Y2K so sad? Microsoft does it again

[Lance Uppercut]

http://www.theage.com.au/news/techn...-by-y2ktype-bug/2009/01/01/1230681634304.html

Microsoft Zune music player hit by 'Y2K-type' bug

After a string of disappointments in 2008 with its buggy Vista operating system, the failed bid for Yahoo and the relentless onslaught of Google, the post-Bill Gates era leadership team at Microsoft was probably looking forward to a new year and a fresh start.

But first, they will have to overcome the fallout from a New Year's Eve fiasco, which caused certain models of the company's Zune media player - Microsoft's equivalent of the iPod - to roll over and play dead.

Microsoft's online support forum for Zunes were flooded on Wednesday with thousands of reports of the malfunction affecting the 30GB model Zune.

"I was playing music and all of sudden the music stopped and it shut off. I turned the Zune back on and it loaded to 100% but then froze and none of the reset combinations are working," wrote one angry user. "What the crap is this?"

Many of the forum posters tagged themselves as "Victim of the December 31st 2008 Zune 30 Meltdown!"

Microsoft was caught on the hop and the message on the official Zune Insider blog was: don't panic, stay tuned, we've got out techs looking at it.

A few hours later, the techs had isolated the source of the problem: "a bug in the internal clock driver related to the way the device handles a leap year".

The bug activated as the internal clock clicked over to "12:01am on December 31, 2008".

The updated Zune Insider post advised users that the malfunction only affected 2006 models of the 30GB media player and should self-correct once the internal clock flipped over to January 1, 2009, the batteries were run down or the device restarted.

The mini-meltdown on New Year's Eve drew comparisons with the Millennium Bug, which was supposed to cause widespread electronic chaos at the start of 2000 - although Y2K, as it was also called, was largely a non-event.

The Zune malfunction come days before Microsoft is due to show off its new consumer strategy at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

It has also given ammunition to Microsoft haters and baiters who revel in the technical foibles that have come to be associated with the company's products.

On a quiet news day, the glitch was a big talking point on the blogosphere with headlines like "The Zune Screen Of Death", "Y2K Issue Hits Microsoft Zunes 9 Years Late", "Zune Chokes on Leap Year Bug" and "The Day the Zunes Stood Still".

Launched in 2006, the Zune has never taken off to the extent enjoyed by Apple's all-conquering iPod and two-plus years down the track has still not been released outside the United States.

Srsly, Microsoft suck arse. It's doubtful I'll ever buy another product associated with these losers. Made the change 2 years ago to Mac, and like most, would never go back. Fortunately never suffered the RROD because I never bought one of their crappy disc-scratching aircraft noise simulators, otherwise known as the "X-Box 360".

Then there's Zune. Srsly. Who the **** would buy one of these? It got infected by THE Y2K VIRUS IN 2009!! lol

Anyone affected by this? *s*******

 

[Armitage2Riewoldt]

Never heard of a Zune till I opened this thread.

It's not released out here according to the article, so I doubt many would have it.

 

[RoosterLad]

I've never heard of a 'Zune' either but it's ****ing funny to see that Microsoft are 9 years behind!

 

[spitlizard]

http://www.theage.com.au/news/techn...-by-y2ktype-bug/2009/01/01/1230681634304.htmlIt's doubtful I'll ever buy another product associated with these losers.

You mean after that rant your still at the doubtful stage

 

[Mancey]

http://www.theage.com.au/news/techn...-by-y2ktype-bug/2009/01/01/1230681634304.html



Srsly, Microsoft suck arse. It's doubtful I'll ever buy another product associated with these losers. Made the change 2 years ago to Mac, and like most, would never go back. Fortunately never suffered the RROD because I never bought one of their crappy disc-scratching aircraft noise simulators, otherwise known as the "X-Box 360".

Then there's Zune. Srsly. Who the **** would buy one of these? It got infected by THE Y2K VIRUS IN 2009!! lol

Anyone affected by this? *s*******

Pretty ridiculous for sure, another typical MS **** up.

That said, mac aren't exactly **** up free in the area of mp3 players. Anyone who owned a first generation ipod will be aware what a colossal piece of crap they were. Dear as poison, and if you got 12 months out of one before it had a hardware failure you were lucky.

The zune issue is software glitch that will most likely be fixed with a simple firmware upgrade i'd say.

 

[Chief]

Unfortunately Macs still won't run all my fave games, so no switch from me.

 

[Jafa]

Oh big deal - It was one model and it lasted all of 1 solitary day.

 

[red+black]

Unfortunately Macs still won't run all my fave games, so no switch from me.

get a Mac and begrudgingly run XP on a VM.

 

[ManWithNoName]

Oh big deal - It was one model and it lasted all of 1 solitary day.

But it's Microsoft and they're so shit!!!11!!one LOLZZZ

 

[Jafa]

get a Mac and begrudgingly run XP on a VM.

So you can suffer crapola graphics 'deceleration'. No thanks.

 

[Funkalicous]

So you can suffer crapola graphics 'deceleration'. No thanks.

What the hell? That won't be happening if you install the proper drivers.

I have an Xbox 360 I must admit. It's the one and only Microsoft appliance I still have to go with my iMac and iPod.

I don't hate Microsoft either. It's all just horses for courses with me..

 

[spitlizard]

I don't hate Microsoft either. It's all just horses for courses with me..

In my experience I have found in general, windows users dislike OS X, Mac users hate Microsoft, Mmm interesting

 

[Jafa]

What the hell? That won't be happening if you install the proper drivers.

I have an Xbox 360 I must admit. It's the one and only Microsoft appliance I still have to go with my iMac and iPod.

I don't hate Microsoft either. It's all just horses for courses with me..

What the hell - If you run any OS in a VM the Graphics will be poor for any graphics intensive app. A great deal poorer than running native.

 

[weevil]

Wow a device had a temporary outage. I have never heard of this sort of thing ever happening before in the history of computing.

 

[wirra44]

i have a mac and windows like them both but i would say macs probably more reliable and is good for pics and videos but windows is better for games.

 

[Funkalicous]

What the hell - If you run any OS in a VM the Graphics will be poor for any graphics intensive app. A great deal poorer than running native.

Maybe for primitive VM software, but the latest have sublime resource sharing. - like VMware for Mac

I wouldn't have any hesitation in running a Windows application in VM. Obviously I wouldn't run games as there's limited memory. And if I did need more Windows applications I'd duel-boot the machine.

 

[Jafa]

Maybe for primitive VM software, but the latest have sublime resource sharing. - like VMware for Mac

I wouldn't have any hesitation in running a Windows application in VM. Obviously I wouldn't run games as there's limited memory. And if I did need more Windows applications I'd duel-boot the machine.

I use Vmware on a continuous basis and I wouldn't use it for gaming and gaming was the point of the post - not windows applications.

At present the support for Direct3d is experimental at best.

 

[Magnum]

You're obviously not a gamer. Any serious gamer runs XP w/ SP 3. My system is ROCK solid.

Macs, pfft. Maybe if I was one of those 'creative' people.... but if I want to game - PC with XP wins every single day.

 

[red+black]

I remember games. When I was a kid.

 

[scooterb]

I was just reading about the millenium bug the other day. It lead me on to find that when time reaches Tuesday, January 19th, 2038 at 3:14:07 UTC, the binary code does a 'reset' of sorts, which could cause a lot of trouble for 32 bit systems.

 

[red+black]

If anyone still has any 32-bit systems in 29 years they deserve any problems they get.

 

[scooterb]

If anyone still has any 32-bit systems in 29 years they deserve any problems they get.

That's exactly why it's not a big issue. If it replaced the Y2K bug, it could have been a lot more disastrous.

 

[Yellowandblack10]

meh. serve's em right for owning non-iPod music players.

doesn't matter how good the Zune or the Zen are, iPod is the best, and everyone knows it.

 

[ManWithNoName]

meh. serve's em right for owning non-iPod music players.

doesn't matter how good the Zune or the Zen are, iPod is the best, and everyone knows it.

Based on what? The fact you're forced to use iTunes or the shit sound qualtiy?

 

[Rabbit of Caerbannog]

meh. serve's em right for owning non-iPod music players.

doesn't matter how good the Zune or the Zen are, iPod is the best, and everyone knows it.