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I can think of some pretty big Microsoft pivots, and I don't begrudge them their choices at all. But it's curious that you only hear cries of outrage when Goog

I can think of some pretty big Microsoft pivots, and I don't begrudge them their choices at all. But it's curious that you only hear cries of outrage when Google kills products, not when other companies do it. Why do you think that is? ------ Media Center Kinect Zune PlaysForSure DRM Microsoft Money Windows Home Server Microsoft Kin Phone Microsoft Mobile, previously known as Nokia Windows 10 Mobile The Band TechNet Hotmail Live Messenger Live Mesh Groove Music Pass Groove Music for iOS Groove Music for Android Encarta Windows Small Business Server Flight Simulator Microsoft Works Microsoft FrontPage Windows Embedded Automotive, formerly Microsoft Auto, formerly Windows CE for Automotive, formerly Windows Automotive, formerly Windows Mobile for Automotive

NeedMoreTea 8y ago
I think that's because no one is suggesting that things shouldn't ever come to end of life. Ford stopped making the Model T. If you already bought them, Microsoft Money, Encarta, Flight Sim, SBS, Works etc etc should all keep working. If you still have the CD you can probably install just fine, and keep on using them (if it's still meaningful). I'm sure plenty do just that, and perhaps some will for decades. Just no more new versions are coming. Sure MSN Messenger and other online offerings have been hard stopped. For most of your list, no one hit what's effectively a remote kill switch, and stopped them working for everyone at the same moment. That's what killing an API does for an internet service, or hardware device dependent on that service. On such and such date $thing will cease working. Google does that all the time, hardware and software. So much that they got themselves a reputation for it. Didn't wear out, die of old age, become obsolete, but they reached out and killed. It's qualitatively different.

NeedMoreTea 8y ago

I think that's because no one is suggesting that things shouldn't ever come to end of life. Ford stopped making the Model T. If you already bought them, Microsoft Money, Encarta, Flight Sim, SBS, Works etc etc should all keep working. If you still have the CD you can probably install just fine, and keep on using them (if it's still meaningful). I'm sure plenty do just that, and perhaps some will for decades. Just no more new versions are coming. Sure MSN Messenger and other online offerings have been hard stopped. For most of your list, no one hit what's effectively a remote kill switch, and stopped them working for everyone at the same moment. That's what killing an API does for an internet service, or hardware device dependent on that service. On such and such date $thing will cease working. Google does that all the time, hardware and software. So much that they got themselves a reputation for it. Didn't wear out, die of old age, become obsolete, but they reached out and killed. It's qualitatively different.