thanks chris for sending this in!
Awful is right. As any future anti-Unix run will provoke gales of laughter from the Slashdotter sysadmin types...And "the we really didn"t mean "Sun" with the purple paint, just happened to have some on hand" excuse, convinces no one...
A slew of bigtime PR backfires and perception problems from MS of late...
- The Mira "beta hardware charge", excepting the OEMs indicated a price point for the final LOWER than the beta cost. Mira being viewed as kinda DOA; as all Gates micromanagementized. No compelling need, not like Tablet PC.
- Pocket PC 2002 - bugfest city. People aren"t too happy. Corporates finding out it is a hacked-together clugded version. OEM Hardware problems galore. Mobile Devices in reorg, reorg, reorg.
- SmartPhone - Oh sorry about that locking up problem. More than 100 contacts and it locks up. Tho onward to .NET ahoy. The 3 tries concept might not work per phones. BT and Sendo mad as heck and hedging bets.
- The XBox denial, per Europe and Japan, when EA and basically every game company said was such. MS PR stuck to their guns and defended the indefensible.
- The "No. 3 guy" curse yet again. :)
- Tablet PC becoming a longtimetabled joke in the tech press (I have faith tho).
- Gate"z April Fools gag and basically ticking off of Canada...as indication that the Jean Chrétien wasn"t important enough to be met with.
- .NET Marketing security flap and a slew of Trustworthy Security updates that don"t work, but then the "remote" vs. "local" discussions as a very feeble MS excuse.
- Georgi Guninski problem. MS getting bad rap in security circles. Saying "irresponsible" which maybe be true but security guys saying "ignored".
- Paul Allen and Moxi...Benedict Arnold anyone?
- Continued pursuit of Lindows.
- The "Critical for all users" "Windows Messenger 4.6 Connectivity Update", that reintroduces it for people who have removed it...
- Slew of Hotmail spam of late, lottsa complaints there. People getting fed up, past 3 months. Not MS fault directly. But Hotmail is a dot.com era idea that is now seemingly spam central. Yahoo opt-in default issue re-highlighting it. etc.
- Dual use of WaggEd as PR and as "clarificational enforcers" with a law firm on the side. WaggEd becoming more harm than good. Too many MS people using WaggEd as their own personal vindictive "get-even" concept. People bracing for the hit...etc.
Beautiful man...