The XBOX 360 is a great machine, but god help you if something goes wrong with it or it doesn’t perform as advertised. Connecting the 360 to Windows Live is a consumer’s nightmare and an engineer’s dream project.
First, only selected routers can be used to connect with the XBOX. If you have Belkin or one from a host of other router companies, you are toast. And if you have one from a certified vendor, Microsoft does not guarantee all firmware versions. Somehow the consumer is supposed to know that a WRT54G(v1) is different than a WRT54G, which is all that is on the box.
Second, you often have to run through a series of network tests, where they show you how stupid you are by having you see words like IP, DNS, MU and ICMP (or something like that). I have been in the software space for 20 years and I have no idea what an MU or ICMP is. And yet, Microsoft shows me these.
Third, if you have an error connecting to Windows Live, you are taken to their error results screen. Great. Perhaps MSFT will provide some useful information. NO. They display HEX codes on the screen. Hex Codes!!! Who do they think the consumer is? A rocket scientist? And when you call the MSFT support desk, they do not know what those Hex codes mean. They know that if you see them, you do not have a connection. DUH!!
MSFT mystifies me. This is clearly a company run by engineers believing that everyone is an engineer and wants to get really technical. I have been in the technical field for a while, and I am getting really tired of dealing with their sloppiness.
Apple is looking better and better.
Oh, and have I shared with you the joys of Office 2007? Sayonara MSFT.
