back to article The URL of sandwich: Microsoft Office blogs redirect snafu foils users

Microsoft's general one-stop URL for Office news and updates, blogs.office.com, is dead for some IP addresses in Europe and elsewhere in the world. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source close to Microsoft told The Register he accesses blog posts via subscriptions through Yammer and the broken link issue is definitely " …

  1. Griffo

    Broken Down Under

    Just tried now from Oz. Takes me to the home page.

    DNS results are... strange. Office Blogs on WordPress??

    > blogs.office.com

    Server: dns1.tpgi.com.au

    Address: 203.12.160.35

    Non-authoritative answer:

    Name: officeblogs.wpengine.com

    Address: 148.62.2.50

    Aliases: blogs.office.com

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Broken Down Under

      Actually, looking at a cached office blogs page on Google, and doing View Source... yes, its Wordpress. :)

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Is it a 301 or a 302?

    Never mind. Resolves from officeblogs.wpengine.com to jim.ns.cloudflare.com to 148.62.2.50. looks like a duff setting at Cloudflare

  3. welshie

    Nowhere near as bad as the SNAFU with NT4

    Back in the days of NT4, when it only shipped with IE2, to visit microsoft.com to download a more up to date browser or service packs (no Windows Update back then), you had to use a web browser.

    IE2 didn't support http/1.1. www.microsoft.com didn't support http/1.0 (at all, it redirected to an error page)

    Still, I guess that taught a generation of Windows support techies how to slipstream an install CD or PXE install rather than rely on retail installs.

    1. Aqua Marina

      Re: Nowhere near as bad as the SNAFU with NT4

      Or buy PC Pro! Back then the cover CD shipped with all the major patches and service packs. There wasn't a tech who didn't have the current months CD in his tool case. Then around the turn of the century MS put a stop to that.

      A similar thing happened with XP. A fresh XP installation with an original CD left you with a machine that wouldn't accept windows updates, the built-in IE was too out of date. You had to manually install the service pack and latest version of IE before the windows update would start to work.

  4. Packet

    A fresh install of windows 7 will give you ie 7 - and the ms site will complain about the browser being too old.

    some things never change...

    1. J. Cook Silver badge

      Fresh Install of windows 7...

      ... and Unfortunately, to get it to work properly, you had to jump through a loooong list of hoops to get there. There was a reddit article (I think) on the exact steps needed to take on a fresh build, but some judicious google searching should point you in the appropriate direction, along with downloading a *giant* update bundle which is pretty much the never-released SP2.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Why don't they just rename it Microsoft Office 404?

  6. Ilsa Loving

    Why would anyone use Azure?

    It makes me wonder why anyone in their right might would use Azure, seeing how Microsoft can't seem to go a week without something major going belly up. If they can't keep their own infrastructure running, why would anyone trust them with their own?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Why would anyone use Azure?

      Accountability.

      When they screw up, you can blame Microsoft and everyone will nod and agree... It's expected of them.

      If you go with anyone else,, then it's your fault for taking risks out of the comfort zone.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Linux

    You are spoiling us Mr El Reg

    OK, it's slim pickings but enough for the two-minute hate on MSFT.

  8. Zippy's Sausage Factory

    Still down, since the 29th. That's what, nearly a week now? OK, it redirects back to the Office homepage which is... slightly better, I suppose?

    Seriously, this isn't a technical site, it's basically information for the guy who knows how many pencil sharpeners the company ordered last year and knows a few formulas in Excel. Perhaps more worryingly for MS management, it's for the decision makers who buy office, or don't.

    Is it me or are MS breakages getting more and more prevalent?

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