00:00 Captain, now just show me how to work this thing.
00:05 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for products from Microsoft
00:10 that were just plain awful and probably should have been left on the drawing board.
00:13 Plus Rover is always around to help when you need it.
00:18 Number 10, Clippy.
00:20 Officially known as the Office Assistant, Clippy was an early attempt by Microsoft to
00:24 introduce primitive AI suggestive technology into its office applications.
00:28 Would you like some help?
00:29 I used to help people all day long.
00:32 Remember how helpful I was?
00:35 Shown on screen as an animated paperclip, this assistant would provide suggestions or
00:39 attempt to help you while you worked in Microsoft Office.
00:42 Although the intent was admirable, Clippy quickly became far more annoying than helpful.
00:46 Is there any way to turn that moronic paperclip off?
00:51 Memo to Bill Gates, if that paperclip pops up one more time, I can't take that thing
00:57 anymore.
00:58 I quit.
00:59 Knowledgeable users would often be interrupted in the middle of their work to be asked if
01:03 they needed help, when they clearly were fine on their own.
01:05 Go away, you paperclip!
01:07 No one likes you!
01:08 With the release of Office 2007, Microsoft finally put Clippy back in a desk drawer,
01:12 never to be seen again.
01:14 Number 9, Windows Genuine Advantage.
01:16 Thanks to the miracle of the internet, the ability to download pirated software has never
01:20 been easier.
01:21 As a result, companies like Microsoft have tried putting safeties in place to prevent
01:25 such theft.
01:26 Windows Genuine Advantage was a means of detecting illegal copies of Microsoft Windows running
01:30 on a PC.
01:31 Spun to customers as a way to ensure their PCs were fully licensed, the program backfired
01:35 in a spectacular fashion.
01:37 Anything from firewall software to a simple Windows update could trigger a false positive,
01:42 rendering the PC barely usable by most.
01:44 Microsoft moved on from the original iteration of this tool after Windows 7.
01:48 Number 8, MSN TV.
01:51 Back in the 1990s, the internet was still relatively new to consumers.
01:55 It's easy to set up, easy to use.
01:58 This is simple.
01:59 Given that most people's center of entertainment was in front of a television, many thought
02:02 that's where the internet should belong as well.
02:04 Web TV networks created Web TV, which allowed people to use the internet on their television.
02:09 Microsoft bought the service and in 2001, rebranded it as MSN TV.
02:14 Send email on your TV, view photos and slideshows with friends and family, explore new hobbies,
02:19 and see it all big on your TV.
02:21 As history has now shown us, the future of internet use was never going to be in front
02:25 of a TV set.
02:26 Despite the low price point, mass adoption was never achieved and Microsoft finally shut
02:30 down the service in 2013.
02:32 All within your comfort zone.
02:34 Number 7, Microsoft Band.
02:36 The success of fitness devices like the Fitbit inspired many companies to follow suit with
02:40 similar options.
02:41 The Microsoft Band was a short-lived attempt at an advanced fitness device that was worn
02:45 on your wrist.
02:46 Now for fitness, you can go running with this, you can go walking, you can go to the gym.
02:50 There are workouts that you can download onto this.
02:53 Compatible with iOS, Android, and Windows Phone OSIS, it seemed like a natural extension
02:58 of Microsoft technology.
02:59 The first iteration sold out very quickly, giving Microsoft hope that the product had
03:03 a future.
03:04 Introducing the Smart Band for Microsoft.
03:07 For people who want to live healthier, be more productive, and stay connected with the
03:14 people and moments that matter most.
03:18 With the release of Band 2, things slowly went off a cliff.
03:21 Between the high price point, lack of features, and a plethora of well-positioned competitors,
03:25 the software company gave up on the product only two years after its initial release.
03:30 With Microsoft Band, there are no limits to what you can do.
03:34 So do great things.
03:37 Number 6, Windows Phone.
03:39 It's time for a phone.
03:40 Really?
03:41 Really?
03:42 To save us from our phones.
03:44 PC or Mac, Apple or Android, Coke or Pepsi.
03:48 It seems the market will often steer towards two major brands which consumers then choose
03:52 between.
03:53 I think we clearly have a lot more variety than Apple has.
03:57 There's really one choice in the Apple world.
04:00 Big screen, little screen, we've got a lot of choices.
04:03 Windows Phone was an attempt by Microsoft to try and surpass their two biggest competitors.
04:07 A new experience that keeps your life in motion and lets you flow seamlessly through integrated
04:12 hubs.
04:13 Hubs that pull the stuff you want and bring it all to one place.
04:18 Through several iterations of the Windows Phone platform, Microsoft proved they couldn't
04:21 take a desktop OS and put it on a smartphone.
04:24 With Windows 8 having been a colossal failure, copying that interface to their mobile platform
04:28 didn't help increase their adoption rates.
04:30 Combine that with the sheer base of users Google had, even the acquisition of Nokia
04:34 and the release of the Lumia line couldn't help them reach the top of the market.
04:38 Number 5, Microsoft Bob.
04:41 Long before the days of Microsoft Windows having a start menu, users really just saw
04:45 a collection of icons and folders on the screen.
04:48 Microsoft Bob was an early attempt to change that.
04:50 Instead of icons, Bob presented an interactive living room of sorts.
04:54 Scattered around the room were things like a Rolodex, a clock, pen and paper, and even
04:58 a calendar.
04:59 Clicking on the various items would then launch a corresponding application.
05:02 It also featured animated cartoon characters to help you, which eventually did inspire
05:06 the aforementioned Clippy.
05:08 No matter what you need to do, Bob makes computing easier and more enjoyable than ever before.
05:14 As creative as it was, Bob's hardware requirements and goofy interface doomed the product.
05:18 The lights on Bob's room interface went dark less than a year after release.
05:22 Number 4, Internet Explorer 6.
05:25 It may have been the most popular browser at the time of its release, but that doesn't
05:28 necessarily mean it was a success.
05:30 Released in 2001, Internet Explorer 6 at its peak had about 90% of the market share for
05:35 web browsers, mainly due to being included with every version of Windows.
05:39 That amount of users helped illuminate countless security flaws and inconsistent behavior that
05:43 plagued the software.
05:44 Repeatedly slammed by developers, IE6 was notorious for its incompatibilities with industry
05:49 standards that more advanced browsers were already supporting.
05:52 Numerous dangerous vulnerabilities in IE6's security would sometimes take months to fix,
05:57 leaving users exposed to would-be hackers.
05:59 By 2008, support for IE6 across the web began to drop, signaling the end of an era.
06:05 Number 3, Windows Vista.
06:07 What is the most infamous failed Microsoft operating system?
06:10 Windows 8?
06:11 Windows ME?
06:12 Not quite.
06:13 Of all the operating systems the company has released, Windows Vista would have to be considered
06:17 the biggest failure on the OS side.
06:19 Intended to be the well-anticipated follow-up to the highly successful Windows XP, Vista
06:23 never stood a chance in comparison to its elders.
06:26 Played by a long and difficult development cycle, Vista received mixed at best reviews
06:30 upon release.
06:31 Some of the biggest criticisms lay around hardware requirements.
06:34 The new UAC system, and countless other new features.
06:37 Everyone was happier when Windows 7 finally replaced it in 2009.
06:50 Number 2, Zune.
06:52 Unless you've seen one on the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, it's very likely you've
06:56 never heard of the Microsoft Zune.
07:05 Introduced in 2006, the Zune was meant to be a direct competitor with Apple's iPod.
07:17 Unfortunately, Apple's stronghold on the portable music market pretty much doomed this
07:23 from the beginning.
07:24 It was a case of Microsoft trying to play catch-up with a device that users didn't
07:27 want and an interface that they weren't interested in.
07:29 Microsoft tried their hand again in the music space with Groove Music, but that came and
07:33 went even quicker than the Zune did.
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07:55 Number 1, Microsoft Kin.
07:58 Never heard of the Microsoft Kin?
07:59 Don't feel bad, nobody else has either.
08:02 Released in the summer of 2010, this attempt at a social networking device originally lasted
08:06 for 48 days.
08:07 Portrayed as a messaging and social device, its integration with social networks was feature-deprived
08:12 and didn't come with any native instant messaging software.
08:15 Adding insult to injury, there was no calendar to manage your social life or contact list
08:19 app to store your friends' details.
08:21 They revamped and relaunched it again in December of 2010, but even their new N line of Kin
08:25 devices couldn't make it through another year.
08:28 Have you ever used any of these Microsoft products?
08:30 Give us the lowdown in the comments below.
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