4 ms·

Microsoft Account / Live ID was previously known as Microsoft Passport and it started in 1998 I think. It has been a half-baked attempt, filled with criticism f

Microsoft Account / Live ID was previously known as Microsoft Passport and it started in 1998 I think. It has been a half-baked attempt, filled with criticism from all sides, as Microsoft wanted it to be a "Internet-wide unified-login system" and they had the muscle to force it. That's the biggest problem with Microsoft in my eyes, as they always tried to coerce the usage of their own standards. Personally seeing Microsoft failing feels like justice brought by the marketplace and I really hope Google won't follow this path, although I'm seeing signs that they will.

michaelt 13y ago
See, this is something I can't understand about Microsoft. Passport could have been 'Log In With Facebook' years earlier. The NEC Versa LitePad, running XP, came out years before the iPad. Windows CE ran on touchscreen smart phones (costing less than some current iphone models) and had native apps long before the iPhone came out. I wonder whether these things should be attributed to a lack of CEO vision/proper resourcing, or if they were simply 'ahead of their time', or something else.
- freehunter 13y ago
  They were a product of technical limitations of the time they came out (slow processors, small resistive screens). The failing was that Microsoft didn't put the effort into improving the product at the same rate that these technical limitations were being resolved. What Apple and Google did was take the existing idea and put in a faster processor, couple that with software that takes advantage of that speed, and in Apple's case, make a leap of faith that people would enjoy typing on a screen rather than a keyboard. Apple and Google really did nothing different in that space, they just did things better. Or a least more modern. If Microsoft kept improving Windows Mobile to take advantage of new technology, we would be in a very different ballgame. Imagine if Windows Phone 7 came out in 2007.

michaelt 13y ago

See, this is something I can't understand about Microsoft. Passport could have been 'Log In With Facebook' years earlier. The NEC Versa LitePad, running XP, came out years before the iPad. Windows CE ran on touchscreen smart phones (costing less than some current iphone models) and had native apps long before the iPhone came out. I wonder whether these things should be attributed to a lack of CEO vision/proper resourcing, or if they were simply 'ahead of their time', or something else.

freehunter 13y ago
They were a product of technical limitations of the time they came out (slow processors, small resistive screens). The failing was that Microsoft didn't put the effort into improving the product at the same rate that these technical limitations were being resolved. What Apple and Google did was take the existing idea and put in a faster processor, couple that with software that takes advantage of that speed, and in Apple's case, make a leap of faith that people would enjoy typing on a screen rather than a keyboard. Apple and Google really did nothing different in that space, they just did things better. Or a least more modern. If Microsoft kept improving Windows Mobile to take advantage of new technology, we would be in a very different ballgame. Imagine if Windows Phone 7 came out in 2007.