So, how to make sure we didn't have a typical "v.1" product with OneNote? As I mentioned last post , it isn't as simple working on the product until it is "perfect" in design - that approach doesn’t work. Takes too long and you don’t really...

I was thinking to write about how software is made. First, I'll start by describing three methods of developing software. I am sure there are more, and someone has probably written books on this, but hey, this is an informal medium. Here they are: ...

It's been two weeks since I last wrote an entry here. I've been pondering what it is that makes people write blogs. As I wrote in my first post, I am not naturally someone who feels an urge to communicate unless I am having a dialog with someone (answering...

Let's say you manage a development team that has a few developers, a few testers, and a handful of Program Managers. You've already laid out a "vision" for a product you plan to build, and most everyone privy to the plan seems to think the idea is solid...

Long ago, before there were any program managers (PMs), there were just developers, testers, and marketing people. The developers would build software they thought was interesting, and the marketing people would dive-bomb them every little while with...

In my last post I discussed the subject of shipping quality products (which is really rather different from code quality or stability, or many other measures one could use). And let's not forget design quality - obviously, if a product does not meet the...

People who don’t build software for a living have a quite understandable attitude that you should write your program, fix all the bugs, then ship it. Why would you ever ship a product that has bugs in it? Surely that is a sign that you don’t...

We built OneNote in relative secrecy during 2001-2002. Well, it wasn’t cloak and dagger stuff - we just didn't make any effort to talk about it outside of Office - although rumours that Office was building some "TabletPC app" did spread to other...