Microsoft’s Xbox Live network is down and many are not happy about this as the service has been down since around 11:00 am today (July 6th 2012). This issue appears to be affecting users of the Xbox Gaming Consoles, Zune players and also the websites for Both Xbox Live and Zune. We have a feeling that the issue is probably due to upgrades or updates that are in progress as Microsoft nears the launch of their new Windows 8 OS with its integrated features.

****** Updated both the Xbox Live and Zune Services are back online ******

A few years ago we had hope for Microsoft in the phone and mobile media player market. There was a new device on the tablet with a new SoC (System on Chip). This we had one in the lab and it was looking very promising in terms of performance and even style. Then something happened; Microsoft. For those of you that have been around the IT game for a while you will know what I mean here. As for the device; I am talking about the ZuneHD. This was (and still is) arguably the best media player that I have ever owned.

One of the things that continues to annoy me about Microsoft is their constant failures. These failures are not due to product failures. The products they make are pretty solid; no it is because Microsoft fails to understand the market they are competing in. In the Operating system market Microsoft truly only has one competitor. I know I am annoying the Linux guys when I say this but Apple is their only real competition when it comes to the desktop OS. The same thing can be said for their Productivity suite Office. Even Mac owners use Office for Mac. Again I know there are multiple open source office products but even the most popular of them cannot compete with Microsoft sales in this area.