If you pay $9.95 a month for Microsoft Premium then Microsoft is royally screwing you. It seems that the service, which comes free from some ISPs, offers bunch of web-based services including “Virtual Earth,” Encarta, and spam and phishing filters. These same features are available through Windows Live and Hotmail and, incidentally, available in Windows itself. As a result, folks are paying Microsoft for services that they may not know exist for free — from Microsoft.
Microsoft considers MSN and Live “complimentary services” which means — ummmm — that you should pay for MSN and use Live for free? In short, one hand doesn’t know what the other is doing in Redmond and this isn’t a big scam to cover up a scam. It’s basically one business unit trying to survive on subscriptions while another unit, the Live team, gets subsidized. Dogs eat dogs, I suppose. I mean none of us are using MSN Premium, right? Right?
Microsoft charges customers for free services [WindowsSecrets]
One reason i can imagine is that Premium gives you POP3 access to your hotmail which i would love to have but is just not worth 9.95 a month while others like google offer it free!
That is why you have Windows Live Mail (the one that used to have “Desktop Beta” attached to it’s name, not the vista one)… This tool lets you have your hotmail via desktop client (plus your gmail and your isp and company mail). Granted its a big resource hog (with all those unnecesary whistles and bells, it would have been better IMHO without all those) but it’s one resourceful app if you want to avoid paying for premium…
True but that doesn’t run on my Windows Mobile 5 device … ;-)
Our two cents: This is the _old Microsoft business model (MSN, Bill Gates) versus the new business model (Windows Live, Ray Ozzie) in two separate organizational silos_ story. A comment on CrunchGear states: “In short, one hand doesn’t know what the other is doing in Redmond.” Might be. Our opinion is: We are witnessing a company in transition. http://www.felgner.ch/2008/01/microsoft_msn_versus_windows_live.html