quote:
Originally posted by DrPizza
quote:
Originally posted by djdannyp
The obvious indication that your version is different is the different version number, the fact that you upgraded and the lack of "Send webcam" feature.
That isn't obvious at all. I was setting up a new machine, downloaded the installer as normal, and it just installed something that was different and contained feature regressions, with no indication of having done so.
The version number is the obvious indication in this case though!
(unfortunatly) no program can magically know what version you had installed on a different machine. It is therefor logical that you, by yourself, either:
a) Check the version number of the installer you're about to download
b) Check the download page for any news on the version which you're about to download
c) Check the version number after you've installed the package.
quote:
Originally posted by DrPizza
Disabling my camera--which disables it for all my contacts--is not as good as selective enablement.
That's a somewhat justified complaint shared by many people (in regards to the need to first disable your webcam in order to have an one-direction Video Call). If you want to fix this, the only thing you can do about that is reporting the issue to MS (via Windows Live Solution Center for example), and follow djdannyp's advise in the main time...
quote:
Originally posted by DrPizza
quote:
Originally posted by djdannyp
You can't deny that having audio makes it a better feature, whether you use it or not.
Er, yes, I can. Having to explicitly disable audio is worse than just not having audio.
That is a pure objective and personal opinion. In fact, statistics show that most people prefer audio when they do a video call (no matter if it is done in directional or bidirectional). So yes, having audio is better in the general sense. And to mute it it is generally just a flick of a button...
quote:
Originally posted by DrPizza
quote:
Originally posted by djdannyp
To be honest, you can complain as much as you want, it won't change anything. One sided webcamming has been removed in favour of higher quality video chats, taking advantage of higher quality webcams and broadband than were available many years ago. The best thing you can do is just get used to the new version and take the advice you've been given, because it's the best you'll get
This is bollocks. The implication here is that Microsoft were somehow forced to remove the feature just to improve video calls. That is a load of crap.
As a matter of fact this is not bullocks or crap. There is truth in it. The Webcam feature did slow down the progress of the video feature. This because both partially used the same code base, and having the Webcam feature there didn't only confused most people (diff. between Webcam and Video) it also made that the video call couldn't be developped further taking advantage of new advanced features in the new OSs. This has been explained on official MS weblogs.
Now, in theory they could have seperated the two and kept the Webcam feature while developping the Video Call feature further. But this would require extra development resources because then you would have to maintain two almost identical features. And all that for a feature which is incompatible with other services and which would soonish be depricted anyways. These resources can far better be invested in developping or fixing other (new) features. So, from a bussiness and coding standpoint this decision was justified. The only thing they did "wrong" was that by combining these two almost indentical features, they also dropped the one-side video chat possebility.
So, all they need to do next is making it possible to initiate a one way Video Call again (in an more easy way - because as said before, it is still quite possible to do it).
Ranting about it will not help, at least not when you do it on unofficial forums. So, all I can suggest is going towards Windows Live Solutions Center and post feedback about it.
Note: believe it or not, but when Microsoft "drops" features they don't do it just for the fun of it (although I personally have that impression too sometimes). They base such decisions on demographics and user statistics. So it might be very possible that 10000 people realy liked using the one-sided Webcam feature. But on the other hand it might be well possible that like 2mil. other people never touched it or always used the Video Call feature...
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[OFF TOPIC]
quote:
Originally posted by vaccination
All the people who said WLM9 was shit, still think it's shit, many are still using 8.5.
You can not use 8.5 anymore (without hacks) since a while.
[/OFF TOPIC]
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