Microsoft late again--this time, on bugs

We really don't have anything against Microsoft, but it's difficult not to get exasperated sometimes. The company, for example, has finally decided to create a public bug database for the next version of its browser.

That's all well and good, but it also begs an obvious question: What took so long? In this age of online transparency and open-source popularity, this should have been a no-brainer years ago. But then again, this is the same company that has taken six years to work on its latest operating system, only to delay it once again last week.

As one News.com reader said of Microsoft, "They need to get out more."

Blog community response:

"Interesting to note that they are more content on trying to get people to list bugs, than to just look at any number of sites like this and look for thread upon thread titled 'why does IE suck' or 'IE sucks, why can't it work for this."
--W2ttsy on SitePoint Blogs

"The Redmond-haters will claim that this is just a lot of catch-up, played years late, and amounts to little more than aping what Mozilla and other browser makers have been doing. It happens that they're right, but what's wrong with that? The IE team has looked over what happened while they were in hibernation and is emulating the best of it. That's not lame, that's smart."
--meyerweb.com

"There are three newly discovered Internet Explorer bugs which are already being exploited by malicious hackers. Microsoft's response? Wait until their monthly update on 11th April--until then don't go on any infected websites (which could potentially be any website) or open any infected emails (which could potentially be any email). In other words, if you're an IE user you're screwed for the next 15 days."
--Spontaneous Monotony

"See, it's not that I don't care--I think I've just grown numb to the idea of Internet Explorer problems. I wonder how many are in the same boat? I hope few, as complacency can be as dangerous as the bugs themselves."
--Spamroll