Aug 12 2008   8:55AM GMT

Microsoft makes another terrible song

Posted by: Bcournoyer
Email -- Exchange, Outlook, Microsoft

Ever get the unstoppable urge to hear a piano ballad about Microsoft Exchange 2007? Me either. But that hasn’t stopped Microsoft from recording one anyway.

David Sterling, a senior software development engineer for Exchange Web Services, has released “The Autodiscover Song,” about the Autodiscover feature in Exchange. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s Todd Bishop calls it an “Elton John-style musical treatment,” but he’s being way too kind. It’s slow, it’s not catchy, and for a song that’s supposed to be tongue-in-cheek (I think), it’s not even funny.

Here’s the verse that really gets me:

Call it once for each mailbox of interest
Pair the link and mailbox for each request
If you encounter errors
Refresh once again
For more information search MSDN

It can’t be a good sign when even a spoof song about your product mentions errors and where to look for help. Maybe Microsoft should spend less time at the piano and more time fixing these errors.

Reaction to the song on the Microsoft Exchange Team Blog has been mixed, with comments ranging from “I think it can be number one on the charts!” to “I think you all have too much time on your hands and need to get some lives!”

But my favorite comment comes from a reader called “TheITDude,” who wrote, “This song would sound good with MORE COWBELL!”

None of Microsoft’s recent songs have exactly set the world on fire lately. The Windows Vista SP1 spoof video for “Rocking Our Sales” by Bruce ServicePack and the Vista Street Band was called “the most painful Microsoft video ever made.” And lest we forget channel chief Allison “A-Fresh” Watson’s rap video at this year’s Worldwide Partner Conference.