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At the time XNA was killed, it still had lots of advantages over Unity.
Microsoft's main problem was trying to fit game development tools in with their upper management strategies. They were overwhelmed with changes in the enterprise software industry and didn't want to divert effort to consumer-oriented products.
Microsoft might not dominate product spaces today like it did in the 1990's, but it still doesn't cancel products due to superior competition (it's not given up fighting with Apple phones, Google search, Amazon cloud, etc).
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Before XNA was 'Managed DirectX'...people were just becoming dependent on it then Microsoft flushed it down the toilet in favour of XNA, which they have now flushed down the toilet in favour of Unity...the reason Microsoft is facing such headwinds is because they have no credibility left; nobody wants to invest some years of effort on things that are going to be abandoned on some 'top-down' manager's whim...Microsoft's biggest problem is wayyyy too much management.
I've said this before but it bears repeating...if Microsoft wants to succeed in the gadget space, they have to abandon the idea of a 'Store' with all the pesky developer keys and the rest of it...they should do it the way they always have; you build a program, install it and run it...the 'Big Brother' consumer monitoring style only works with cults like Apple and Google, who's followers will do whatever they are told...Microsoft users have always been the first to criticize Microsoft...that's what made their software better than anybody else's for such a long time.
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Unity is its own company with its own management (not under Microsoft's control). XNA was't flushed in favor of Unity so much as it was abandoned for unrelated reasons,
Later, when Unity undertook an effort to appeal to ex-XNA developers, Microsoft gave them good press to help take the sting out of Microsoft's abandoment policies. As a side note, Microsoft has also given good press to MonoGame.
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Thanks for the added background...I wasn't aware that Unity was a separate company. I was one of those unfortunate souls that invested some time and effort in Managed DirectX...I didn't buy into XNA so no skin lost there. I also didn't buy into Silverlight or WPF :+) ...I did learn Flash...bummer...
The Unity thing does look interesting though...
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It's also worth noting that, even if MS does decide to start hyping a new buzzword compliant product in a few years, because Unity is cross platform skills you learn on it will still be useful for making games that run on Android/iOS/PS4/XBone/etc. (And it's strong presence on other platforms means that even if the flavor of the week team wants to start hyping something new; making ports/crossplatform dev work means that Unity for Windows isn't likely to go away anytime soon.)
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
modified 5-Aug-14 9:38am.
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...by 'isn't likely to go anywhere', you mean it will be around for a long time as opposed to it won't get off the ground? 
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Yeah. Give me a break; I'd just gotten into the office and the my caffeine load was still ramping up. 
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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Ya, just got my caffeine as well
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Back in June, Tesla CEO Elon Musk told CNBC that he'd invested in a company called Vicarious that is developing products and services based on artificial intelligence. But that wasn't why Musk got interested. His impetus for backing the firm was instead "to keep an eye on" unforeseen terrifying scenarios where the products began to threaten humanity. "This sort of thing has cropped up before, and it has always been due to human error."
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I do not know much about cars and vehicles, but the name Tesla is familiar.
What is Elon going to do if one of the AIs "breaks loose" as he implies?
Issue another recall? 
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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Don't worry because “Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time.” Terry Pratchett
Microsoft ... the only place where VARIANT_TRUE != true
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Blast it - that was the quote I was trying to remember!
grumble grumble. Old man memory. grumble. 
Next time. Thank you!
TTFN - Kent
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Kent Sharkey wrote: terrifying scenarios where the products began to threaten humanity.
Wait a second, hasn't he seen Windows 8?! Danger, interrobang has been deployed!
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Microsoft has said it doesn't intend to bring a single operating system to all devices that can run Windows. But if it did, there would be many interface issues to overcome. They didn't mean 'one Windows', they meant 'one' Windows
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Maybe after all the attempts to make one Windows, Microsoft will learn that UI should not be integral part of the OS...
I'm not questioning your powers of observation; I'm merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is. (V)
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Hitting a new low for CNet in terms of informed opinion.
"If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming high enough."
Alan Kay.
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D# is a programming language for Doge fans. And the shark has officially been jumped
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Nice, but I prefer LOLCODE:
HAI
CAN HAS STDIO?
IM IN YR LOOP UPPIN YR VAR TIL BOTH SAEM VAR AN 10
VISIBLE SUM OF VAR AN 1
IM OUTTA YR LOOP
KTHXBYE
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C++React is reactive programming library for C++11 That's not how I react to C++
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Latest version of the free toolkit allows administrators to block third-party plug-ins -- a favored route for attackers Lock them down, and throw away the key
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GitHub has been called the 'social network for programmers.' Here's how to get started on the popular site for sharing and hosting code. Just in case you missed all the other introductory articles on Git and GitHub
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Do you think the fact that eleventy-jillion people have decided that writing a How to Git article is a good idea might be saying something about gits usability or lack thereof?
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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Microsoft is still on track to deliver a second update to Windows 8.1 in August. But don't expect it to include any major features or to be mandatory. Sorry, no start button for you
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Windows 8.x follows a bad June with a bad July. For those keeping track of all the horse races
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