Yes, the claim to have a *beta* fix on the way sometime in May. Are you kidding?

After releasing a list of other enhancements and fixes, they also have decided to pull the plug on one of the primary ones because it did not meet the *high bar* of excellence… I suppose like that of the data corruption bug.

Great set of posts. As a Microsoft developer, partner, customer and proponent for many years – I do not know how anyone can argue with what you have written now and about Microsoft. It would be sad if not so insulting, irritating and absurd as customers keep getting kicked in the groin over and over again.

Secondly, other cloud based applications have downtime.

At this time only the business getting major kickbacks and a good deal from MS would be placing their business on a beta platform.

While I agree with Vlad that Microsoft is heading down the wrong path, I can’t say that steering my clients into Google would be a better direction.

Google products are cool, fun and innovative but supported at the business level, no. Good luck getting support when the various Google apps either get pulled or stop working. Google’s Postini going direct to the end consumer with their ‘Enterprise Spam Solutions’ offers ZERO phone support, good luck explaining to your customer that email will be down until you get an email response from who knows who or while you search their online end-user forum for a solution.

Luckily Microsoft’s misguided steps still leaves us with Windows 2003 and Windows XP both products we know that work and that our clients trust.

We’ll wait until Google proves it understands support, or until Microsoft first fixes its technical blunders and once they’re corrected then hires a marketing firm that understands how to change public perception. The second statement at this point might require hiring Steve Jobs to right the ship.

Brian Williams

I can hear the fustration in your postings, and I have to admit that even I am looking at Google Apps as a sound solution for a number of my clients that require web services. We just signed up a number of partners (Microsoft) on a google mailing list and email service…

Gotta go where the money is and what you can bet your reputation on sometimes.

Stuart Crawford
Toronto, ON
http://www.stuartcrawford.com

That is a fair assessment, but it’s an indication of the “Microsoft 2.0 Problem” – Everything is in a beta, perpetually, and when/if released, it’s stripped of its main features.

They are now trying to apply that same level of lacking credibility to services, where they neither dominate nor excel, and are just pressuring us (their partners) to look at alternatives and to compete – instead of work – with Microsoft.

That is a net negative for both of us, and it’s a negative for the customer.

The Microsoft spin is a little bit different. Their take is that because they are competing on services, they are going to make their servers more “hosting friendly”.

Some of us would just settle for “functuional”

Pardon me please, this whole new Microsoft 2.0 of shit releases telescopes and Mesh is terribly frustrating to someone that partners with them. They don’t appear to care much in the upper management to address these problems. I for one am tired pretending to be the defender of the crown, Microsoft products may be the best but in the great scheme of things the customer may be better off with the alternatives.

How’s that from a Microsoft partner bringing in millions of dollars a year in revenue?

-Vlad

As far as the letter – that is just inexcusable. Someone should be losing their job within Microsoft right about now.

I hear you.

Still, this is clearly a BETA program and you know what? You are not guaranteed functionality, much less 100% uptime in that deal.

Still, if I was looking to use it, I’d want to see that their systems management procedures have progressed beyone beta…