More on CNET’s Ina Fried’s interview with Steven Sinofsky discussing Windows 7…
A quick post as I have a few minutes during a quick lunch break before my noon teleconference. Earlier today, Ina Fried posted her Q&A with Steven Sinofsky in Windows chief talks ‘7’ with some insight and info into the future OS release affectionately referred to as Windows 7. Steven as you probably already know is the senior vice president for Windows Client and Windows Live engineering. Ina notes…
“Last year, Sinofsky penned a blog to his Windows unit co-workers, explaining his public silence and urging them to follow his lead.
“I know many folks think that this type of corporate ‘clamp down’ on disclosure is ‘old school’ and that in the age of corporate transparency we should be open all the time,” Sinofsky wrote. “Corporations are not really transparent. Corporations are translucent. All organizations have things that are visible and things that are not.”
“Well, Sinofsky is breaking his public silence, slightly, to offer a few important details about 7 (he reiterated that it is coming by January 2010) and to explain why he is saying so little publicly.
“In an exclusive interview with CNET News.com last week, Sinofsky talked about how the new version of Windows is designed to build on top of Vista’s architectural changes without adding things like new driver models that can increase compatibility challenges. Below is the edited, but still rather lengthy transcript, of our conversation.”
This article helps provide some visibility on Windows 7, coupled with the post today on the Windows Vista Team Blog by Chris Flores…
“Typically when Microsoft ships a new OS (like Windows Vista), we immediately start talking about the next version-which begs two questions: 1) is Microsoft working on a new version of Windows, and if so, 2) why aren’t you talking about it?
“I thought I would spend a minute giving you an update on where we are. First, yes, we are working on a new version of Windows. As you likely know, it’s called Windows 7. We are always looking for new ways to deliver great experiences for our customers. This is especially true of Windows – where we’re constantly examining trends in hardware, software and services to ensure that we continue to drive the innovation that has both made Windows the world’s most popular operating system and has provided a foundation on which our partners built great products and businesses. When we shipped Windows 2000, we were already working on Windows XP and we started working on Windows Vista even before we released Windows XP. So naturally, we’ve been thinking about the investments we made in Windows Vista and how we can build on these for the next version of Windows.
“What is a little different today is when and how we are talking about the next version of Windows. So, why the change in approach? We know that when we talk about our plans for the next release of Windows, people take action. As a result, we can significantly impact our partners and our customers if we broadly share information that later changes. With Windows 7, we’re trying to more carefully plan how we share information with our customers and partners. This means sharing the right level of information at the right time depending on the needs of the audience. For instance, several months ago we began privately sharing our preliminary plans for Windows 7 with software and hardware partners who build on the Windows platform. This gave them an opportunity to give us feedback and gave us the opportunity to incorporate their input into our plans. As the product becomes more complete, we will have the opportunity to share our plans more broadly.”
Over the last few months, I’ve found that more people ask me about Windows Vista than Windows 7, and (with consumers) I don’t expect that to change. But press, analysts and large customers are a different bunch who always want the latest scoop on as-yet-to-be-released products, including Windows 7, so it’s nice to see the volume turned up a bit on Windows 7.
More is available at Windows chief talks ‘7’ on Ina’s blog, which is also on CNET homepage today.
Tags: Steven Sinofsky, Windows 7, Microsoft.
