Tag: customer satisfaction

Categories
Uncategorized

Our new Microsoft Signature PC arrives, and I like what wasn’t included in the shipment

IMG_3871As noted on Twitter, even Microsoft employees use the MicrosoftStore, especially when there’s a sale on some of the latest PCs around. Needing to replace an older model (tried and true) Sony Vaio that is headed to the repair shop, I ordered a new PC from the Microsoft Store last week, a new HP Pavilion DM3-1044nr Entertainment Notebook PC.


Models available from several different computer vendors are available at the Store, each featured as a “Microsoft Signature PC, designed to help you get your new computer up and running more quickly and easily than ever before.”


What the heck is that?


Well, Tom’s Hardware said that the Microsoft Signature PCs “could be a step towards stomping out crapware – which we’re all in favour of.”



“Would you believe that it’s Microsoft’s own “Signature PCs” that are the ones most clean from the crapware? According to TechFlash, a certain line of PCs sold at the just-launched Microsoft Store in Scottsdale, AZ do away with the annoying pre-installed software and instead come with full versions of Windows Live services, Silverlight, Zune software and some of Adobe’s popular online software. While some of that software could be debated as unwanted crapware, it’s still a world of difference from the typical computer that one would buy from a large retailer.”


Here are a few pictures of the OOBE (Out Of Box Experience) with the just-received new PC… you’ll note the shiny stocker that enveloped the HP, and perhaps be as shocked as I was when I turned on the PC and happily found (gasp) no desktop full of pre-installed software.


       IMG_3870 IMG_3879


For me, this was a bonus: I use Windows Live apps, Silverlight and the Zune service, so all of these were welcomed. All in all, I was up and running much faster than ever before, not having to de-install a bunch of unwanted software, add-ins, tool bars or applets. In some instances, the applications are nice value ads, sometimes not. YMMV.


So far I’ve found the new HP to be snappy, responsive and rick-solid rock-solid, similar to that I’d read in several reviews in the likes of PC Magazine and here on Wired. I haven’t put the reported long life battery to the test yet, but all indicators will be that it may survive some of my older mobile phones and powerful enough to run most demands that our household will likely throw at it.


(updated thanks to Michael Sainz today, 012310 😉


Tags: Microsoft Store, Signature PC, twitter, Microsoft, Windows 7.


Clubhouse Tags: Clubhouse, how-to, Security, download.


 



Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious Bookmark and Share


Also available via http://bit.ly/4xQOUg


 


 

Categories
Uncategorized

From Windows 7 to working with product groups customer satisfaction

Windows 7 UltimateA little more than three years ago as I noted here, I joined the Windows division working in COSD for Jon DeVaan with the rest of his management team (as I initially noted here) to work on Windows 7. I’ve certainly enjoyed the run in Windows, this being my second stint: I joined the engineering program management group when I first moved to Redmond back in 2003. More details are on the blog if you must know.

A couple of months ago as we discussed new roles, one of the positions that interested me was in returning to a corporate role in the company. In my new capacity, I’ll work with product and services groups across the company to improve satisfaction with our customers and partners.  These customer-focus efforts are some of key tenets of our work that we refer to inside Microsoft (in both the business groups and SMSG) as the Customer and Partner Experience (CPE).

This has been an area I truly enjoy, and one that Kevin Turner, our COO sponsors across our sales and marketing groups in close partnership with our product group sponsor Stephen Elop, the  president of the Microsoft Business Division (aka, MBD, home of Office, SharePoint, Exchange, OCS, Dynamics and many other products).

With this move comes a move from my office in the Windows division and later this week across campus to my new home. Sad to leave Windows but excited to move to this new role on the heels of one of the most successful product launches the company has seen in some time.

So over the next few days will be busy as I move offices, shed parts of my old position and move on to my new role. I want to thank my friends in Windows for a wonderful time in the division and I look forward to working with them in a broad capacity.

What this means for folks reading this blog should be a broad view of the work we’re doing across the company to improve customer satisfaction from the perspective of our product teams, and perhaps a few insights as I learn even more about my new surroundings in MBD.

And yes, that includes finding a new parking strategy on days I drive: the commute stays the same.

 

Tags: announcements, Office, Microsoft, Windows 7.

Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious Bookmark and Share

Also available via http://bit.ly/AfqCx

Categories
Uncategorized

Download Windows 7 RC from a trusted source – via Microsoft –and avoid peer to Peer and save yourself the security risk

Windows 7 Release Candidate Takes the StageAs I recommended today, friends don’t let friends download bad things from peer to peer. So wait until the official downloads to the Release Candidate (RC) of Windows 7 are available.


As noted online today, the Windows 7 RC posted today (April 30th) for TechNet and MSDN subscribers. Materials provided here include info on the official press release, Q&A and more. Learn what’s new in the release candidate and hear from Microsoft partners about how they’re preparing today for Windows 7.



MSDN and TechNet subscribers can get the bits at http://technet.microsoft.com. Broader public availability will begin May 5 on the Microsoft Download Center at http://microsoft.com/downloads.


A personal note: please don’t use P2P to get Windows 7 Release Candidate, as has been noted in the in the news. See this page for info on getting bits from Microsoft http://bit.ly/uJATN. As Roger Halbheer (in his blog on Security) offers reasons why you should not use P2P Windows 7 Builds…



“… I refrain from downloading it from any of the untrusted sources. The reason for this is pretty simple: You never know (and it is illegal).


“Years back (and I have told this story over and over again) we ran an event where we fixed PCs of consumers for free for a whole week. Pretty often, when we found an infected machine, we found P2P software on it. When we talked to the person owning the PC he/she usually told us the “my son/daughter installed that and uses it”. We know that P2P is one of the most dangerous source of malware.


“Read now, what happens with Windows 7: Leaked Windows 7 RC torrents infected with trojan“


Plan accordingly. And please remember to back up your files before installing the RC.


Tags: articles, blogs, Windows 7.




Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious Bookmark and Share


 


Also available at http://tinyurl.com/dkl8jm or http://bit.ly/L9PaO


 


 

Categories
Uncategorized

Solved: Word Completion on the AT&T Fuze

I recently solved the Word Completion problem I was having on my AT&T Fuze (HTC Diamond).


I received a new phone from AT&T in late December and found that Word Completion was not working, even when selected in Settings>Input. I found that the phone is configured out of the box with Word Completion ‘off’ which I found annoying. The AT&T reps on campus and in Redmond had no idea what was wrong and swapped out my unit for a new phone as they were unable to fix the setting.  Same problem on that one, too.


But thanks to the wonder of Twitter and Live Search, I received an answer, and posting it here if any others are missing this ability, courtesy of http://www.htcwiki.com/thread/1720237/Word+Completion+Fix+for+6.1+ROM+Update?t=anon:



* After confirming that you have the box checked for “Suggest words when entering text” in the Word Completion tab found in Settings>Input.


* Open up a new email or text message.


* Go to the bottom of the screen and change your letter input method to Full QWERTY (using the down arrow next to the “pencil”, “keyboard” , etc. icon).


* In the bottom left hand corner of this Full QWERTY keyboard, just to the right of CAPS/shift button, is a button to toggle between T9 and ABC.


* Click the button and make sure that T9 appears below ABC. Apparently the opposite appears as a default setting.


* Switch back to Block Recognizer, Keyboard or Letter Recognizer and Word Completion should be active for you!


https://twitter.com/HTC, please explain: why doesn’t word completion or auto spell correction work out of the box on my AT&T HTC Diamond?


Tags: Windows Mobile, HTC, blogs, Customer service.


 



Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious Bookmark and Share

Categories
Uncategorized

Being foolish about customer and partner satisfaction at Microsoft

I recalled tonight an old quote: Fortuna favet fatuis.  If you know me, you’ll likely understand my personal, off-hours affinity for such a quote and my penchant for Monty Python humour.

Clip art from Microsoft Office Online But in all seriousness, I’m reminded of a past post in which I noted that fools may find fault with ease. It takes the persistent to note that the customer experience isn’t a commodity, and to course correct when we find fault…

Benjamin Franklin and Dale Carnegie both said that “any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain – and most fools do.” But if you listen to the criticism and respond to it — take the criticism and do something positive with it — then you can course correct and improve the customer experience.

So, what the heck does this have to do with anything?

These days, I hear many people at the office talking about how they’re working to keep Customer and Partner Experience (CPE) a top priority, especially important now more than ever.  That’s a positive.  Steve Ballmer said previously that Microsoft has more work to do to please our customers and partners, noting that “we’ve only begun to tap the real potential of computers to help you communicate, find answers, solve problems and be more productive.”

When you’re thinking about new products and services, one of the pieces of advice I offer is to think about course correcting wherever needed and whenever you should. Question the wisdom of others when it’s particularly foolish. Thinking for a moment of the Motley Fool’s description for where they came up with the namesake…

“The Motley Fool’s name comes directly from the beginning of Act II, scene vii of Shakespeare’s As You Like It. In the days when Shakespeare was writing about kings, Fools were the merry fellows paid to entertain the king and queen, using self-effacing humor that instructed as it amused. In fact, Fools were the only members of their societies who could tell the truth to the king or queen without having their heads rather abruptly removed from their shoulders.

“In Fooldom, readers like you are the royalty.”

Taking the Motley Fool’s advice to heart, your customers and partners are the royalty, and it’s your job to do our best to find answers, solve problems, tell the truth, and don’t settle for anything less than what your customers and partners deserve. And…

“… use whatever you may learn for good rather than evil, and that you pass your Foolishness on to others who may need help. If a fellow Fool is stumped by a question you know you can answer, we hope you’ll consider lending them a hand.”

If you think that something doesn’t make sense from their perspective, fix it.

Be foolish. (But respectful, of course. 😉

Tags: articles, what I read, blogs, Customer service.

 

Bookmark this on DeliciousBookmark and Share

This post is also available via https://aka.ms/foolish