Let’s cut to the chase: Microsoft has announced that they plan on migrating 30 million+ users of their Windows Live Spaces blogging platform to WordPress:
Microsoft says that it decided that instead of building its own competing blogging service, it should go with WordPress’s fleshed-out feature set, which has 26 million users and powers over 8.5% of sites across the web. Users will be migrated through a process that preserves all of their content, and will automatically redirect visitors who head to their existing Microsoft Live Spaces sites.
Bam. Done and done!
Check this video out about the announcement:
Microsoft made a smart decision here. They couldn’t compete anyway.
[HT: TechCrunch]
[...] 
What? Microsoft not using ASS.NET? Amazing!
hah.
Couldn’t just tell the story without being the butthole at the end. smh
but your avatar is awesome!
i think windows 95 is the best thing microsoft has ever done…just sayin
John,
I thought about this blog post over and over again trying to figure out a response. Then it struck me…
Microsoft is the giant in the industry of personal computing and they dominate a large area of the enterprise computing industry also. Still Microsoft was able to humble itself for the common good of everyone else.
I thought for a while, assuming this is not another joke of yours (or Tech Crunch) – how many of us compete with our fellow ministers and churches? It’s very sad that we have corrupted the unity of the universal church in our competition to build the local church (our own little kingdom). As a result we have lost our influence in the world. It’s time that Ministers and Churches stop competing with each other and unite for the common good of everyone else.
May be Microsoft’s decision to join hands with WordPress.com cost them a fortune!!! But I am sure the same decision will boost their influence in the IT world in the near future.
Great Point!
Best thing they’ve done: give up.
I like it.
Maybe if they take more and more of their inflated offerings and push them onto better companies, they’ll be able to focus their massive amount of power and resources at something breathtaking.
partner, not recreate the wheel!
got a bit of a fright when I first heard about that, but when I realized that it was WordPress importing Windows Live Spaces blogs then I breathed a sigh of relief.
I’ve never heard of Windows Live Spaces. It’s a blogging platform with 7 MILLION USERS?!
Are there any good examples of people actually using the service?
Wellp, I’m glad they finally get to join the party. WTG Msft.
It’s more like a single page site that they’re given as one of the offerings with hotmail/livemail. Don’t think of it so much as a blogging platform as much as an alternative to facebook/myspace/orkut/buzz/etc. geared towards blogging.
WordPress is awesome. It’s a wonderful blend of usability and functionality. You can listen to a podcast about it’s use here http://theequipnetwork.com/ministrygeek_this_week-24-how-to-build-a-church-website