Microsoft Graveyard: last honor for dead Microsoft products

You might have heard of Google Graveyard. An internet site devoted to all of the services and products that Google terminated through the years. Google Podcasts is among the newest merchandise within the graveyard. Microsoft Graveyard is the Microsoft pendant to Google Graveyard.

The Microsoft Graveyard encompasses a lengthy listing of Microsoft services and products that the corporate shut down in its lengthy historical past. Among the listed merchandise are on their final leg, however not useless but.

Observe: there may be additionally Killed by Microsoft, which presents related data.

The merchandise are sorted chronologically on the Microsoft Graveyard. The very first product listed is Microsoft Bob. The venture’s purpose was to supply a user-friendlier interface for Microsoft’s working techniques, which have been Home windows 95 and NT on the time. Bob was designed for novice laptop customers. It featured cartoon characters and rooms that customers may go to.

Bob didn’t achieve large acceptance with customers and Microsoft canceled the venture lower than one 12 months after its launch in 1995.

The primary years are dominated by Microsoft working techniques. The listing of working techniques begins with Home windows 1.0, which Microsoft stored alive till 2001.

Widespread working techniques, akin to MS-DOS, Home windows 98, Home windows XP and Home windows 7 are discovered on the listing. Clearly, there are additionally much less widespread variations of Home windows on the listing. There’s Home windows Millennium Version and Home windows 8, for example, which weren’t precisely fan favorites.

The most recent working system on the listing is Home windows 10, which Microsoft plans to retire in October 2025 formally for house customers. Nonetheless, even house customers could prolong assist by a minimum of three years by means of the Home windows 10 Prolonged Safety Updates program.

Nearly all of services and products should not working techniques. The graveyard lists software program and {hardware} merchandise, in addition to Microsoft firms and studios.

MSN Music, for instance, lasted simply 2 years earlier than it was shut down by Microsoft in 2006. It was designed to compete with Apple’s iTunes service and retailer, however failed to draw sufficient consideration.

Different highlights embrace Clippy, an annoying Workplace assistant, the factitious intelligence bot Tay, which lasted only a single day because of inflammatory tweets, or Tay’s successor Zo, which survived 4 years.

The graveyard lists {hardware} merchandise as effectively. In addition to the unique Xbox console and Xbox 360, it lists Home windows Cellphone and Lumia units, Microsoft Kinect, Band, and Microsoft Zune. Come to think about it, I did personal all of those merchandise, apart from Microsoft Zune.

A number of recreation builders and studios are additionally on the listing. It contains Ensemble Studios, recognized for its RTS video games, Aces Sport Studio, which labored on Microsoft Flight Simulator, or Lionhead Studios, recognized for Fable and Black & White.

Microsoft Graveyard is an open supply venture. You might contribute to the venture on GitHub.

Closing Phrases

Microsoft Graveyard presents a visit down reminiscence lane. Some will little question ask how Microsoft may have deserted among the listed merchandise. Home windows Cellphone was the perfect cellular working system in any case, proper?

Now You: any product, service or studio that you’re significantly unhappy about to search out on the listing?

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