ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!
<edited because somebody thought I was saying that Molly had breached an NDA - damned if I can understand how he came to that conclusion but there we go - sometimes people get confused as soon as more than issue is discussed in the same conversation so let's see if we can make things a little clearer>
Enough is enough. Seriously. I don’t get mad very often, but some of y’all are really pushing the envelope.
First, let’s get something straight. IE7 Beta 1 is a Developer Preview. It is not the end product. Yet I see people playing judge, jury and executioner on the product and by extension Microsoft, basing their opinions on what is a beta build.
I’ve seen Longhorn and IE7 Beta 2 in action – I’ve used it – sat down at a PC and played – it is completely different to Beta 1. Not even I have seen Beta 3 or a release candidate - hell, I don't think they even exist yet!!
When I see the vitriolic, sensationalist, inaccurate, intolerant, anti-MS, hateful claptrap that I see in some places I wonder why we bother trying to improve things.
When I see the IE Team Blog filled with trolling bitchfests I shake my head and hope that the IE team won’t just clam up and go quiet – I wouldn’t blame them if they did.
Second - I see what is being said about and to Molly Holzschlag and I get angry. Seriously angry. The thought that anybody could call another human being a ‘whore for satan’ simply for “being an advocate and defending Microsoft and doing one thing - asking for patience from the community”, as happened to that woman, is simply beyond belief.
How the hell could any of us become so completely immersed in being anti or pro anything that we could be so inhuman?
Thirdly - as for calling IE a ‘cancer on the Web’… get real people.
Here’s the deal…. I recommend you avoid the sensationalist journalists. I recommend you avoid those who put web hits and subscription sales before integrity and basic humanitarian behaviour. I recommend you turn your backs on the anti-MS zealots who are so immersed in hatred and vitriol they have lost the capacity to interact humanely with those they disagree with and are so anti or pro one particular product or company they cannot be balanced in their thoughts, and polite in their dealings with others.
Do what you can to encourage Molly and those like her to continue working to make things better for all of us in the face of behaviour by those who hit first and never think later.
And while we're at it, although unrelated to the rest of this commentary, I also recommend you avoid those sites that deal in, and encourage, the publication of information provided by those who have breached their NDAs or a gentleman's agreement. Is being the first to publish something really so important that breaching a trust is an acceptable cost?