "play well with others" line from a Microsoft propaganda page. It
came from Danny Thorpe. That's enough to make me think that Microsoft
*might* be making a genuine effort.

If they break things too badly too often, I'll lose interest. And if
they screw me, I won't use the APIs. There are other options.

Life is good.

--
Regards,
Bruce McGee
Glooscap Software
.

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