MSN Premium Still Charging For Features Available Free Elsewhere

The want WebTv people to add MSN dial-up to WebTV. It didn't sell but they are now making WebTV boxes that require MSN (only Sony's WebTV is holding out).

MSN is just hoping people are dumb enough to pay for a free service that some don't even want if it is free.

The total income from this is nearly a billion dollars... (984 million to be exact) in a year...

an AOL junkie. Yes I have MSN Premium, and the main reason why I have it is for the McAfee security software.
other then that I just don't use any of the services. Firefox is my default browser and iGoogle is my home page. I feel so, so, guilty MSN is like dope........

Its kinda funny how BBR members read this article and think of it as a travesty. Thats because we know our way around the web. We know what services are free and which ones are pay for services. There are hundreds of thousands of sites offering pay for services that you can find free elsewhere. The problem is that the common user wants a path of least resistance. Look at all the people who were on AOL and were actually PAYING $10 a month to keep their service just to get access to their email when they moved to broadband.

I honestly don't know how they get away with it.

On a side note, I like using the MSN Explorer for my kid, but you can't get that software to install anymore without signing up for a premium plan.

It is so strange that the free Windows Live services compete and beat this package in every way.

And why should they? They are in business to make money. Let BBR and others point out the alternatives.

Microsoft gives nothing for free.

That's right, not only do they insisit on using AOL, they still pay for it even though they have a HSI connection. I keep telling them over and over to dump AOL, or at least stop paying for it!

Yet their continue to bitch about how much they're paying each month for internet access.

So it's not MSN's fault, it's the end user.

I've been trying to get my girlfriend off MSN, but she doesn't want to. Partly because her brother pays the bill and has for as long as she can remember, so it doesn't hit her pocket directly, and thus no responsibility.

It's what she's used to, but it's not my cup of tea. Especially @ $120/yr. I've offered to give her a choice of whatever name she wants at my domain, IMAP/POP, but wants to stick with MSN.

Edit: left out a word.

Some people believe "you get what you pay for". It's a placebo effect, they just have to spend something to be satisfied.

One benefit (maybe?) is that it gives leverage in customer service. They can say "if you don't fix it, I'll take my business elsewhere". I don't think there's a tech support number for GMail. Of course, with free services you can be simultaneously signed up for as many as you want, and stick with the one you like best. But, for some people... they don't like being in control of technology, or responsible for fixing it.

Wait! They give me frustration for free!
(MS Patches, Security fixes, hot patches, Vista drivers,...)

But yes, I would be paying M$ $50/yr for LIVE account on Xbox. And so today, having received my 3rd and final RRoD unit back, which BTW sounds like a vacuum cleaner, I cancelled my subscription and gaming on the 360.

Microsoft, I will not be stressed by your crappy hardware again.

If you paid $50 a yr for XBL then you overpaid. The 12+1 cards can be found online for less than $35.

Maybe you didn't read the article. The whole point of the BBR news item was that they DO give away "for free" all the things they are also charging for. So I guess you are WRONG!

...although there is that aspect as well!

Part of this has been an ongoing issue for as long as on-line services have been around, and that is the "money" end of it.

For example, back years ago, I actually paid to "own" a copy of Netscape...only to find out that I could have downloaded the exact same version, for free! Believe me, I was major hacked of at the time! Of course, now, nobody pays for a browser, right? Well sports fans, it was not always that way. And oh, BTW, Microsoft is the reason that browsers are now free...so b_tch at them as you will, but that's a fact.

The same things apply to on-line services. At one time, AOL was just another separate on-line service (not Internet based), like Compu Serve used to be. Used to pay for access literally by the minute! As the Internet developed into a publicly accessible entity, of course all that changed. All kinds of "players" came and went, all kinds of pricing schemes and levels of "service" did as well! In fact, plain and simple, the real "death" of AOL was the ascension of broadband...otherwise, they would be still raking in $21.95 a month from millions upon millions of subscribers!

As the technology changes, and the business model changes as well, there never is universal "instantaneous" change, it takes awhile for old stuff to "wind down" and new paradigms to emerge...the trick is to be observant, and flexible enough to see the new (often less expensive), changes as they come about. Along that line, I too have an old friend who it took both me and his daughter many months to quit paying for AOL dial up when he is now paying no more for basic DSL service...

Only "free" in the strict sense that you don't pay them money directly.

Apple still wants $700 to install 4GB of memory in a new MacBook Pro, even though it's $119 on Crucial.

In other news, companies make money because people don't research what they're buying. Film at 11.

I have 2 sisters, both AOL users. Both got DSL some time ago. I kept telling them that AOL is now free - you get the same stuff and can keep your email address - just call them and tell them you want to stop paying. I know one of them finally stopped after close to a year. Not sure about the other.

Why do these people think that AOL "is" the internet? I can get news, games, email, all sorts of stuff anywhere for free. Why do people think they need AOL?

I've noticed that as well. I think their claim is that they have better heatsinks... whatever. Still the best racket I've seen.

Your dead right about MS making browsers free. Same with many little programs.

I read somewhere else a message from an MSN Premium user who get a message from MSN that the "MSN Premium" service is going away in the next few months. It advised moving to Windows Live OneCare to get partial replacement functionality. OneCare is cheaper.

-Mike

I don't know how they can compare windows defender to webroot spysweeper, mcafee firewall to windows firewall, and windows live scan to mcafee antivirus. If you relied on windows live for security, you would easily get viruses and spyware installed. Windows live academic search is not equal to encarta and windows live picture gallery does not have many common functions digital imaging 2006 has.

MSN premium is a lot better than the "free" offerings. You get no ads in your email, no ads on your spaces, and no ads in msn messenger. You do get a great browswer in MSN premium, with lots of services and software integrated, a and you do get a lot of security software that protects the pc, not just the web browser. You also gets a favorites folder that synchronizes, so whatever pc you use, you always have the same favorites. Yes, MSN premium runs slow and consumes lots of resouces, but windows live whatever doesn't compare to what MSN Premium offers.

Oh i agree with you on that. I have seen a lot of people paying for aol email when it was available for free.

Btw.. if anybody wants to try parental control software, i have been using k9webprotection. It is free for home use.

I just looked at the message I was referring to and it actually said:

"I received an email recently stating that the parental controls from MSN Premium is going away and that I need to transfer the settings to OneCare Family Safety."

So my first post was wrong, only parental controls is going away.

Also for $10 per year you can get Windows Live Hotmail Plus which will get rid of all of the ads and prevent your hotmail account from expiring if you don't check it regularly. This saves $110.

Psst. That is typically what "free" means.

I am never wrong. They make you pay, one way or another.

Now that is a falacy. I have been an avid user of Zone Alarm until this year when I switched to Windows Live OneCare. The transition was seamless and the program runs so smoothly that I don't even know its there. You should also check your claim that "If you relied on windows live for security, you would easily get viruses and spyware installed".

Did not happen with my PC and I've been running OneCare since August.

I use MSN Premium... It comes with my Verizon. Like another poster said, I use it mainly for the McAfee Security. Another feature I like is the ability to have all my email delivered to the same place. That is convenient.But using McAfee and MSN Premium seems to slow my computer down so much I wonder if it's worth having either. I already removed all McAfee products to speed things up. It also seems like the MSN Software disables certain browser features that I find useful. I can do without it and I would for sure, if I had to pay extra for it. I;m sure there are better solutions available.

NPGMBR,

Windows live one care is not free. The article was saying that everything in msn premium is available for free. The free things microsoft offers is laughable. Their free antivirus is an online scan. That doesn't prevent viruses, that tells you if a virus is already present. And most viruses disable web browsers and mess up the internet connectivity so you wouldn't be able to scan. So Microsoft's free stuff doesn't stand up the the payed stuff in msn premium, or in your case, windows live onecare.

Oh yeah, I know Windows Live OneCare is not free. My 90 trial ended just two days ago. Cost me 50 bucks but I paid the same for ZoneAlarm.

Anywho, I might owe you an apology because I may have jumped too quickly. I was disputing what you said about "windows live". I took what you said and read "windows live" to mean Windows Live OneCare (which are not the same product).

But if I remember correctly "windows live" is not a particular product so to say. Its more of an umbrella of services that MS offers. So if that is correct, then we both misspoke.

Now, if you were speaking of Windows Live OneCare then my dispute stands.

But I do agree that free offerings from companies do tend to be meager. I wouldn't doubt that MS's free offering was crappy either.