Yahoo! blasts Microsoft over WinPho 7 bug blame
Mail app's mail retrieval method non-standard, apparently...
Yahoo! has hit back at Microsoft, claiming it is the software giant's Windows Phone Mail app that is the root of the WinPho 7 phantom data bug – and not its email servers.
The glitch, which has led some WinPho 7 phone users complain that their handsets transfer far more data – potentially with tariff-twisting consequences – than they should, is "specific to how Microsoft chose to implement IMAP for Yahoo! Mail and does not impact Yahoo! Mail on ... other mobile devices", Yahoo! told Reg Hardware.
Microsoft's methodology for interacting with Yahoo! Mail's IMAP servers was non-standard, it said.
The portal giant claimed iPhone, Android, Nokia and BlackBerry users tapping into Yahoo! Mail through the IMAP email access system were experiencing no such problems.
Yesterday, Microsoft said the issue centred on Yahoo! Mail and its Windows Phone Mail app. WinPho 7 hackers, investigating the problem separately, claimed Yahoo! Mail's WinPho 7-centric IMAP servers were to blame.
"Yahoo! has offered to provide Microsoft a near-term solution for the implementation they chose," the company told us, "and is encouraging Microsoft to change to a standard way of integrating with Yahoo! Mail, which would result in a permanent fix.” ®
COMMENTS
Re: You bought the wrong phone...
iPhones sell well because a lot of people don't know any better. I'm not saying that iOS isn't a stable, intuitive platform, because it is. I just don't think it's the best on the market right now.
I owned a 3GS, an Android 2.1-powered HTC Hero and I gave the iPhone 4 a go for a few weeks. I replaced the 4 with an HTC HD7 running WP7 because I was curious.
I was very quickly blown away by the fluidity of the UI and I can easily say that after three months of use, I'm very, very happy with it. I'll be the first to say that there are many gaps (missing features etc.), but the OS is very new and this is to be expected. Let us not forget iOS' alarm clock bugs... It is at the end of the day software, and software has bugs.
I hope that MS* (Ballmer) allows the product to live and develop as it could really become very special. That is of course assuming that people don't listen to shit advice from the likes of closed-minded individuals such as you.
*You'll note I didn't at any point call you a 'fanboi'. Let's all stop using crap terms such as that and 'M$'. They're not funny and just make you look like a 'tard.
IMAP is a terrible standard
I wouldn't normally support Microsoft - after all they abuse most standards they come across - but having wrestled with IMAP protocols I know how badly defined they are, and whilst more testing would have been a Good Idea, they have my sympathy.
There are ambiguities in almost every area of the IMAP 'specification', and both IMAP servers and clients have to take a pragmatic approach to supporting all sorts of interpretations at the other end of the connection.
If I worked for the university that invented it I would hang my head in shame.
Come-uppance
After decades of ISVs having to do whatever it took make their products compatible with Windows' badly documented and proprietary standards, it must come as shock for the bully to realize it is an also-ran in the smartphone space and may have to do that little extra bit of work to make sure it complies with *other* companies' implementations
I don't know if this is the cause of the problem but it does seem that Yahoo! IMAP! is not 100% compatible with the standard:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahoo!_Mail 2/2/2011
"It is possible to get direct IMAP access. Yahoo! operates IMAP and secure IMAP servers (imap.mail.yahoo.com in particular), which are globally accessible. However they require a specific, non-standard IMAP command to be sent before login is done, namely: “ID ("GUID" "1")”. It is feasible to modify an open-source e-mail client to send the ID command, and there are modified versions of Mutt and Mozilla Thunderbird available to download.[24][25] Alternatively, one can connect an unmodified e-mail client through an IMAP proxy that adds the ID command. A commercial software package that accomplishes this is called 'Yahoo IMAP Connector',[26] available here
. Mutt-dev (1.5) works without any modifications.
Re: I was very quickly blown away by the fluidity of the UI
Whilst not wishing to troll-feed, I'm happy address your points:
I did not suggest the HD7 was waterproof. I stated that the UI (user interface) is fluid. I was using the word as an adjective.
I do not work for Microsoft, nor do I work in any marketing position.
I owned the HTC Hero for the duration of an 18 month contract. The iPhone 3GS was issued by my employer during most of that time.
I owned the iPhone 4 for approximately five weeks. During that time I encountered a sufficient number of defects to warrant a replacement (the HD7) under the 1979 Sales of Goods act.
The HD7 is not on a contract. I am now on a SIM-only, non-contractual tariff. I find this better value for money compared to an 18 month contract. I have also found that smart phones tend to operate poorly beyond 12 months life - regardless of brand.
