Ed Bott's Microsoft Report

Five things Steve Ballmer won’t tell you about Windows 7

Ed Bott — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:00:25 +0000

On Wednesday night, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is going to step on stage at the Venetian Hotel’s Palazzo Ballroom to give the keynote address that kicks off the Consumer Electronics Show. It’s the first time for Ballmer, who’s taking the slot that his predecessor Bill Gates has had for years. It’s widely expected that Ballmer and an entourage of product managers will publicly unveil Windows 7 Beta 1. But I’m going to be listening for the things that Microsoft chooses not to talk about. In the spirit of the occasion, I offer these predictions of five things that Ballmer will take great pains to avoid saying.

If you love Windows XP, you’ll hate Windows 7

Ed Bott — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 20:21:41 +0000

My colleague Jason Perlow has been playing with Windows 7, and he hates it. The sad thing is, all the things that he hates are improvements, in my opinion, which just goes to show that you really can’t please everyone. Jason describes a reaction I heard from plenty of diehard XP users when Vista was released. If you insist on using techniques you learned back in the last millennium, you will be frustrated. But I believe that an open-minded XP user who actually takes a few minutes to learn how the new UI works will be more productive very quickly with Windows 7. I've taken Jason's three examples to prove my point.

Surprises in the Windows 7 license agreement

Ed Bott — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 22:17:55 +0000

Over the weekend, I had a chance to spend some quality time with the leaked Windows 7 build that’s zipping around the Internet. No one at Microsoft will confirm whether this code is the same as the beta due to be officially released in early January, but it bears every earmark of being the real thing. One of the first things I did before installing the software was to read the end user license agreement (EULA), carefully. Most of it was boilerplate, but I found a few surprises hidden within the legalese, including an expiration date that suggests a summertime release.

Which sites will make the IE8 Compatibility Hall of Shame?

Ed Bott — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 23:01:56 +0000

According to Microsoft, a release candidate of Internet Explorer 8 is just around the corner, and with it comes an urgent call to web designers to get their act together and tweak their sites so they’ll render properly under the new browser. Back in August, I began using IE8 Beta 2 full time on the Windows [...]

That Windows 7 bootleg is a ticking time bomb

Ed Bott — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 13:17:41 +0000

Bootleggers, beware. Judging by my inbox, lots of you downloaded a bootleg copy of Windows 7 build 6956 from BitTorrent, and now you have it running. But no matter how hard you try, you can’t update its built-in copy of Internet Explorer 8 with this week’s extremely critical out-of-band security update, which Microsoft turned around in record time. What's a poor bootlegger to do?

Windows Live drops the ball on support

Ed Bott — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 20:08:29 +0000

I've been impressed with the array of apps and services that have debuted lately under the Windows Live banner, including the new Windows Live Essentials package But the glow wears off fast if you need support. As I found through personal experience, support options are difficult to find, and when you're finally able to submit a request, there's no guarantee you'll get an answer any time soon. What was Windows Live management thinking?

A new record for Godwin’s Law

Ed Bott — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 23:45:37 +0000

Everyone knows Godwin’s Law, right? The longer a heated discussion goes on, the probability that someone will compare someone else to Hitler or the Nazis approaches certainty. Usually, Mac-versus-PC arguments take some slow simmering, followed by a few preliminary flame wars, before someone lets fly with the Hitler references. But today’s comment section beneath a post on a BusinessWeek blog sets a new record for invoking Godwin’s Law.

DirecTV kills its Media Center tuner project

Ed Bott — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:19:57 +0000

Nearly three years ago, at CES 2006, DirecTV announced that it was working on a tuner that would allow Windows Media Center to receive high-definition premium satellite signals. Earlier this year, there were rumors that the project was in beta test, and several high-profile web sites even spotted the hardware in action at Microsoft's labs. Alas, the long-rumored project is now officially dead. I've got the details.

Windows 7 Beta 1 to arrive January 13?

Ed Bott — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:21:09 +0000

At the Professional Developers Conference in late October, Windows chief Steven Sinofsky announced that Windows 7 Beta 1 would be ready "early next year." A Microsoft insider has now confirmed the actual date, which is indeed very early next year. I've put together my predictions for the Beta 1 timeline, which starts with Steve Ballmer's keynote at CES.

With Vista SP2, Microsoft is back on track

Ed Bott — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 01:05:27 +0000

Reliable reports suggest that Microsoft plans to release Windows Vista Service Pack 2 to manufacturing in April 2009, roughly a year after it delivered SP1. Some observers are inferring from this schedule that ista SP2 is being "rushed out the door" and that "Microsoft seems to be in a hurry with this release.” They all need to dust off their Windows history books to see that the reality is exactly the opposite. If Vista SP2 does make its official appearance in April, it will mark a return to normal development and release cycles for Microsoft, which lost its way badly with Windows XP. I've got the proof, complete with charts.