November 08, 2006

• US citizens only.
• .Even though Microsoft Office Live is a free service during the beta period, we still require a credit card in order to validate that every customer is a legitimate entity Sorry, Bill*, but no. Or whoever is calling the shots at microsoft now
• I'm fine with the credit card thing, but the required "software" is Internet Explorer. Sorry, but if I'm giving you my credit card, it's not going to be over IE.
• "You are not using a recent version of Internet Explorer and need to download it in order to use Office Live." Microsoft just continues to suck, doesn't it.
• Aye.
• Pass.
• "We need your credit card number but aren't going to charge you anything, honest gov." is vaguely reminiscent of bad porn sites.
• Q: Will I be charged a fee when my domain name comes up for renewal? Top A: Domain names are renewed on an annual basis. Microsoft will automatically renew your domain name for you, and you will not be charged a renewal fee, whether you subscribe to Microsoft Office Live Basics or Office Live Essentials. If you already own a domain name and transfer it to Office Live, Microsoft will pay for any future renewals. As a courtesy, Microsoft will notify you via e-mail before your domain name is renewed, asking you to check your domain name information and update it, if necessary. Here's Micro$quash in a nutshell: they are the crack dealers outside the playground. Pulling in the kids and forcing them to buy at every opportunity. As a convicted monopoly whose unfair practices have already extorted billions from every PC user ever, I extend a hearty middle-finger salute to them. And, seriously, if domains are $10/year and hosting barely $50, c'mon. It's a sucker deal. Just like always.
• I'm quite enjoying OpenOffice 2.0, by the way.
• Oh, c'mon. No matter what you think of Microsoft, in all fairness they are giving a freebee to people who use their software. Good on them, and good for people who use their products. A lot of people use M$ software despite alternatives, and like using it, so it's just another bonus. Why the heck should they extend a freebee to users of competitors products? If GM offered free oil changes to owners of their cars, you couldn't complain if they wouldn't change the oil on your Ford. Let's see Firefox of Openoffice offer a similar free service. For the record, I use Opera, Corel, and Pegasus for my surfing, office software, and email, not Microsoft. But I'm not going to begrudge this.
• There is no place for a voice of reason in a Microsoft-bashing thread.
• As a convicted monopoly whose unfair practices have already extorted billions from every PC user ever, I extend a hearty middle-finger salute to them. And we thought we knew at least one of the petesbest.
• Let's see Firefox of Openoffice offer a similar free service. Let's see what Firefox and Openoffice would do with the hundreds of billions Micro$oft screwed out of a once-burgeoning software market. There is no place for a voice of reason in a Microsoft-bashing thread. Technically, the thread is about Micro$oft's hosting offer. Only the comment was bashing.
• > Let's see Firefox of Openoffice offer a similar free service. Well, Sun Microsystems is more or less offering OpenOffice as a free service. Does that count for something?
• More or less?
• Well, the original code base was StarOffice but was released under GNU LGPL some years back, so it's partly a gift from Sun and partly a gift from the nice people who contribute time and money to the OpenOffice project.
• Just what the world needs - thousands of new, nearly identical, crappy web sites.
• If a non-microsoft company wanted to offer the same thing and require the use of their software, it would be fair as well, and probably not questioned by anyone. You can use free software which is just as functional, but there are still some perks for shelling out the big bucks for commercial software. My main computer has XP and I really like that OS, and I've used UNIX, Linux, and I also own a Mac. I'm not interested in any of M$'s other products, but I wonder if the response would be the same if it was Apple offering the free web hosting etc. to only Mac users instead . . .
• I'm sure it's a fine offering for anyone who's already happy with Micro$oft and the MS Office suite. I'm just saying, especially as it regards web hosting, beware the Micro$quash. They will tie you up with licensing and functionality til you have no choice but to continue to buy from them. Witness the design of FrontPage & FP extensions.
• I agree, petebest.
• I'd forgotten about StarOffice. That didn't suck, although I seem to recall several years' worth of loading time. OpenOffice is much better than it used to be, too. Just what the world needs - thousands of new, nearly identical, crappy web sites. *carefully steps away from $Filter, whistles*
• Sorry, Bill, that's not free, that's "free".
• I don't see where you see a hidden charge, petebest.
• Well, outside of the registration and yearly renewal cost, plus whatevery they're actually spending on hosting (which I'm sure averages out to nothing) I don't see a hidden charge. My reservation is in the use of Micro$oft products. Forcing people to use IE is just the start. I'm sure it's a fine deal for anyone who loves Micro$quash. I don't think the huge licensing fees will include anything hidden.
• Well, from what I can tell, the registration and the yearly renewal cost is zero. Free. I have the same reservation about using IE, especially to give them a credit card number. But I don't see where they would be charging you for anything. I mean, you even pointed out quotes where they said that they would absorb the costs for registration and renewal.
• It's free as in your first hit of crack is free. Cost is zero, yeah. MuwhAhahahahAAaaaa!! Also, it doesn't say who'll legally own the domain you decide upon. Now I don't think Micro$oft would stoop to so low a tactic as to basically "steal" a domain name away . . from . . . Hm.
• You're making less and less sense.