GNG News Guy
01-04-2008, 10:49 AM
http://i.dslr.net/urls/65/66065.gif (http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/MSN-Premium-Still-Charging-For-Features-Available-Free-Elsewhere-90673)
Thousands of customers are still paying Microsoft $120 per year for MSN Premium, when the majority of the features it offers can already be had for free. MSN Premium is frequently bundled in as an "added perk" by ISPs such as Verizon, Bell Sympatico and Qwest, but is also available as a standalone broadband subscription service. About 8.2 million people use the service, which offers parental controls, a firewall, pop-up protection, anti-virus, and additional other features (http://join.msn.com/premium/FAQ#3).
Except as Windows Secrets (http://windowssecrets.com/2008/01/03/01-Microsoft-charges-customers-for-free-services) points out, all of the 21 features of MSN Premium can be had for free either through Microsoft Live, or from within Windows (and that's assuming you even want to stick with Microsoft products). Obviously Microsoft isn't doing much to inform customers that free alternatives are now available:In May 2007, as described in a Microsoft statement (http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/may07/05-06WLHotmailLaunchPR.mspx), the Redmond company forcibly migrated all MSN Hotmail customers to the newer Windows Live Hotmail. This would have been the ideal time for the company to inform MSN Premium's paying customers that Microsoft was offering basically the same service for free. To my knowledge, no such announcement has ever been made. On the contrary, when I recently signed up to pay $10 a month for MSN Premium as a test, I received no alerts or e-mails informing me that a newer, no-cost option was available.
AOL, which transitioned from dial-up ISP to ad-driven portal (with a sloppy stint as a broadband reseller in between) decided to make their BYOB (bring your own broadband) service free in 2006. MSN Premium isn't much of an "added perk" for ISPs to be promoting, and it certainly isn't worth paying $9.95 per month for.
read comment(s) (http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/MSN-Premium-Still-Charging-For-Features-Available-Free-Elsewhere-90673)
Thousands of customers are still paying Microsoft $120 per year for MSN Premium, when the majority of the features it offers can already be had for free. MSN Premium is frequently bundled in as an "added perk" by ISPs such as Verizon, Bell Sympatico and Qwest, but is also available as a standalone broadband subscription service. About 8.2 million people use the service, which offers parental controls, a firewall, pop-up protection, anti-virus, and additional other features (http://join.msn.com/premium/FAQ#3).
Except as Windows Secrets (http://windowssecrets.com/2008/01/03/01-Microsoft-charges-customers-for-free-services) points out, all of the 21 features of MSN Premium can be had for free either through Microsoft Live, or from within Windows (and that's assuming you even want to stick with Microsoft products). Obviously Microsoft isn't doing much to inform customers that free alternatives are now available:In May 2007, as described in a Microsoft statement (http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/may07/05-06WLHotmailLaunchPR.mspx), the Redmond company forcibly migrated all MSN Hotmail customers to the newer Windows Live Hotmail. This would have been the ideal time for the company to inform MSN Premium's paying customers that Microsoft was offering basically the same service for free. To my knowledge, no such announcement has ever been made. On the contrary, when I recently signed up to pay $10 a month for MSN Premium as a test, I received no alerts or e-mails informing me that a newer, no-cost option was available.
AOL, which transitioned from dial-up ISP to ad-driven portal (with a sloppy stint as a broadband reseller in between) decided to make their BYOB (bring your own broadband) service free in 2006. MSN Premium isn't much of an "added perk" for ISPs to be promoting, and it certainly isn't worth paying $9.95 per month for.
read comment(s) (http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/MSN-Premium-Still-Charging-For-Features-Available-Free-Elsewhere-90673)