Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Monday, 18 August 2008 16:05
Opinion and Analysis
Page 3 of 4
Microsoft then acknowledges its errors in disclosing too much in the past that ended up being cut from the final product.
Calling it “disclosure” and getting ahead of “ourselves in talking about features before our understanding of them is solid”, Microsoft says it intends that its Windows 7 and “pre-release communication” ensures its E7 bloggers have a “reasonable degree of confidence in what we talk about when we do talk.”
They promise not to “stress priorities, churn resources allocations or cause strategic confusion” among the “tens of thousands of partners and customers who care deeply and have much invested in the evolution of Windows.”
This means making sure “not to set expectations around the release that end up disappointing you—features that don’t make it, claims that don’t stick, or support we don’t provide.”
This is where Microsoft says its goal to “promise and deliver” will come from, to “share with you what we’re going to get done, why we’re doing it, and deliver it with high quality and on time.”
As you’d expect, DeVaan and Sinfosky express great excitement about the blog. They then acknowledge that mistakes or misinterpretations are sure to come.
Both say that they “know the ins and outs of blogging and expect to have fun, provide great information, and also make a few mistakes. We know we’ll misspeak or what we say will be heard differently than we intended. We’re not worried. All we ask is that we have a dialog based on mutual respect and the shared goal of making a great release of Windows 7.”
Regular postings are promised – we can only hope that Microsoft truly means this, unlike Apple’s “MobileMe” blog update fiasco.
Blog participants are also advised that “We’ll watch the comments and we will definitely participate both in comments and potentially in follow-up posts as required. We will make sure that members of the Windows 7 development team represent themselves as such as well.”
So, what do the commenters think of the E7 blog announcement, how can you personally email Steven Sinofsky with your suggestions and comments, and where are some links to YouTube videos of Windows 7 betas in action? Please read on to the final page...
