4 ms·

When was the last time they did? Buying existing companies does not count

by herbst 4mo ago

hylaride 4mo ago
Active Directory and MS SQL Server are both solid products, as is .NET. The windows NT kernel is very well thought out, too. The last iteration of windows phone was quite good, if too little too late. Don't get me wrong, MS will enshitify anything it can to make a quick buck. They're much like Disney in that regard.
- SoftTalker 4mo ago
  SQL Server is a fork of Sybase. Not a MS invention. Active Directory is probably based on someone's LDAP server, though I don't know for sure. .NET is a copy of Java NT kernel is good, thank Digital/Dave Cutler for that.
  - cryo32 4mo ago
    NT, SQL, AD is good. It's the schizophrenic management in the last 20 years that has messed it up.
    - rayiner 4mo ago
      Microsoft shows how long you can coast on some good decisions.
      - cryo32 4mo ago
        Exactly that. Haven’t heard it said like that before. Same with my company.
  - hylaride 4mo ago
    > SQL Server is a fork of Sybase. Not a MS invention. It's long-since been rewritten. Pre-SQL Server 2000 it was garbage, but it's been improved significantly since then. I'd still use alternatives given the choice, but it's a solid DB. >Active Directory is probably based on someone's LDAP server, though I don't know for sure. So you don't know. It was written in house, using a bunch of standardized protocols (LDAP, X.500, kerberos), though with proprietary extensions (GPOs, etc). > .NET is a copy of Java That's a gross oversimplification. It's arguably a rip-off after MS tried to sabotage java, but it's their own implementation. > NT kernel is good, thank Digital/Dave Cutler for that. Yes, MS hired an experienced OS person for it. Probably one of the best things they ever did. --- I'm not saying MS deserves kudos or the benefit of the doubt, but they can put out good software, and these are all mission-critical examples of what they have to (having AD go down would bring a whole corporation to a halt). The problem is that with almost everything else, MS has the incentive and capability to ruin. And ruin they do...
    - SoftTalker 4mo ago
      I will say that in the era when they came out with AD they really took "enterprise configuration management" seriously and made Windows by far the best mainstream ecosystem to manage hundreds or thousands of corporate desktops.
    - canucker2016 4mo ago
      For early history about Active Directory, you can't get much better than straight from the horse's mouth ( manager of the Exchange / Active Directory group ). see https://hardcoresoftware.learningbyshipping.com/p/021-expanding-breadth-versus-coherency/comment/1801958 https://hardcoresoftware.learningbyshipping.com/p/021-expand... and https://hardcoresoftware.learningbyshipping.com/p/bonus-the-journey-of-the-ems-and https://hardcoresoftware.learningbyshipping.com/p/bonus-the-...
  - Rohansi 4mo ago
    > .NET is a copy of Java A copy which has had value types (Java's ongoing Project Valhalla) from the start, and reified generics for as long as it had generics. They're quite different once you take a deeper look.
rayiner 4mo ago
Windows NT/2k?

When was the last time they did? Buying existing companies does not count

by herbst 4mo ago

When was the last time they did? Buying existing companies does not count

Active Directory and MS SQL Server are both solid products, as is .NET. The windows NT kernel is very well thought out, too. The last iteration of windows phone was quite good, if too little too late. Don't get me wrong, MS will enshitify anything it can to make a quick buck. They're much like Disney in that regard.

SoftTalker 4mo ago
SQL Server is a fork of Sybase. Not a MS invention. Active Directory is probably based on someone's LDAP server, though I don't know for sure. .NET is a copy of Java NT kernel is good, thank Digital/Dave Cutler for that.
- cryo32 4mo ago
  NT, SQL, AD is good. It's the schizophrenic management in the last 20 years that has messed it up.
  - rayiner 4mo ago
    Microsoft shows how long you can coast on some good decisions.
    - cryo32 4mo ago
      Exactly that. Haven’t heard it said like that before. Same with my company.
- hylaride 4mo ago
  > SQL Server is a fork of Sybase. Not a MS invention. It's long-since been rewritten. Pre-SQL Server 2000 it was garbage, but it's been improved significantly since then. I'd still use alternatives given the choice, but it's a solid DB. >Active Directory is probably based on someone's LDAP server, though I don't know for sure. So you don't know. It was written in house, using a bunch of standardized protocols (LDAP, X.500, kerberos), though with proprietary extensions (GPOs, etc). > .NET is a copy of Java That's a gross oversimplification. It's arguably a rip-off after MS tried to sabotage java, but it's their own implementation. > NT kernel is good, thank Digital/Dave Cutler for that. Yes, MS hired an experienced OS person for it. Probably one of the best things they ever did. --- I'm not saying MS deserves kudos or the benefit of the doubt, but they can put out good software, and these are all mission-critical examples of what they have to (having AD go down would bring a whole corporation to a halt). The problem is that with almost everything else, MS has the incentive and capability to ruin. And ruin they do...
  - SoftTalker 4mo ago
    I will say that in the era when they came out with AD they really took "enterprise configuration management" seriously and made Windows by far the best mainstream ecosystem to manage hundreds or thousands of corporate desktops.
  - canucker2016 4mo ago
    For early history about Active Directory, you can't get much better than straight from the horse's mouth ( manager of the Exchange / Active Directory group ). see https://hardcoresoftware.learningbyshipping.com/p/021-expanding-breadth-versus-coherency/comment/1801958 https://hardcoresoftware.learningbyshipping.com/p/021-expand... and https://hardcoresoftware.learningbyshipping.com/p/bonus-the-journey-of-the-ems-and https://hardcoresoftware.learningbyshipping.com/p/bonus-the-...
- Rohansi 4mo ago
  > .NET is a copy of Java A copy which has had value types (Java's ongoing Project Valhalla) from the start, and reified generics for as long as it had generics. They're quite different once you take a deeper look.

rayiner 4mo ago

Windows NT/2k?