Steven Sinofsky gave an interview with CNet last week, that was published today, in which he talks about all the information lockdown happening in regards to Windows 7. The gist they wanted to get across was that we have shared things and will share with the people they think are appropriate and if that isn't you, well, sorry.
Here are some summary nuggets for you to chew on...along with my take, in good fun.
Q: In contrast to the pre-release publicity for earlier versions of Windows, we haven't heard a lot about Windows 7. Why?
We want to make sure that when we do share information, that the information we share is accurate and reliable, and that we have in place the mechanisms for feedback such that the feedback is really taken seriously with respect to our plans. The reactions that we've had to some of the lessons learned in Windows Vista are really playing into our strategy of getting together a great plan for Windows 7...
Translation: Information lock down will continue.
When you think about Windows, what does a good release schedule look like?
The timing of it depends a lot on what we wanted to achieve, and you've certainly heard us, and we've been very clear, and will continue to say that the next release of Windows, Windows 7, is about three years after the general availability of Windows Vista, and we're committed to that, and we've signed up publicly to do that.
Translation: 2010
So, were the problems with Vista support and Vista enthusiasm--it sounds like you're saying they were mostly issues of disclosure as opposed to execution on the product. Is that right?
Sinofsky: I don't really want to dwell too much on the views of the past, and sort of just tell you again the lessons that we learned in working with partners...But if we're not accurate or the information we provide causes them to do one thing, and then we change our mind, that doesn't bring the ecosystem forward. A big set of challenges that we learned...is making sure that the information we provide legitimately reflects the promises that we're making to ourselves and to the team as a product.
Translation: We are partially to blame for Vista, but hey our partners suck too.
Can you tell us a little bit more about where those things fit in with how you guys are thinking about Windows 7?
We're very clear that drivers and software that work on Windows Vista are going to work really well on Windows 7; in fact, they'll work the same. We're going to not introduce additional compatibilities, particularly in the driver model.
Translation: Driver Model changes sucked to pull off with Windows Vista, so we aren't changing that again.
Where do you see the biggest opportunities for the OS to matter in the coming years?
There will be a lot of features in Windows 7. It's a major release. I talked about the kernel and driver compatibility and (application) compatibility, but there is a lot more for us to talk about. We'll certainly be in touch.
Translation: i iz keeping it on lockdown, kthxbai.
Is one of the goals with Windows 7 that there will be more things right out of the box to get people interested in this release?
Again I don't want to talk about any more specifics today, because we're focused today on how we're going to communicate things.
Translation: la,la,la, Can't hear you...
How important are online service extensions to the operating system going forward?
Right now, today, we're really focused on just making sure everybody understands how we're going to talk about all of the things that we're going to do in this next release of Windows, but what we really want to do is kind of stay focused on that, and let us do a good job making sure that the things we are working on are really going to be great for each of the different kinds of customers of the product.
Translation: Nope, Still not talking....nice try though
His question avoidance continues all through out the interview...with great quotes like:
I think we've talked enough about the direction that we're heading with the specifics of the product today, since we really did want to focus a little bit more on just talking about how we're communicating with partners and customers and the ecosystem at large.
This is the longest interview about nothing I have seen in a while. The WindowsVistaBlog has another lengthy post that amounts to nothing.
Posted
May 27 2008, 07:53 AM
by
Josh Phillips
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