Pete Wright used to write books and programs for Windows. On Sept 11, on his Weblog, Strange new worlds, and programming languages..., he describes his bitter experiences with Microsoft, ones that strangely parallel my own: "Good bye Microsoft; Pete has now left the building!"
On getting the ice treatment for not towing the Microsoft line:
I'm on Microsoft 'influencer' lists, email lists where Microsoft people try to get me to tow the company line and say great things about them and their products because it's perceived that I have an audience. The times that I've deviated from that line though I've found myself well and truly out in the cold. One particular 'evangelist' even went completely silent on me after I pulled out of a speaking engagement due to appendicitis. Nothing was said, but the sentiment was obvious.
On producing a product and then getting stomped on by Microsoft:
On this very blog I announced InkuDoku, a Sudoku for Tablet PC. Soon after I did, Microsoft released the one they ship with UMPC for free, and a program manager actually emailed me with an offer of cash if I'd write an article merging my work with theirs, along with an apology for shooting my work in the head – purely accidentally of course.
In related news, John Naughton of The Observer writes "Why Vista will mean the end of the Microsoft monolith".
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