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Oops – MS mounts DoS attack on own WinXP telecon

Some imbecile published the phone number. Ah, yes...

So what did Jim Allchin say at the big WinXP teleconference yesterday? Tricky - The Register failed to connect from both sides of the pond, repeated dialing of the 1-800 number simply netted an engaged tone. And we note from a trawl round that with the exception of a couple of IDG sites, the usual suspects seem a little light on Jimbo's substance this morning.

Maybe lots of people couldn't get through. We make discreet enquiries, and sources respond that there was indeed massive demand for the teleconference. It seems they're blaming IDG for "printing the phone number in an article."

What a fiendish, old-fashioned, despicable journalist trick this would be if true. You'd dial the number, then keep the line open while you encouraged the whole of the web to blitz it, thus scooping all of your rivals. If true, that is. A quick turn through yesterday's IDG output produces a story in Computerworld that might be the smoking pistol, but the piece doesn't actually publish the phone number.

It points to the place where the phone number is published. Which is the, er, Microsoft site. It says here: "Reporters, editors and analysts wanting more information about this announcement should join Jim Allchin, group vice president of the Platforms Group at Microsoft, for a conference call on Wednesday, May 9 at 8:30 a.m. PDT. They can join the conference by calling (800) 399-0081; the conference call name is 'Microsoft Windows XP.'"

Outstanding - Microsoft DoS-ed itself. Seriously though people, this goof, the fact that there's no transcript up yet, nor a recording of the conference, nor indeed reference to where or when you'll be able to get hold of these, is a big, big sign that this was a rush job.

There were three dates for the launch circulated within the past week, 25th, 26th and 29th October, and we noticed Paul Thurrott was getting Tuesday as the announcement day just at the same time as we were getting Wednesday. In all probability everything was in a state of flux right up to the line, when Microsoft finally decided to push the button. ®

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