Microsoft suffers worldwide Wi-Fi wardrobe malfunction

Microsoft is gearing up to launch a new Wi-Fi hotspot-hunting app, designed to keep people connected to the web wherever they are – assuming they're within range of a friendly wireless network. The Redmond software giant switched on its new microsoftwifi.com website, promising further details on "Microsoft Wi-Fi," which will …

[h4rm0ny]

That's okay, they're actually all in Seattle.

[Tromos]

I'm just glad I'm not with BT paying over the odds for a limited internet service and also providing a service to Microsoft subscribers via the shonky home hubs provided,

[Mage]

Skype

It's a bit obnoxious the way the WiFi pay service has been bundled into Skype rather than separate. A lot of the other changes are obnoxious too:

No way to disable adverts

No way to disable microphone

No way to disable camera (perhaps accounts for the massive CPU usage on on some netbooks).

http://www.techtir.ie/QQ_replaces_Skype

QQ isn't 100% straight forward to get or configure in English. But when setup properly it's superior to Skype, I expect if the Chinese use it to Spy that's less bad than NSA if you are not Chinese?

[John Brown (no body)]

The service charges users per minute of use

I thought the benefit of Skype was to save on high mobile charges and/or save your free minutes? Why would I want to use a pay per minute Skype when I can make free phone calls?

[Teiwaz]

Welcome to the future...

Software as a Service...

Microsoft (whatever they can charge for) as a Service...

(Yet they are desperate enough to give it away free for a year)

[Andy A]

Cheap as chips

$150 a year works out a LOT cheaper for those of us who just want a data connection than the cheapest deal offered by BT or any of their resellers.

You just sponge off the bandwidth paid for by one or more of your neighbours. With a bit of luck they will have coughed up the extra for fibre-to-the-cabinet, and even after throttling you'll be better off than others around you.