Dear Developers, We Think You’re Idiots, XOXO...Microsoft

http://www.tomstechblog.com/post/Dear-Developers-We-Think-Yoursquo3bre-Idiots-XOXOhellip3bMicrosoft.aspx

by SamAtt • 17 years ago

26 32 17 years ago

RyanMcGreal2• 17 years ago

> I think a lot of the 'economic disparity' between developing LAMP apps and developing Microsoft apps is imagined and I think $999 a year for three team members is actually a pretty good deal.

Keep telling yourself that.

donw• 17 years ago

In the commercial software development world, it's an amazingly good deal. It comes with a four-CPU license for both your web and DB servers, full copies of Visual Studio Professional, and a small pile of other tools that would easily breech the $333/year/developer mark... if you used Microsoft technologies.

I agree with the parent poster -- the wording and intent of this 'deal' are very, very different, and a bit insulting. But if you're already a Microsoft developer, it's still a hell of a deal.

Sure, it locks you in to their software stack in the future, but if you were an ASP.NET developer before WebSpark, it's not like this will change anything there.

What this does do, if you're a Microsoft developer, is let you take a chance at building a new company using your existing knowledge. Without having to shell out more than $100 to get all the software you might need. And I think that's a smart move for Microsoft.

RyanMcGreal2• 17 years ago

What you're saying is that this is a good deal for people who are already locked into Microsoft technologies. Sorry, but that's still a bit like saying being punched in the face twice is better than being punched in the face four times - and I write this as someone with a background in web development using Microsoft technologies.

pmorici• 17 years ago

Microsoft is still going to make a fist full of money licensing the software that will have to run on the end customers production server. The $999 is only for development license.

nopassrecover6• 17 years ago

This isn't about treating developers as idiots. It's about subsidising the cost of starting contracting/a new company using Microsoft technologies so that you can build up some profits before licensing costs become an issue.

TomOfTTB2• 17 years ago

The question really is "who is the target of this program" If it's people who were already sold on Microsoft technology than it's just a nice thing to do. If they are trying to woo other developers away from open source solutions the approach they've taken comes across as "we think we're outsmarting you"

slackerIII• 17 years ago

What if they are trying to appeal to people who need less than 3 years to decide if their business is going to be successful? If it is successful, the money won't matter. If it isn't, the money won't matter.

nopassrecover6• 17 years ago

I don't think anyone at Microsoft could seriously believe that a developer would base their entire business/consultant career on an unchecked belief that these near-free licences never expired.

I think it's much more likely that they are trying to eliminate one reason new businesses/consultants may decide against using Microsoft tech (which their market research may have yielded). If they can make Microsoft tech accessible to startups, web dev agencies and solo web developers then that's a big step towards growing their dev popularity.

amalcon• 17 years ago

The developers using open source solutions might be of the class "I'm using opensource solutions because they're better in this case," who Microsoft isn't targeting with this thing. They might be of the class "I'm using opensource solutions because there's no difference in quality, and the opensource stuff is cheaper." Microsoft is trying to make the decision harder for these people, but they're still not really the target audience.

This program is really meant for people of the class "I really want to use Microsoft products X, Y, and Z, but I can't, because I won't be able to afford licenses until my business has spun up. I'll make do with this opensource stuff instead." Now, I'm not entirely sure who these people are. Maybe they're developing desktop software or something. Provided they exist, though, this program could actually help them.

acg• 17 years ago

I have no doubt that this deal exists because this market is highly competitive with many solutions available for nothing. I wish Microsoft luck and hope that the competition continues.

There will be some customers that this deal will be right for, and it will definitely help some startups.

pyre• 17 years ago

While it might be/seem deceptive, I think that anyone that decides to base their business off of these tools being free forever without bothering to read the fine print is in for a rude awakening of their own making. Microsoft has provided them with the information, just because they didn't bother to read past the headline is their own fault (the headline is meant to grab attention, not to impart 100% of necessary knowledge).

thismat6• 17 years ago

Everyone fails to mention now much more advanced and nicer developing in VS is compared to any other platform. It's worth the money for a copy if you're a serious developer looking to use .NET, it's worth it even more now that there is little initial overhead.

No, I don't work exclusively in .NET, I work in a variety of platforms, but now I have yet another service to offer clients and potential clients that is cost effective.

Does everyone think that no matter what you're automatically locked into having only one stack to work from? Why not use whatever is ideal for the job at hand?

EDIT: Also, you don't have to hate on Microsoft anymore, that's very 2003, instead of focusing on what is the negative, let's instead consider the positive moves they've made, and the quality development environment they've come up with.

amackera• 17 years ago

"Everyone fails to mention now much more advanced and nicer developing in VS is compared to any other platform."

Everyone fails to mention that since it's completely a matter of personal opinion. I am of the opinion that you're dead wrong...

thismat6• 17 years ago

Yes, yes of course it's a matter of personal opinion. How much time have you spent in VS though, out of curiosity?

I worded that post very poorly, but the point still stands that the integration, power and seamless feel to debugging in VS is unlike any other solution I've seen or used.

Don't forget I use rails for almost all of my personal development, I love the environment and framework, BUT, tool for tool comparison after working fairly extensively with both, to me, it just doesn't have the same level of detail and polish.

I don't get why people are so defensive of their environments, or why there is such bias and hate for the different environments.

etherael• 17 years ago

Currently trying to learn asp.net after a long and happy career in ruby on rails, django, grails, codeigniter based solutions.

Find it very hard to believe you seriously think people actually "prefer" this? But I guess that just illustrates perfectly the fact that is entirely a matter of opinion, which is probably why it isn't often mentioned :)

pubb• 17 years ago

If you can, go with ASP.NET MVC or MonoRail - "regular" ASP.NET will be probably be frustrating given your background. ASP.NET makes it difficult to control the generated html and js, and likes to pretend the web is stateless (viewstate).

thismat6• 17 years ago

I feel your pain, the company I got my programming start with was locked into the Microsoft stack already so I was really motivated to use .NET to get a leg up.

And yes, I honestly can't stand webforms, the other person that replied here was spot on, the MVC framework is what you want, there is still a learning curve to the environment like anything else, but when it really starts to shine is the debugging, really, that's what I feel personally is the most power aspect of VS. The debugging is simply lightyears beyond using a terminal debugger to me.

Of course you're right, and I worded my initial post a little wrong, it's always a matter of opinion and what you're used to, but even after using multiple frameworks, nothing feels quite as integrated and polished to me as the VS environment.

duncanj• 17 years ago

This is called "puppy-dogging". You want to sell a puppy. The customer isn't sure he wants to shell out the money. So, you say, "Take the puppy home, and it's free for two weeks." It's obvious from there.

Dear Developers, We Think You’re Idiots, XOXO...Microsoft

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