Mary Branscombe (marypcb) wrote,
Mary Branscombe
marypcb

The view from Microsoft?

The RTM of Windows has naturally caught the attention of what we sometimes call the ABMers (Anything But Microsoft); the frenzy around the CHKDSK 'bug' (see here for why it really is more of a feature) is half people who really want Windows 7 to be a great OS so they can have a great OS to use but worry that if there could be a last-minute significant bug then maybe they couldn't trust the whole apparently-accessible development process that the Windows team has aimed for over on the Engineering 7 blog (and if you've trusted and felt let down, you'll probably be bitter) and half people who criticise everything Microsoft does (again, possibly motivated by disillusionment over something Microsoft did in the past; vicious competition and aggressive 'embrace and extend' really was Bill's billion dollar mistake in terms of perception). After an almost entirely positive reception during the test period, there was a flurry of criticism and complaint (that I couldn't see much foundation in fact for); that the positive reception had been all spin.

I don't think so. (If you want my opinion in detail, go read http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/software/operating-systems/microsoft-windows-7-622923/review (all, eek,11 pages of it - I had a rather sweet email from Microsoft this morning calling it "incredibly thorough") and our view for business is at http://www.itpro.co.uk/613588/windows-7-rtm-review).

But when it gets down to spin and questions of trust and intent and all, I love this quote from Charlie Owen (recently of the Windows Media team, now over on MSDN and similar Microsoft properties), which balances neatly on the edge of Occam's razor

"In case there are some of you who still think Windows 7 is on a schedule similar to prior versions and everything you've read to date from Microsoft on the subject is just marketing spin: When have we *ever* been that great at marketing?"
Tags: it pro, microsoft, technology, techradar, windows 7, writing
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