Finally some sense from Jack Schofield at The Guardian
Quite why anybody's bothered about Windows 7 at this stage remains a mystery. Nobody knows what it will be like, except that it's based on Vista, with all the same plumbing, not on XP.
Peace. Why people spend so much time trying to find out what’s coming next is beyond me. Okay so people like to get the scoop but really does anyone care *that* much about a product that is quite a way off? I have access to a tonne of information inside Microsoft using our corporate intranet search but how many times have a I searched for details on Windows 7? Precisely zero. I just have better things to do. Doesn’t everyone else?
I beg to differ. It's an hobby! I mean, a car enthusiast is of course curious about the next years car models and so on.
And since MS got like 98% of the market of OS, of course there is a great interest.
/Nerd
Thomas - that's a good analogy and made me think about it a different way. I buy car magazines to read about existing cards but also read the bits on speculation regarding new cars. Fair point.
Maybe the bit I find odd is the amount of effort people go to around Windows 7. Not a bad thing actually as it shows interest but I also agree with the second part of Jack's post. No matter what is in Windows 7, people will (I believe) slate it. That's also a hobby :)
thanks for making me see things differently though!
I agree with Thomas.
And as a MSFT employee I find it fascinating to watch internally the logistics of shipping the next version of a piece of software which by all accounts, runs much of "the world".
Also gotta say that I think you got this wrong Steve. This is something running on 90%+ of the world's pcs, used daily by hundreds of millions of people and where every minor change has a massive impact.
Your access to this kind of information means its a non-event for you, however you should be looking to improve the product, not ignore the development process!
(I'm also surprised to hear you say this given you're working on S+S and Windows is the biggest piece of software you have.)
Hmmmm.
After many years of false starts and many hundreds of rumours of what was allegedly 'coming' in Longhorn. I have to say, I'm bored of what I can a non-story for Windows 7.
I'll be enthused when we get concrete information from Microsoft over the next year. Until then, I'm happy with Vista.
Personally, I more excited by Microsoft's Live strategy. S+S is what is making the Desktop come alive.
Windows 7 will be great no doubt. Many of the key learnings with be incorporated into it from Vista. But Microsoft please, don't hype the product till its ready. Taking a leaf out of Apple's book would be welcomed.
chris - maybe it's precisely that access that makes me disinterested...though when an approved internal build appears I'll be first to test it out :)
with respect to S+S, there is so much more coming on that front well in advance of Windows 7 that I really don't even think about that S+S elements of the OS.
Steve,
Shortsighted, very, very shortsighted post Steve. You'd figure that at a time that you couldn't buy a positive review of Vista, a relevant online portal / yahoo, single digit search share and a follower/mee-too role in the area of SaaS, cluster web services a nearly everything else relevant you would actually be GLAD that people are excited about something Microsoft is doing, not trying to downplay it.
-Vlad
Hi Steve, good thought starter and alot of buzz around this topic.
I share some of the same feelings, I am barely keeping up as a Partner with all the stuff happening out there today. I don't even worry about what is next as do a number of my systems engineers that employ.
We are too busy with life to worry about the next generation of Windows.
I have missed so much of my early years worrying about the state of the industry, I do love what I do, but let me get centred on what we have right now first.
Cheers
Stuart Crawford
Calgary, AB
http://www.stuartcrawford.com
http://www.thewealthyprofessional.ca
we'll have to agree to disagree Vlad - would you rather we helped you sell Vista or encourage your customers to wait for an OS that has no definitive date let alone feature set. I understand people's passing interest but I think the suggest Windows 7 discussion can paper over below par reviews of Vista is shortsighted.
would also disagree with your view of follower status in Saas but that's a longer convo
I'm excited about lots of stuff Microsoft is doing - Silverlight and Surface as two near term examples. What I can't get excited about is something that is quite a way off.
I agree with Stuart, lets work with what we have now!
Windows is a mainstream product, so whatever release comes next is obviously going to come with a great deal of excitement, perhaps even moreso given the current status of Vista.
As for followers, Silverlight is what to Vista, SSDS is a free beta along with all your online services and a long trail to the AWS which is used by many companies (including you, via Twitter)..
This is going to sound crude, so please take it as a joke:
If all Microsoft has to be excited about is a friggin table, how big of an admission is that of your defeat on the desktop, laptop and the mobile device?
Vlad - the excitment I get, the crazy desire to find out every little detail for something so far in the future and subject to change I don't.
I don't understand the point you make on Silverlight but I personally think it's a *big* deal as both a dev platform and a service infrastructure. Delivering hi-def video on the web - who else is doing that?
SDSS is just the start. you should book to visit the PDC to really hear more :) AWS is fantastic and I love what they're doing but I think we'll bring some new stuff to that world.
and hey, as for that friggin table..have you played with one yet? sooooooooooooo cool. but so is Seadragon and Photosynth and WW Telescope and Windows Live Writer and, and... :P
Stop teasing Steve or someone will have to start/continue filling in the blanks :P
Look at it this way, people got excited about the Indiana Jones film years ago when it was announced. Its a natural human reaction, and for people who follow it they stay excited and upbeat until the final launch. That's no reason not to talk about it so far in advance, the regular people will end up paying attention when appropriate and focus on short-term things until that point.
Now granted I did not make it to the Mix this year to see it with you, but I will find myself at PDC.
Silverlight is Microsoft's take on Flash. Yeah, it has HD video but thats really neither relevant nor useful with the bandwidth where it is. Again, just my opinion (and Youtube, and Hulu) that Flash is the defacto standard for video on the web. I view Silverlight in much the same light I looked at Microsoft's XPS technology trying to go after PDF - something that never really took off outside of few Microsoft sites and partners and eventually even got abandoned by Microsoft.
I have seen Surface at WWPC and at CES this year - cute, useless. I know, I know, it has limitless applications at over $10,000 a pop.
I didn't mean to come to your blog and bash Microsoft's lack of direction, I just wanted to point out that the ONE area everyone is excited about is Windows - and Microsoft has made one giant disappointment of Vista so we're all pulling for you to get it right next time and get back on the leading track not a mee-too of Flash/AWS/Google or a "friggin furniture company" :)
Sorry, had to throw in friggin again :)
I have a right to wonder about the next platform out from Microsoft considering I just spent a lot of money on Vista, a terrible OS full of pot holes. Luckily, those potholes keeps everybody else in business creating products to keep Vista running. Diskeeper pro should be mandatory with Vista, it kepps it crisp running along with 4gb ram. That is a bit sad, really, so do not question why I am wondering how microsoft could have the nerve to bring out a new os so soon after vist, billed as the next big thing! Maybe it is that secret word MONOPOLY!