[riffraff]

looking at the screenshot, and actually reading the content of the small tiles, this does not look like G+/facebook/twitter, but more like a wikia/knol/stack*/quora.

I mean, there isn't anything in this single screenshot suggesting this as a new "generalistic" social network , so why are so many comments to this submission trying to frame it so?

[coderdude]

Why? Most likely laziness and convenience. It gives people something to rant about. Apparently HN has a hard time conducting a respectable discussion about Microsoft.

[shriphani]

Hmm everyone's all riled up about a product they know nothing about. And I thought logic was central to a computer science degree. Guess I was wrong.

[coderdude]

The vast majority of HN readers do not have CS degrees. In fact a very large portion of HN readers do not even identify themselves as programmers or "hackers." That said, I don't believe people with CS degrees are particularly better commenters than people without them. Microsoft is just a touchy subject for many geeks. Much like Facebook and the meme that our privacy is in danger, or advertising -- it generates nerd rage.

[shriphani]

In the 21st century, it is hip to claim you're being oppressed. That said, nerd-rage makes for very interesting material. Basically everyone concludes everything and the entire tech crowd explores the search space of the future of an org and the final conclusion is "time will tell".

[Disclaimer : MS intern. Opinions are mine]