Windows 7: Straight from the VPs Mouth

By Devin Connors
published

Ever since the lukewarm reception of Windows Vista, the next version of the operating system Gates built has been on a lot of peoples minds. This past Saturday, Microsoft made it pretty clear that its on their mind as well. Senior vice-presidents Steve Sinofsky and Jon De Vaan started a blog about Windows 7 to address a myriad of issues and questions regarding the next big thing from Redmond.

While the blog itself dates back to August 14th, some of the newest posts reflect how Microsoft, specifically these two SVPs, are attempting to get an idea from the public about what they want in their next OS. One of the first things addressed in the newest post was the possibility of a Profile-based setup, or customizing your copy of Windows 7 to run certain types of applications (gaming, business productivity, etc.). While many would jump at the idea of a gaming-tuned Windows, it seems like this idea may be swept under rug. "The desktop PC (or laptop) is different because there is only a single PC and the roles are not as well defined," said the latest post (author wasn’t specified). "Only in the rarest cases is that PC dedicated to a single purpose...the reality is that we see very few PCs that run only a specific piece of software and in nearly every study we have ever done, just about every PC runs at least one piece of software that other people do not run."

The blog also touches on other ideas, like the Out of Box Experience, which is tied in the lack of Profile-based setup in Windows 7. "...our context for the out of box experience would be that we don’t want to introduce complexity there, where customers are least interested in dealing with it as they want to get to the excitement of using their new PC." So while this may seem to be the nail in the coffin for any sort of deep customization in the new OS, the blog also touches on how an OEM could potentially offer some sort of profiled experience if its appealing/selling to a specific market. So, if a boutique gaming PC manufacturer wanted to, it may be able to offer a heavily tweaked version of Windows 7 aimed specifically at gamers.

In any event, we should see more details emerge after Microsoft’s Professional Developers Conference (PDC) starts on October 27. Beyond (supposed) 15 second boot times, IE8, Windows Media Center, and updates for several other Windows programs, the details on Windows 7 are few and far between.

Devin Connors
Topics
Software
32 Comments Comment from the forums
  • kawininjazx
    I think they should just stick with Vista, I have it on 3 PCs and I have had no issues so far. I don't think ditching Vista and rushing into another OS is the answer. They do need to fix user control in Vista, I just turn it off.
    Reply
  • somasaint
    dear M$,

    finding it hard to go fishing with bait that you purposefully made
    to annoy the end-user?

    you have continually done nothing to console the REAL people who
    have used vista...

    how strange that M$ products work perfectly, once they have
    been modified to behave AGAINST the way M$ intended..

    -crack'd
    Reply
  • captaincharisma
    that is how the business world works. they see alot of people hate the current product so they tash it so to speak and try again to win as fast as possible. I too have windows vista ultimite installed on my pc and have not had any blue screens or any major unexplained crashes.
    Reply
  • AndrewMD
    What Microsoft needs to do is go back to the old days. Make two versions of Windows 7, a Home Edition and a Professional Edition. Create a "Plus" Package for all the extended features.

    Under the Plus package, Microsoft needs to bundle the following with it.
    Internet Explorer, Media Center, Tablet, Themes, etc. By removing all this otherwise bloatware from the Windows 7 DVD, the product will be less expensive and will comply with US and EU fine guidelines.

    Microsoft should also think about reducing the number of Office packages they sell also, a Home Edition, Standard Edition, and Professional Edition should cover what they want to sell, it did in the past!



    Reply
  • IH8U
    I say they should drop 32bit support in Winblows 7. I'm tired of searching for applications I used to use on XP, able to run in 64bit Vista. Confusing much (most companies don't even list when/if they are 64bit compatible), I hate buying software to install, and be unable to use it! (can't take it back now, it's opened). And disable that user controll (If I didn't want to install the program, I wouldn't have hit "Install"). Drop the Aero (usless garbage, granted my system can handle it easily), and remove the usless bloatware (superfetch for example).
    Reply
  • eccentric909
    captaincharismaI too have windows vista ultimite installed on my pc and have not had any blue screens or any major unexplained crashes.
    I have Vista installed on 4 PCs in my house and my parents' house, one with Ultimate, 3 with Home Premium and I've yet to have a single major issue with any of the installs, for more than a year now. The oldest PC (my mom's) is an AthlonXP 1800 with 1GB of Ram and an old GeForce 256 which runs Vista pretty nicely, considering it's age. It's only used for office apps and web surfing, but she prefers it to XP.

    The only thing that bothered me, but seems to be fixed now, was the horrid transfer rates using WinExplorer to copy/move information out of compressed zips. Being that I use WinRAR anyway, it wasn't really that big of a deal.
    Reply
  • michaelahess
    AndrewMD, right on! That would be a perfect world though, MS can't makes it's billions without competing with Apple, too bad apple knows how to unify apps soooo much better.

    I would prefer something like win 3.1 where only the most basic utils were included, notepad, calc, etc, and I could modify to my hearts content. A little bit of eudora here, and a little bit of netscape there. Throw in a little win32s if ya need to run Freecell.....That sorta thing. :)
    Reply
  • jcwbnimble
    The problem with MS products is, the more "user freindly" they make them, the worse they get. Doesn't MS wonder why the vast majority of the Windows user base is still using Office 2003? My school district won't even upgrade to OfficeXP or 2007 just because of the huge learning curve. Why does Redmond keep trying to "fix" that which isn't broken.

    I just built a new PC for myself about 6 months ago. I hadn't decided which OS to use, Vista or XP. I visited my aunt who has a new Sony laptop with Vista on it. After trying to help her with all the stupid Vista security pop-ups and other bloatware in the OS, I chose to install XP pro on my new computer. I don't care if Vista is stable and rarely gets a BSOD, it's just too annoying for me to use on a daily basis.

    Mr. Gates, just build an OS that is stable, like XP, make it fast, like XP, and stop adding bloat to the OS in the name of a better "user experience".

    Oh, I'm a PC tech and I absolutely hate trying to tweak any settings on Vista. It shouldn't take a Thomas guide to figure out how to change the IP settings. I'm tired of MS adding crap to their software. Make it clean, fast, and stable. Period.
    Reply
  • warezme
    There isn't anything terribly wrong with Vista but there is nothing terribly wrong with XP and it performs better. I have dual boot system with Windows XP Pro 32bit/vista Ultimate 64bit. I game heavily sometimes with Dual 8800GTX's and do some 3DMax Modeling, hobby with Photography and the Adobe CS3 suite and tons of Web development tools and utilities. Just the thought of getting all that to run as fast and stable on Vista has left Vista out. If all I did was surf the web and play with some games from time to time Vista would be fine. I don't understand people that don't really do anything on their machines and always praise Vista. My opinion is than that Vista is a noob OS and not for me.

    Leave Vista alone and market it to the casual user but build a high end fast, lean OS for the rest of us. Loose the Aero and fluff. Fluff is for OSX noobs.
    Reply
  • timaahhh
    jcwbnimbleThe problem with MS products is, the more "user freindly" they make them, the worse they get. Doesn't MS wonder why the vast majority of the Windows user base is still using Office 2003? My school district won't even upgrade to OfficeXP or 2007 just because of the huge learning curve. Do U realize that Office Xp (released with Windows XP) came before Office 2003? So switching from Office 2003 to XP would be a downgrade...
    Reply