"Another of Microsoft’s chief vices is to over-engineer things. Engineers are always looking for ways to overhaul old sub-systems with monster functionality, and breath-taking designs. This is akin to building a rocket powered scooter with fuel cells when all a kid wants is a skateboard to get across the street."
...
"The details for why these failures occur are numerous, but the result is the same: a technology gets built that just collects dust but never gets removed, and still requires constant maintenance."
This doesn't sound like innovation to me -- it sounds more like my first few programming projects.
YAGNI and KISS are first principles in building excellent, long-lived software. The Microsoft portrayed in this article hasn't yet learned this, and is excitedly building the next great Rube Goldberg abstraction.
...
"The details for why these failures occur are numerous, but the result is the same: a technology gets built that just collects dust but never gets removed, and still requires constant maintenance."
This doesn't sound like innovation to me -- it sounds more like my first few programming projects.
YAGNI and KISS are first principles in building excellent, long-lived software. The Microsoft portrayed in this article hasn't yet learned this, and is excitedly building the next great Rube Goldberg abstraction.