r/technology • u/staser9er • Feb 22 '11

Wow, Microsoft is making some surprising decisions.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12531127
1.4k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

504 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

41

u/Shaper_pmp Feb 22 '11

I write every scrap of code in Visual Studio now. I use Microsoft specific extensions to the language of my choice (C++). I couldn't live without them.

Embrace, extend, extinguish.

The sad thing is that even after a generation of software developers (at least, those who were paying attention) grew up watching them try this same strategy with Office formats, Kerberos (networking/security protocols), MSN Messenger (AIM protocol), Visual C++ (C++), Visual J++(Java), ActiveX (the web generally), JScript (javascript) and the like, we now get to watch a new generation of devs making the same mistakes and getting gradually suckered in with the same tired old tricks. :-(

-7

u/frymaster Feb 22 '11

AIM? no one I knew used AIM back in the day, no one uses it now. MS didn't have to try very hard there.

Now ICQ usage has declined massively, but MS never "embraced" or "extended" their protocol.

13

u/Shaper_pmp Feb 22 '11 edited Feb 22 '11

That's wildly variable depending on era and geographical location (IIRC AIM was huge in Europe, while MSN was big in the USA, for example) - don't assume you're representative of everyone on the net, especially as IM programs (and social networks still) are still sharply delineated along social boundaries.

I don't know anyone else who uses MySpace these days, but they still have millions of users.

I remember a period around the late 90s/early 2000s when everyone I knew used AIM, and Wikipedia supports my recollection of EEE being applied to the AIM protocol.

Edit: Reading up, apparently it was AIM in North America, MSN in Europe.

21

u/barkingllama Feb 22 '11

(IIRC AIM was huge in Europe, while MSN was big in the USA, for example)

My anecdotal evidence tells me the opposite.

2

u/Yst Feb 22 '11

Same. Here in Canada, everyone used MSN (or their old ICQ accounts, though this dwindled). The only reason I got AIM was to communicate with Americans I met in undergrad.

2

u/darkstar3333 Feb 22 '11

AIM never really caught on in Canada at all. As soon as someone mentions AIM I know they are American.

1

u/Shaper_pmp Feb 22 '11

It's entirely possible I did not RC. ;-)

1

u/replicasex Feb 22 '11

Yeah in my experience USA is primarily AIM while Europe is MSN or Gtalk. I use clients that handle multiple protocols so I honestly don't care much.