So, just as Windows Phone 7.8 has finally started rolling out to devices, Microsoft and Google kiss and make up about the whole dropping of EAS thing. Google has extended its EAS support for Windows Phone users for six months, and Microsoft will add CardDAV and CalDAV support to Windows Phone (but not Windows 8/RT, so those users are still screwed by Microsoft's incompetence).
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Member since:2012-09-21
Member since:2005-11-29
It is part incompetence, part time/engineering constraints.
Thing are better with WP8 when it comes to sharing between the platforms, but its in the midst of a transition rather than at the end of one.
As a dev, I can tell you that it needs to happen faster and its annoying considering the potential.
Member since:2012-09-21
Member since:2011-05-13
...if you start with the known assumption that you're going to be supporting more than one hardware platform. For example, Linux and the BSDs all support a HUGE range of hardware platforms. The amount of architecture specific code is less than 5% in those cases.
Yet Microsoft seems to have failed to do so in this instance for no really good reason. What is mind boggling to me is just how badly Microsoft seems to be at it these days, given how good they used to be at it. Anyone else fondly remember the early versions of NT on the DEC Alpha chipset? :-)
Member since:2005-07-06
To paraphrase Heinlein's corollary to Hanlon's Razor:
"Never attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity... but still, don't rule out malice."
Member since:2009-05-30
When malice and stupidity team up you get an event like this.
It all starts out with Microsoft wanting to be paid for active-sync support from Google.
Microsoft thought Google would not pull plug on it. Right Microsoft you don't have market share in phones worth bugger all so Google has no problem pulling it since 90+ percent of the market support webdav. Malice to get money and Stupid it not be aware you are not sitting in a location where you can bargain.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Live_Mail Windows 8 desktop and tablet already has some Webdav support.
So its all round Microsoft incompetence. Just Google is not putting up with it since they don't have to. Yes extending EAS support is being kind from Google.
So, the Xbox One disaster continues. Microsoft's policy for dealing with the used games market has reportedly leaked - and it's a clear and direct attack to destroy the used games market. Prices for used games will be set at the retail value of a new game, and retailers have to hook into Microsoft's computer systems and comply with Microsoft's terms and conditions.At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!
The day has finally come! Jolla has finally announced the launch device for its Sailfish operating system - and by god this is a looker. It's decidedly different from other phones out there, but it has good specifications and carries a relatively reasonably price tag - EUR 399, and it's up for pre-order today, shipping in the fourth quarter of this year.
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN.""Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.
Member since:
2008-07-15
Wasn't the whole point of this cross-merging of not only the Windows UI but the underpinnings of the os meant to bring functional parity between the various Phone/RT/PC devices at some point? Surely it wouldn't be much effort to implement these across all Windows platforms unless, of course, Microsoft is just acting with their usual incompetence. It would seem that, if the end is to bring each platform into line with the other, there'd be no better time to start doing that than now.