I can't think of a company that has been more unjustly demonized and ridiculed than Microsoft. I'll defend them any day of the week.

 

As I have maintained from day one, I have no problems with the Console division of Microsoft, infact I think they have done a great job of filling the void left by Sega. The PC side however...... $300 for a full version of Windows has lead to 2 things, Linux gaining popularity and piracy. But then again until there is a mainstream alternative they can charge whatever they want.

 

I would actually love to own an X-Box if a)They allowed mouse and keyboard

b)They produced enough 360s

and c)If I thought software companies wouldn't abuse the hard drive by releasing incomplete games with patches

 

I love how people compare MS and Sony to Nintendo when it comes to having technical problems at console launch. When Nintendo starts putting the amount of electronics in their systems that are in Sony and MS's machines and still have no technical problems what so ever then I'll be really impressed. Until then the best way to judge a company at a console's launch is how they take care of the inevitable problems that will come.

a) Not much you can do there right now. The 360 has several USB ports though so in the future they may start supporting keyboard and mouse in the games, right now I think you can just use a keyboard for typing messages

b) They aren't really in short supply anymore, you should be able to go to a Best Buy and get one.

c) I'd actually bank more on the fact that software companies will be making sure their games are complete before shipping them out. After all, not every 360 owner has a HD. Online games are another thing, you need the HD for all your XBOX Live settings anyway so for multiplayer there will most likely be content updates for the popular games, which is never a bad thing when it comes to playing Live.

 

I don't really take offense to OS pricing considering the sort of software enginering and running support costs that are involved, especially not with the current drive towards offering multiple tiers of product.

I would like them to offer somesort of bulk discount or limited volume licence scheme to individuals thougth, its a bit of a bitch when you have a house full of computers rather then just one.

 

They aren't, and that's what impresses me. They are going to sell a system for $200 or whatever that will be pure video gaming. I have enough DVD players and hard drives in my garage, I don't need more.

 

lol....i have 2x Apex DVD Players, the 2x PS2, the X-Box, the PC with DVD-Recorder, and my laptop, that's 7 DVD players.

i wonder how much people have opened up their 360 themselves (and thus voiding the warrenty) to see if they have this problem??? Any of you 360 owners here have???

 

How many man hours go into each version of Windows?

 

Don't you work for them??? 

 

No, why?

 

Oh, sorry, for some reason I've always thought you worked for them or something... Must've been someone else I was thinking about then...  

 

Microsoft responds:

>> Microsoft has issued a reply via the GamerScore Blog (ran by Xbox employees) to the story about the foil found on some heatsink GPUs:

 

So to make things cheaper and easier for them, as the just admitted, they are causing problems in overheats in their systems   Am I reading that right, because last time I checked Microsoft never admits they make mistakes.

 

I think that explanation convienently leaves out the part where you are supposed to REMOVE the protective foil during final installation.

Wouldn't leaving the foil on nullify the whole benefit of having the heat -transfering compound there in the first place?

I'm no expert on it, but every processor I've messed with has that greasy stuff smeared liberally between the processor and heatsink for one reason....perfect, seamless contact. That grease has been in use the same way for years.

Foil would mess it up.

It's okay to make mistakes, and it's even better if you can admit it.
Why can't they just admit it?

 

i'm still going to see if the 360 joins the rest of the elite "first console of the new generation club" along with the dreamcast, 3do, turbografx 16, atari 5200...

 

Agreed. MS and Sony should try the Nintindo way. Make a gaming system, and just a gaming sytem. Most of us already have every damn thin that MS and Sony put inside their boxes and maybe, just maybe if they tried to keep it simple there wouldn't be so many problems. I think I'm going to stick with Nintindo and pay $99 for a brand new gaming system and ignore these other systems that offer me absolutly nothing that I don't already have, including a machine with ass kicking graphics.

 

Actually, I'll take that as a compliment. I have a few good friends that work there and keep me well-informed. If I miss anything, it's because it's not important (like the topic of this thread) or I've been too busy to keep up.

There are some unexpected perks too. A while back, Hotmail services went down, and I was on the phone with one of my MS friends at the time. There was an important e-mail that I needed to get to, so he called one of the Hotmail guys and asked them to prioritize my account so that it would be one of the first ones accessible after the servers came back up and they reindexed everything.

Not everyone gets to just leapfrog millions of people like that.  

 

If you go to the link, they have a parts listing, (as in specs) and the foil is listed as a proper part. Of course this industry is all smoke and mirrors, so take that with a grain of salt.

 

As I have been building PC's for time and remberance (and the 360 is an overglorified PC) and I have never heard of this I call covering their ass.

 

Hope my 360 does'nt melt, would kill all the 1080i fun im hav'ng with it.  
Wish I knew more about heatsinks or Id do what I can to fix mine.
Sounds like a pretty dumb move on MS's part if it's true on all.
Ghost Recon is pure bliss.(first time ive gotten into GR)

Still can't wait for the ps3 & Evo though. So many sweet games coming.