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Biff, please refrain from picking up some more Asian honey during the conf call else I would have to show up at your door and execute my talent repatriation duties
Scott, thank you, thank you, thank you. Now I am going to read that article and I feel that I will have learned something from my fiasco Vista experience.
donatella, here’s the Vista story in my opinion.
Microsoft knew that the Windows NT/2000/XP code had major issues in terms of basic underlying architecture and a major overhaul would be needed. They started on parts of this as early as 1995, but kept putting off major changes because they knew it would screw things up.
Along the way, they have a very smooth transition from Windows 98/ME to Windows XP in 2001, and life was good. A big reason for the smooth transition is that the basic architecture underlying XP had not really changed since Windows NT was released in 1993, so the HW and apps issues were known and had been solved.
During the lifespan of XP, it’s shortcomings were becoming more and more apparent, both in terms of security as well as performance and ability to make use of 64 bit processors and more than 2-4 GB of RAM. Big changes under the cover were needed.
MS knew that by their nature, these changes would break existing apps and old hardware would not work right (or at all) without new drivers being written. They also knew that a new security model would be needed to prevent users from inadvertently installing malicious software.
As the development for this new Windows went on, deadlines kept slipping and features kept getting changed. At the same time, there was a clear point up ahead when MS knew their customers would demand the ability to use new capabilities.
Eventually, they made a decision to push out what they had working and to cut off support of the old at the same time.
The result was clearly a PR and user satisfaction disaster.
It took the HW and SW community 18 months or so to really get adjusted to the new operating system, and since then things have been great. However, the damage had been done and it took another 18 months and a new OS name to really start repairing the damage.
What I think they could have done better:
– Made the OS available in a “testing only” more for another 6 months or a year.
– Worked closely with major HW vendors and thrown money at them if necessary to make sure their stuff work with Vista.
– Been more upfront that Vista was a major change, and not just an upgrade.
– Openly sold Vista in parallel with XP for at least a year.
Right, DH, that was a REALLY funny night. We all laughed so much. I was crying. That was GREAT! As the night wore on, I believe that a fight was narrowly averted… It all becomes a kind of funny blur.
Biff, please refrain from picking up some more Asian honey during the conf call else I would have to show up at your door and execute my talent repatriation duties
I wrote my essay while on a conference call.
Scott, thank you, thank you, thank you. Now I am going to read that article and I feel that I will have learned something from my fiasco Vista experience.
Keep posting about computers. It’s making my upcoming conference call look better and better.
(my apologiesi for more tech talk)
donatella, here’s the Vista story in my opinion.
Microsoft knew that the Windows NT/2000/XP code had major issues in terms of basic underlying architecture and a major overhaul would be needed. They started on parts of this as early as 1995, but kept putting off major changes because they knew it would screw things up.
Along the way, they have a very smooth transition from Windows 98/ME to Windows XP in 2001, and life was good. A big reason for the smooth transition is that the basic architecture underlying XP had not really changed since Windows NT was released in 1993, so the HW and apps issues were known and had been solved.
During the lifespan of XP, it’s shortcomings were becoming more and more apparent, both in terms of security as well as performance and ability to make use of 64 bit processors and more than 2-4 GB of RAM. Big changes under the cover were needed.
MS knew that by their nature, these changes would break existing apps and old hardware would not work right (or at all) without new drivers being written. They also knew that a new security model would be needed to prevent users from inadvertently installing malicious software.
As the development for this new Windows went on, deadlines kept slipping and features kept getting changed. At the same time, there was a clear point up ahead when MS knew their customers would demand the ability to use new capabilities.
Eventually, they made a decision to push out what they had working and to cut off support of the old at the same time.
The result was clearly a PR and user satisfaction disaster.
It took the HW and SW community 18 months or so to really get adjusted to the new operating system, and since then things have been great. However, the damage had been done and it took another 18 months and a new OS name to really start repairing the damage.
What I think they could have done better:
– Made the OS available in a “testing only” more for another 6 months or a year.
– Worked closely with major HW vendors and thrown money at them if necessary to make sure their stuff work with Vista.
– Been more upfront that Vista was a major change, and not just an upgrade.
– Openly sold Vista in parallel with XP for at least a year.
Here’s a story I found on the Vista perception issue:
http://www.tgdaily.com/software-opinion/38637-microsoft%E2%80%99s-project-mojave-changing-the-perceptions-of-windows-vista
I think I deleted the pics after sending to CGar.
How do people work past 6pm? I have a call with people from Hong Kong and Australia in 45 minutes, which should be torturous.
Right, DH, that was a REALLY funny night. We all laughed so much. I was crying. That was GREAT! As the night wore on, I believe that a fight was narrowly averted… It all becomes a kind of funny blur.
DH, agree with everything you just said. Amazing Emily ever came to another gathering. “Someone” thought she was a spy of some sort.
dona, I have the pics. Biff still has his pics. Don’t know if le chacal still has his.