The Windows 7 Team

Artikkeli
08/17/2008

Thanks to everyone who provided comments and sent me mail. I definitely appreciate the discussion we have kicked off. There’s also a ton of energy in our hallways as this blog started. It seems like a good thing to do to start off is sort of an introduction to the Windows development team. This post provides an overview of the team that is represented by this blog.

Before diving into the main topic, let’s talk a bit more about what to expect from this blog. First a few words on the comments and emails I’ve received. I’ve received a ton—most of the weekend was spent reading emails and comments. There are definitely some themes. I would say by and large the reception has been very warm and we definitely appreciate that. The most frequent request was to discuss Windows performance and/or just “make Windows faster”. There’s a lot to this topic so we expect to talk about this quite a bit over the next months. There are many specific requests—often representing all possible sides of an issue such as some folks saying “please get rid of (or don’t do) <x>” and then other folks saying “whatever you do it is really important to keep (or do) <x>”. A big part of this blog for me personally is having the discussion about the multiple facets of any given issue. Even something that sounds as binary as performance proves to have many subtle elements. For example, some folks suggested that the best thing for boot performance is to not start anything until idle time and others suggested that the delay loading feels like it slows them down and still others have suggested that the best approach is to provide a startup manager that pushes everyone to choose what to start up. All of these have merit worth discussing and also demonstrate the subtlety and complexity of even the most straight forward request.

Second, much to the surprise of both Jon and I a number of folks questioned the “authenticity” of the post. A few even suggested that the posts are being “ghost written” or that this blog is some sort of ploy. I am typing this directly in Windows Live Writer and hitting publish. This blog is the real deal—typos, mistakes, and all. There’s no intermediary or vetting of the posts. We have folks on the team who will be contributing, but we’re not having any posts written by anyone other than who signs it. We will us one user name for all the posts since that keeps the blog security and ownership clear, but posts will be signed by the person that hit publish. (If I participate in the comments I will use my msdn name, steven_sinofsky.)

And third, what frequency should folks expect and when do we get to the “features of Windows 7”. When we wrote that we would post “regularly” we meant that we don’t have a schedule or calendar of posts and we don’t want to commit to an artificial frequency which generally seems inconsistent with blogging. We do expect to follow a pattern similar to what you have become familiar with on the IEBlog. FWIW, on my internal blog no one has yet accused me of not contributing enough. :-)

As we said in the introductory post we think it will be good to talk about the engineering of Windows 7 (the “how”) and the first step is establishing who the engineers are that do the engineering before we dive into the product itself (the “why” and “what”).

So let’s meet the team...

It is pretty easy to think of the Windows team as one group or one entity, and then occasionally one specific person comes to represent the team—perhaps she gave a talk at a conference, wrote a book or article folks become familiar with, or maybe he has a blog. Within Microsoft, the Windows product is really a product of the whole company with people across all the development groups contributing in some form or another. The Windows engineering team “proper” is jointly managed by Jon and me. Jon manages the core operating system, which is, among many things, the kernel, device infrastructure, networking, and the engineering tools and system (all of which are both client and server). I am part of the Windows client experience team which develops, among many things, the shell and desktop, graphics, and media support. One other significant part of the Windows product is the Windows Media Center which is a key contribution managed along with all of Microsoft’s TV support (IPTV, extenders, etc.).

There’s a lot to building an org structure for a large team, but the most important part is planning the work of the team. This planning is integral to realizing our goal of improving the overall consistency and “togetherness” for Windows 7. So rather than think of one big org, or two teams, we say that the Windows 7 engineering team is made up of about 25 different feature teams.

A feature team represents those that own a specific part of Windows 7—the code, features, quality, and overall development. The feature teams represent the locus of work and coordination across the team. This also provides a much more manageable size—feature teams fit in meeting spaces, can go to movies, and so on. On average a feature team is about 40 developers, but there are a variety of team sizes. There are two parts to a feature team: what the team works on and who makes up a team.

Windows 7’s feature teams sound a lot like parts of Windows with which you are familiar. Because of the platform elements of Windows we have many teams that have remained fairly constant over several releases, whereas some teams are brand new or represent relatively new areas composed of some new code and the code that formed the basis of the team. Some teams do lots of work for Server (such as the VM work) and some might have big deliverables outside of Windows 7 (such as Internet Explorer).

In general a feature team encompasses ownership of combination of architectural components and scenarios across Windows. “Feature” is always a tricky word since some folks think of feature as one element in the user-interface and others think of the feature as a traditional architectural component (say TCP/IP). Our approach is to balance across scenarios and architecture such that we have the right level of end-to-end coverage and the right parts of the architecture. One thing we do try to avoid is separating the “plumbing” from the “user interface” so that teams do have end-to-end ownership of work (as an example of that, “Find and Organize” builds both the indexer and the user interface for search). Some of the main feature teams for Windows 7 include (alphabetically):

Applets and Gadgets
Assistance and Support Technologies
Core User Experience
Customer Engineering and Telemetry
Deployment and Component Platform
Desktop Graphics
Devices and Media
Devices and Storage
Documents and Printing
Engineering System and Tools
File System
Find and Organize
Fundamentals
Internet Explorer (including IE 8 down-level)
International
Kernel & VM
Media Center
Networking - Core
Networking - Enterprise
Networking - Wireless
Security
User Interface Platform
Windows App Platform

I think most of these names are intuitive enough for the purposes of this post—as we post more the members of the team will identify which feature team they are on. This gives you an idea of the subsystems of Windows and how we break down a significant project into meaningful teams. Of course throughout the project we are coordinating and building features across teams. This is a matter of practice because you often want to engineer the code in one set of layers for efficiency and performance (say bottom up), but end-users might experience it across layers, and IT pros might want to manage a desktop from the top-down. I admit sometimes this is a little bit too much of an insider view as you can’t see where some interesting things “live”. For example, the tablet and inking functionality is in our User Interface Platform team along with speech recognition, multi-touch and accessibility. The reason for this is the architectural need to share the infrastructure for all mechanisms of “input” even if any one person might not cross all those layers. This way when we design the APIs for managing input, developers will see the benefits of all the modes of user interaction through one set of APIs.

The other aspect of our feature teams is the exact composition. A feature team represents three core engineering disciplines of software development engineers (sde or dev), software development engineers in test (sdet or test, sorry but I haven’t written a job description externally), and program managers (pm). Having all three of these engineering disciplines is a unique aspect of Microsoft that has even caught the attention of some researchers. In my old blog I described dev and pm which I linked to above (I still owe a similar post on SDET!).

The shortest version of these roles is dev is responsible for the architecture and code, pm is responsible for the feature set and specification, and test is responsible for validation and the ultimate advocate for the customer experience. Everyone is responsible for quality and performance, each bringing their perspective to the work. For any given feature, each of dev, test, and pm work as a team of peers (both literally and conceptually). This is a key “balance of power” in terms of how we work and makes sure that we take a balanced approach to developing Windows 7. Organizationally, we are structured such that devs work for devs, sdets work for sdets, and pm works for pm. That is we are organized by these “engineering functions”. This allows for two optimizations—the focus on expertise in both domain and discipline and also the ability to make sure we are not building the product in silos, but focused on the product as a whole.

We talk about these three disciplines together because we create feature teams with n developers, n testers, and 1/2n program managers. This ratio is pretty constant across the team. On average a feature team is about 40 developers across the Windows 7 project.

We also have core members of our engineering team that work across the entire product:

Content Development – the writers and editors that create the online assistance, web site, SDK documents, and deployment documents.
Product Planning – responsible for the customer research and learning that informs the selection of features. Product Planning also coordinates the work we do with partners across the ecosystem in terms of partnering through the design and development of the release.
Product Design – develops the overall interaction model, graphical language, and design language for Windows 7
Research and Usability – creates field and lab studies that show how existing products and proposed feature perform with customers

Some have said that the Windows team is just too big and that it has reached a size that causes engineering problems. At the same time, I might point out that just looking at the comments there is a pretty significant demand for a broad set of features and changes to Windows. It takes a set of people to build Windows and it is a big project. The way that I look at this is that our job is to have the Windows team be the right size—that sounds cliché but I mean by that is that the team is neither too large nor too small, but is effectively managed so that the work of the team reflects the size of the team and you see the project as having the benefits we articulate. I’m reminded of a scene from Amadeus where the Emperor suggests that the Marriage of Figaro contains “too many notes” to which Mozart proclaims “there are just as many notes, Majesty, as are required, neither more nor less.” Upon the Emperor suggesting that Mozart remove a few notes, Mozart simply asks “which few did you have in mind?” Of course the people on the team represent the way we get feature requests implemented and develop end to end scenarios, so the challenge is to have the right team and the right structure to maximize the ability to get those done—neither too many nor too few.

I promised myself no post would be longer than 4 pages and I am getting close. The comments are great and are helping us to shape future posts. I hope this post starts to develop some additional shared context.

--Steven

Comments

Anonymous
August 18, 2008
Steven, Thanks for the informative post and Mozart was correct. Glenn Gould says he didn't have enough notes, so it is all what you are looking for.
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
give use more informations 4 pages are not enought ... Thanks for your work Steven
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
Now we are starting to see the complexity of Windows Development, all the Departments involved in the project and the complexity of the develop of a project like this, this maybe make understand some people how hard is to make a software that is both efficient and functional. I work as a Developer in Venezuela and know how hard is to please every petition and how hard is to make EVERYTHING work perfectly so for me this is a very good start for a new concept in make good software.
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
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Anonymous
August 18, 2008
This blog is great, Steven. Thanks for the openness and receptiveness to your users. I think we all hit these blogs and complain because we're also passionate about Windows, and even the most critical of us want to see Windows rock everyone's world. One thing I would like to know is what plans Microsoft has for netbooks. Is Microsoft's strategy to wait for netbook hardware to beef up and then shoehorn Vista onto them? Or is there a more focused solution in the works? My coworker was showing me his new Acer Aspire, which runs Linux, and I must say I was really, really impressed. It does 95% of what people need at 1/10th the footprint. I'd love to see Microsoft match this.
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
Very enlightening post on just how complex the Teams really are. I too look forward to more posts and hopefully some snippets or two on the new features for Windows 7. There really is a huge anticipation for Windows 7 so hopefully it will deliver on not only your goals but the millions of Windows users around the world.
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
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Anonymous
August 18, 2008
Wow, what a nice way to describe how much ranting was done over the initial post (and hopefully prevent more in the future). I can't wait till we're actually called for ideas and suggestions. I do have to say, I'm very impressed at microsoft's willingness for open and non formal communictation as a part of their development life cycle. It definitly seemed to be missing from previous released. Windows can be a wild beast, and I can't wait to tame the next release.
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
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Anonymous
August 18, 2008
Man, I do not envy those pm's. I hated Project Management when I was taking it as classes! I also like the idea of teams at movies, haha. It's nice to hear about the comraderie that can exist there.
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
wonderful! please post more details about it.
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
Not everyone is a geek and not everyone wants to read a long blog post. break up these blog posts under different category.
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
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Anonymous
August 18, 2008
As anyone who reads Steven's internal blogs knows very well, if it is 4 pages long it must be real! In fact 4 pages seems short! And what marketting person would allow a 4 page posting?! :-)
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
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Anonymous
August 18, 2008
I am curious about how new features get proposed and kicked around. How often does a developer put something in on their own time?
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
Hi Steven, Loving the posts, great content. It's also finally good to see revealed the complexity of Windows, and that's something Microsoft should have done ages ago. Being in software development, I know just how complex a project can be, but most people would not and assume doing is as easy as saying so. Thanks again, and keep up the good work! :-)
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
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Anonymous
August 18, 2008
I do appreciate the effort to give us a peek into the development of Windows 7. I only wish this had been part of the Vista development process. Maybe we would not have such a disastrous user interface, among other things, in Vista.
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
Honestly, my opinion of this blog being set up now is to prepare for PDC and WinHEC so that you guys with have the proper place to have your say. My suggestion would be to say how you guys are doing what you're doing, and to start debunking rumors. These two are the best I can think of short of actual "feature" related news. One last request, I would love to see a pledge for better x64 support. I know you guys are working on getting multi-thread and core working, and some other neat stuff, but Microsoft needs to make a pledge, like they did for security back in 2003 (and that one paid off well) to moving to x64. I might just be saying this because I'm a x64 fanboy, but its important to me. Vista has a great deal of support for it, but there are still areas in which MS falls short. I'm holding you guys to the standard of quality I'm supposed to expect from Microsoft here (or whatever the apologist language was for Vista on a certain Microsoft page).
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
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Anonymous
August 18, 2008
hey, thanks for the great Blog- I can't wait to get my hands on Windows 7. I wonder if MS is planning add old features like Win FS :) And lastly I hope windows 7 has a productive UI. Because in my last 17 years of computing experience I haven't seen much of an improvment in this area, every OS has a same generic UI but the situation has now changed, we have different class of users - developers, administrators, gamers, home users and so on, it would be great if the OS has UI optimizations for these different users. As a developer I'd have wanted UI to be more helpful to speed up my work. Anyway, this is just my opinion. Waiting for the next blog...bye
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
This blog is a nice opportunity for some interaction between the developers of the next generation of Windows. While companies have (always?) had access to the dev teams, regular users have always had a more difficult time being heard. I'll take this opportunity to share my views on what I would like the upcoming OS to be. I guess it comes off as a bit of a rant, but hey, don't read it if you don't want to. ;) What I want most out of Windows 7 is choice. I'll acknowledge now that what I want to see is not something that will necessarily be easy, but I think it's the best thing Microsoft, as an entity, could provide for it's customers. Traditionally, the features set has been presented to users as a full set, whether it was needed, wanted, or not. I'd like to see a more granular approach to features and the user interface. If a user does not want to have things like free-cell, minesweeper, Windows Media Player, or even some major features like Gadgets, to be on their machine, they should be able to choose not to install them the first time the OS is loaded to the machine. Every user's needs is different - a fact demonstrated by the wide range of requests and comments received in response to the first blog entry. If a user knows what features they need, or want, to be using, the power to disable them would be of great benefit in the performance front. A leaner, meaner operating system install that caters to the specific needs of the user means that the experience of using the operating system will be as close to ideal as is wanted. I don't want to see Windows 7 as another pretty GUI. To me, an operating system is a tool; a gateway to using the applications installed on the computer in the most optimal way. It is the job of the operating system to cater to our wants and needs. A shiny GUI looks nice, but the novelty factor wears off - and goes even quicker if there is no substance behind the eye-candy. As a home user, I'll surf the internet, listen to music, dabble with some 3D Modeling, and play games on my computer. I do not want to have to buy a new machine, or even upgrade beyond the barest necessities, to cater to those functions. For me to want Windows 7, the operating system needs to facilitate these activities BETTER than Windows XP currently does. While Moore's law continues to commodify computing power, storage space, and memory density, I do not want to have to replace my computer, or upgrade my ram, to get the same experience I do with an older operating system from the point of view of performance. Around the year 2003, computing hit a wall that Microsoft as a commercial entity, needs to acknowledge; for the vast majority of users, computers are more than powerful enough for their needs. People will not always be able to afford a new computer to get access to that new and shiny operating system, and so the OS should not be designed and tweaked to get "just enough" performance out of the increasingly powerful hardware. I guess that's all I really have to say for now. I've RSSed this blog, and am definitely looking forwards to seeing future entries about the development of the operating system, and the direction it's taking. Good luck with the OS, because you guys need to get this one right on the money in the first shot. The alternatives are gaining quality every day.
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
kfunk and franklarson, I agree that this blog is a good idea; however, there was lots of openess with Longhorn/Vista too. Some have argued too much. I admire how Microsoft has integrated blogging, forums, and more recently its video channels (Channel9, etc) and so on into its culture. I don't think there's any other tech company that reaches out to its customers and the community as much. It's highly welcome and something as a developer and an enduser that I've benefited from a lot.
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
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Anonymous
August 18, 2008
I think that it is going to be great being able to follow along with the development of WIndows7 as closely as this. It reminds me of what Nintendo and Masahiro Sakurai did with Super Smash Bros. Brawl if anyone here knows what I am talking about. Thank you for doing this and I hope you listen some of the user comments.
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
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Anonymous
August 18, 2008
@brian6504@comcast.net You raise a super good point. There is both an organizatinal aspect and an architectural aspect to the discussion. In terms of architecture it is absolutely the case that you want to define the right boundaries and have separations that always make sense. The example used (indexer and user interface) actually provides a case study in the complexity of separating out the plumbing from the interface. In the case of indexing and result sets, it is one of those things that starts of very clean of course and then you quickly hit real world issues such as size of result sets. If you have thousands of music tracks or tens of thousands of photos/files it means you have to have an interface that handles cursors and result sets well. Then you have the real-world aspects of dealing with an extremely interactive desktop user interface rather than a web browser -- so the expectation is page down and scrolling are "instant" and we don't have the benefit of showing 10 results and clicking next and reloading. That doesn't mean there is no separation, but it talks about the architectural challenges. You can in fact see the indexer API we have today and it is cleanly separated. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa965362.aspx. From an organizatinal perspective, having the plumbing and interface together means we are designing for an end-to-end scenario for customers and not designing the perfect plumbing and the perfect UI that might not meet in the middle. This is really a statement about the product design and thinking about both the architecture and the experience an end-user would have. --Steven PS: This is really me :-)
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
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Anonymous
August 18, 2008
Great and interesting post. You should also explain the development cycle a little, where Windows 7 is at, and what kind of suggestions made now have a chance of being included in Windows 7. It's something that interests me quite a bit. Also, a lot of people are making suggestions that can never make it into Windows 7, even if it's the best idea in the world, because RTM is getting close to just one year out.
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
Exciting reading. I have created a wishlist together with members of several bulletin boards. Check it out at Jaxl.com. Thank you for this awesome blog :)
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
What does "including IE 8 down-level" mean?
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
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Anonymous
August 18, 2008
bazzlad: This is already done in Vista?
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
I wonder: will you decide what features should be added, where we provide feedback on how the feature should be implemented? Or do we have something to say on which features should be added as well?
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
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Anonymous
August 18, 2008
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Anonymous
August 18, 2008
I think I understand the benefits of your "end-to-end ownership of work" organization. But is there a team responsible of global cohesion ? Everybody knows Windows terribly lacks of UI/UX consistency. For developers, even recent APIs are often difficult to connect. Take your "Find and Organize" example ; Windows Search API is great, Linq is an amazing tool, Linq for Windows Search is... missing. FXCop, StyleCop are late but good initiative for .Net. "Windows Vista User Experience Guidelines" is a great document but should has been written BEFORE Vista was implemented to avoid such amusing but afflicting incoherence : http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa974173.aspx#guidelines (scroll down to "incorrect" image example of Glass section)! Windows 7 should impress us by its consistency, its fit and finish. Mac OSX is not the plateform of choice for me as a developer. But dropping controls in Interface Builder immediately build a rich interface which conforms to system and Apple apps look and feel. WPF is really an amazing technology but drop a control in Blend and you'll realize you have lot to do before your app looks like Office or maybe Expression or Vista... ?! As an independent developer, I want rules, standards to make my life easier, I want to be amazed by consistency and concern of details of my system to integrate my app in a global experience to improve my clients experience. Windows 7 should not be 25 well designed but different experiences. Mathias
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
My suggestion: Throw all the DRM stuff. It will be the best to boost performance
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
I'm always more exciting. Great Steven :D
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
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Anonymous
August 18, 2008
Just wondering, has the team structures always been this way, or have they changed for Windows 7??
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
I agree with Kosher, it would be very interesting to see more Windows software using .net technologies (which are amazing). For the moment, you (microsoft) are using them in professional products (Visual Studio/Sql Server/Accounting) but not much in personal ones (Windows Live/Media Player/Media Center are still in compiled code). Show the example to the developer community by using the .net technologies everywhere !
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
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Anonymous
August 18, 2008
@jchung2007 - "including IE8 down-level" means IE8 running on a previous version of Windows; Vista for example. It means that one team is responsible for all of IE8 - there aren't separate teams for "IE8 on Win7" and "IE8 on earlier Windows".
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
First off, I'm so glad that you guys are being a little more approachable. Microsoft as a whole has always seemed a little aloof from it's users, I'm hopeful that this will lead to a really great OS. Now I've got Vista, XP and loads of Linux and BSD OSs and I've tried them all (well the Linux and BSD stuff that'd work... or that I could get to work, I should say). What I concluded from the tests was that overall Windows is still the best. It's the only one that really works reliably in all arenas (Well unless you can code in which case Linux is probably better but then aren't you writing the OS to do what you want as you go?). Vista has some great improvements, I have plenty of RAM and find it vexing why I'm waiting whilst a ton of spare power is left unused, but it seems hampered by the amount of things it's trying to be ready for. To my mind the next Windows release should be capable of all the things that Vista can do, the thing I'd change is to make it so that it's not using up resources needlessly to try and be ready right now for everything. Make the install more replete with options to opt in and out of the various add ons. Also I'd like to see an improved version of Vista's resource throttling so that the OS can eat huge amounts of resources when needed but also shrink back to nothing when it's not doing anything. Anyhow I look forward to getting my hands on the new windows and making my mates howl as I once again break down my computer for a tinker :)
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
When I first read about Windows 7 in a computer magazine, the authors of the article were all about this new gadget, another new tool, one-click web publishing ect... And I said, oh dear, seems like Windows7 is going the same bad way as Vista. Vista has all kinds of features, 3D desktop and I don't know what else. But an operating system has ONE core function, and that is to operate the system. And this function Vista fulfills most unsattisfyingly. It is slow, and instable. Now I certainly do understand that I am not Microsoft's only customer, and that there are many people who want those tools. So here is my suggestion: I would love to see Windows7 being a pure operating system. That is, the only thing it does, should be: Manage the hardware, organize the files. That and nothing more. Nothing. no Paint, no Calculator, no windows messenger no internetexplorer, no mediacenter, no word pad, no one-click publishing, no adressbooks no 3D desktop, no windows zooming up from the taskbar (in terms of powerpoint animations: all windows should simply "appear" one second: no window, the other second: a window) no transperacy effects, no windows firewall, NOTHING. simply: run the hardware (that is configure networksettings, manage the totally encryptet harddrive (the one vista function I miss in XP)) and give me the most simple graphic user interface you can design to organize my files and my hardware. But this core function, the operating system has to fulfill FAST and STABLE. I want it to do nothing but that, but that I want it to do always, reliably and under whatsoever circumstances might come. If I want my computer to perform anything else but that, I can install some software designed specifically to do that one Job I want it to do. No as I said, I understand that many people do want these tools. So why not let the user choose during the installation of Windows what he wants to have installed and what not. And when I write not installed, I mean not even one single bit concernig this programm on the harddrive. Windows XP sure does allow you to "deactivate" Messenger, outlook express etc... but this does not mean that every BIT of the programm on the harddrive is erased. I want a computer with not one single bit that I don't need on the harddrive and with no single unnecessary process running. Or in Terms of the ToyotaProductionSystem: a LEAN Computer
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
Add: "and launch this software when I want the computer to the Job, and shut this software down again after it has done the Job" after: "If I want my computer to perform anything else but that, I can install some software designed specifically to do that one Job I want it to do."
Anonymous
August 18, 2008
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Anonymous
August 18, 2008
Is it Fully in Manage Code or not ?
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
I am loving the blog so far, it's a perfect amount of interaction with the community and comes directly from the source, hopefully it will clear up some mis-understandings. One thing I am tired of hearing when I read differnt blogs and such is the term (Win FS). I have heard so many different thoughts behind this term that no one really knows the correct answer. Please do an in dept post about Win FS and finally set the record straight about how much of it is included in Vista (if at all), explain exactly what it is and how it's different, exactly what the state of it is, what the future holds, and anything else important to clear up the air. I'd really like a post dedicated to it, so next time someone comments on Win FS on some blog or forum I can paste the link to the blog post by you, to say, "this is actually what Win FS is". Cheers
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
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Anonymous
August 19, 2008
If there is one thing that I really miss about Media Center and the Media Player is the support of codecs. I always need to install codec packs for viewing my videos. Several of my friends choose not to use media player/center and instead they download VLC Player. If you integrated the most common codecs in the Media Center/Player you will get more users. An integration of the codecs in the K-Lite Codec Pack would be a perfect choice! Snorre
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
Could you explain the interesting turn of events, Microsoft has confirmed that Windows Server 7 will be a minor release, which is rather confusing to me. The NOS will beer a similar name to the now on the market Windows Server 2008 only with a slight addition 'R2'. What was so hard in going with Windows Server 2009 or Windows Server 2010? The out of date naming scheme would to me reflect badly on the products marketing and significance to those interested in upgrading. I am confused to be honest with you, but as Microsoft continues to build this thing, it seems that there will be more confusing turns along the way. My understanding and I hope this is it, but it seems the features in Windows 7, client and server will reflect version 7 not the core part of the 'NT Kernel'. I want the next release of Windows to clearly reflect meaning to the end user, I just don't want it to be some release that is edging on almost sounding like a glorified Service Pack. A very informative post that goes into the intricacies of building Microsoft Windows, Steven has really given a good perspective on the people who are responsible for delivering the features and building the platform that both end users/developers can use to build products and be productive from. Steve pointed the irony of what so many people seem to despise about Windows its size, its too big, too big to manage, yet the amount of comments and request seem to reflect the growing need based on customer demand for more to be added to Windows. Relevant issues the Windows 7 Team have discussed based on what users are asking about is to make Windows even faster, and it is indeed a challenge, but I am glad to see it become a priority in this release.
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
Emanon - When Steven mentioned the indexer, he was talking about the Windows Search service, not the old "indexing service" that is an optional install for legacy compatibility. The Windows Search service already integrates very tightly with the filesystem and does not "waste CPU cycles." It mainly uses CPU and I/O time that would otherwise be wasted doing nothing. It also does not but "repeatedly scan and indexing everything on the disk" as you claimed. It only indexes files when they are added or changed. We've also shipped the Windows Search 4.0 update, which contains a great many improvements to the indexer. If you have problems with it, or feel it has a negative impact on your system performance, please post a comment on my blog or in the Windows Search support forum on MSDN. Brandon
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
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Anonymous
August 19, 2008
@bazzlad You sound like you are referring to an article that went around the internet about how nice and compact Mac OSX is because it contains no legacy code and what not. Paul Thurrott proved that article completely false and since Mac is based on UNIX, it is in fact older than the NT system. Plus, as he explained, what is the point of having a compact operating system with the abundance of large and cheap hard drives these days? Also, I love the fact that the folders no longer contain "My" this and that and are no longer all inside of the Documents folder. Music and videos are not documents, they are media and should be kept separate. That said, I think that there could be changes to the file structure made by incorporating WinFS. Finally I think that the registry should be removed altogether. It is a big weak point for Windows. Something similar to how Mac splits up the registries instead of having one central location would be nice.
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
Actually, you can make an Amadeus analogy here, but MS is not Mozart, they are Salieri, recognizing their own mediocrity and fuming while the young wunderkind (Apple) keep creating inspired and elegant works of pure genius :)
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
much of the problem as I see it is perceived delays in getting to our information. slow boot times are maddening. slow responses from explorer are equally maddening. why on each visit to the control panel do the icons not just appear. why do we have to search for what icons to display each time? surely this should be a fairly set area, so doesnt need to be checked off against a list each time? going to the explorer view is similar. each time is greeted with a check to see if the drives are the same! now since I spent money on a really fast pc this isnt as bad as on my laptop, but it could be so much better IMHO. My Macbook is of similar spec to my windows laptop, but the responsiveness is so much better. I coudl shut down the Macbook, add more memory and start it back up again in the time that windows was still shutting down! it's the same with SQL I notice, not that this is part of the 7 development, but if you want to import data it spends an age working out what formats you might want to be able to import, which in reality are largely going to remain the same throughout the life of the pc! I have great hopes for 7, as I did with Vista until I got on the beta program!
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
One question I'd like to see answered is "Why Windows 7"? What problem are you trying to solve? Is to fix Vista? Is it simply to have a new product on the market? I have to say that I'm distressed to see how large a team is working on the project, however. How can it help but be complicated with so many cooks?
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
Thanks for the posts. I think all of that makes sense. I do have a request though, and I read a similar one in the comments. Please bring back the ability to truly customize what gets installed as part of the OS. It seems like with every iteration there has been less customization. I remember with Windows 95 there was a compact mode (meant for portables) but there was also custom which allowed you a lot of freedom to choose. I think its good that there is a GPO for Vista disabling access to features (Movie Maker, etc) but as an admin I would love to not have it installed in the first place. Here's to 7! Although I am still enjoying Vista.
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
I just switched to Vista from a Mac, and while I'm really enjoying Vista, I'm very interested in seeing how 7 (and even 8) develops. A topic I'd be interested in is how you are managing user feedback from Vista and integrating it into the development process for 7.
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
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Anonymous
August 19, 2008
I am looking forward to seeing the File System. WinFS was showing promise and then it was just dumped into the abyss. I will be reading this blog a ton and look forward to a bunch of new FUNCTIONAL features in the new OS.
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August 19, 2008
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August 19, 2008
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August 19, 2008
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August 19, 2008
With so many different teams, wouldn't it make sense to have one that does nothing but explore integration between all of these areas and assure a seamless user experience (not just UI or interactivity, but even background things like sync, using the same data store/APIs, making sure the APIs are consistent, not reinventing the wheel, etc.)?
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
Excellent description of the workings of the development team. Thank you!! With dev and test and pm all representing the product it seems customers are under represented. How do you determine who wins when a schedule is to be met versus a bug to be removed? You mentioned that test represents customers, but they also represent their own test completion schedules. Is that not a conflict of interest? When the schedule gets tight, do you just quick fixing bugs?
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
Interesting to read about how such a large dev team is managed. I want to put in my vote for adding the "Custom" install option back in. Maybe not as low-level as some Linux installs, but at least broad Media Center/IE/WMP/Aero/Windows Mail choices. I would also love to see Explorer.exe truly be a separate part of the OS. If someone really wanted to make a new window manager, they should be able to. I can't stand Linux, but if I don't like Gnome I can switch over to KDE extremely easily. WinFS would be nice to see, but I don't know if users would react well to completely redoing how files are stored on the drive. The breadcrumb bar in Vista is a start though. Anyway, keep up the good work, Steve! I love Office 2007's UI changes.
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
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August 19, 2008
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Anonymous
August 19, 2008
Really a good start for this blog. Know how is difficult to build such a complex architecture can be very useful to receive good feedback from the field Please, don't care about page lenght....
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
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August 19, 2008
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Anonymous
August 19, 2008
As of the developer environement. I had a look at a program I found very useful to understand the inner workings of Windows UI: Microsoft ControlSpy. Unfortunately it is for XP and Vista is not mentioned. Is it safe to install it? I don't know. Programs like ControlSpy are very important because they create more transparency and avoid bad workaround coding. In my opinion Windows 7 should have a fully documented API and more programmes like Microsoft ControlSpy provided for developers.
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
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August 19, 2008
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August 19, 2008
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August 19, 2008
Ohh yeah, and get rid of the registry already, its poop. Let programs use their own path to store all they need, and for all the config settings in the registry just have a file for those, that is easily edited, through a program more user friendly than the registry editor.
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
GUI wise... I think Windows could take a leaf out of the book of the iPhone and Linpus Linux on the Acer Aspire One mini-note. Tiled shortcuts to launch applications, nice and simple but still nice looking. I also understand that this is not totally up to Microsoft - but more collaboration with developers during the BETA process so there are plenty of compatible applications for the OS once it gets released, or at least updates for existing applications. eg. I had to wait more than 6 months AFTER Vista was released for a compatible version of the software to be released, their excuse was it was in BETA before that and they couldn't develop software for it, which was complete bull.
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
Awesome post guys! I can't wait to see what you have lined up for us with the newest version of Windows. It's nice to see that you want to get in touch with the community!
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
Hey everything sounds good... But what abt the requirements for this?? Will it be same as Vista or are the reqs are gonna increase?? And hope that microsoft beats the other OS's in graphics this time...
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
Which one of those will work on the Start Menu????? I hope to see an XP styled Start Menu in Windows 7 And which team is going to work on the picture viewer???? I really hope they bring back the ability to play animated Gif's from Windows XP, and the great printing options from XP's picture viewer wouldn't be a bad addition I must say. Looking forward to Windows 7, PimpUigi
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
My sincere ideas contribute to the MSN developers. Windows 7 Developers should not be segmentized during the Windows 7 Software Development. I would appreciate if the Windows Development Team should be more task specified in term of the Windows 7 software development. These are my ideas to contribute to the MS developers for their future development of the Windows 7. 1.Windows 7 Gamer Edition. (Direct X SDK is preinstalled, with the update version of MS visual studio support, easy for the gamer to developing their own drivers for playing games. Easily game driver update... etc.. 2.Windows 7 Cinema Edition. (Enhance movies playback in the desktop, support the video hardware acceleration for quality visual display rather than what performance required for the gamer edition. In other other words, Windows 7 Cinema Edition including the tweaked driver for display quality, rather than solely depend on performance, this is for home- office video playback system. The SE (special edition) of Cinema Edition shall including viewing the internet TV and radio with ease.. with the support from the MS, of course in term of licensing it will be more expensive. 3.Windows 7 Desktop Edition (for most desktop user) This including the 3D desktop enhancement. Ease Document saving and file sharing, etc.. 4.Windows 7 Laptop Edition (for most laptop user) Same with laptop edition, but it is bundled with drivers that support for most of the current laptop, as well as the native driver for old outdated laptop with simple memory upgrade, however, the native driver is without any guarantee of 100% working. In case of failure, MS might accept 1 to 1 exchange on Windows XP professional CD with the latest service pack. 5.Windows 7 Lite Edition, like the windows vista SP2. (without the most updated windows 3D desktop enhancement, that planning to attack on lost cost PC) to prevent user moving into linux. These might also lead for the third party software developers to develop the Windows 3D enhancement interface from the license from the MS. From: Peter Chua (Malaysia)
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
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Anonymous
August 19, 2008
I've seen a lot of comments about componentizing the OS. I remember seeing a bit about MinWin last year or so. Is this related to Windows 7 at all? If so, I'm sure we'd all like to see an article on that. @Cartman05 I think there are a few reasons many of us prefer a compact operating system. A lot us still have pretty old machines around without big drives and would still like to run modern operating systems. Apple did pretty well supporting legacy hardware through Tiger, getting faster with each release on the same hardware. Anyway, the other reason is size contributes to perceived performance. If the install is huge I'm going to assume there's code bloat and it's going to be slow. If I assume that I'm going to see that. If it's a small install, I'm going to assume it's lean and mean and it's going to feel faster to me. The rest kind of echos thoughts by kozlow. @Steven Thanks for your response. I apologize for forgetting about the trade offs; it is hard to appreciate the scale of Windows. After looking though the API (thanks for the link!) and considering different scenarios it does speak well to your approach. However, the obvious downside is the UI inconsistency. I hope in the next few iterations you augment this approach to ensure the UI is coherent throughout the entire product. I think that is one of Apple's few credible claims, but that's important since users exclusively deal with the UI. @Brandon It has been my experience that while an individual feature works well individually, I have a hard time translating my experience from one to another. Almost everyone I've seen also has the same experience. My primary question now is what can be done about this? Office 2008 made a good attempt at reworking the UI. It's not as deep as maybe it could be (i.e. there's still a lot of the old modal dialogs that have been around forever without change) and could still use some revising but break from the traditional, I believe, increases usability.
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
For the love of all that is good and holy, would you please please please update the DOS terminal to include dynamic window resizing like every other window, and standard copy-paste functionality. I realize that both of these can be done, but not without resorting to drop down menus or text boxes. I feel like I'm back in 1995 when I use the terminal, and not just because its lack of window features, but also because of its appearance. The scroll bar doesn't use the Vista-theme, and it throws off the consistency of the look and feel of the OS. Oh, and keyword-highlighting and transparency would be great too. Thanks!
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
All i want is a fast and stable OS to work on. I don't care about translucent anything, all i want is stability and speed. Hmmm, and i agree with greatgrahambini, a resizable terminal window would be amazing, as would copy and paste functionality. As long as it's fast.
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
@aristus "I am curious about how new features get proposed and kicked around. How often does a developer put something in on their own time?" That's an interesting question. Answering it completely would require explaining the whole planning and design process. I’m sure Steven’s going to talk about that topic on this blog, so I’ll limit myself to smaller changes that are largely outside of the official design process. I should also point out that there’s no one answer to the question. Each team has their own dynamic. I’m only going to talk about how it works on my team, Core User Experience. There are countless small changes that developers drive independent of the regular design process. On one end of the spectrum are small changes that a developer will make to a feature that he owns. The CTRL-SHIFT-ENTER keyboard shortcut to run a start menu search result elevated in Windows Vista is a good example of this type of change. The previous start menu owner decided to do that after a hallway conversation with another developer about how to make it easy to run things elevated without using the mouse. He didn’t need to get sign off from the rest of the team. He just coded it up. Had someone look at his change and checked it in. Then there are changes to the plan that require larger consensus. Sometimes at the start of the project everyone signs off on a particular implementation only to find that when it’s coded up and checked in it just doesn’t feel right. In these cases the dev sometimes plays around with the feature and reworks it on the fly. A coworker just called me into his office the other day to show me one of these changes. He’d decided that the way users accessed his feature didn’t feel quite right to him. He spent an evening implementing a second option. Then he showed it to everyone who he could drag into his office. These kinds of changes are different from the first category in that more people have to sign off on the change before it goes in. Finally the hardest changes to get in are changes to a feature you don’t own or work on. Last week I was playing around with a new feature that’s owned by another team. I didn’t like a particular aspect of how it worked so I went in and created a modified version that I thought would be an improvement. Here like the second category I can’t just check this in. I showed everyone who would look, I listed the problems with the old design that led me to spend time changing it, and I wrote up an argument for why the change was an improvement. Right now I’m trying to sell the change to the people who own the feature. They’re the ones who get the final say on whether or not it goes in. So that’s a long way to say yes to the original question. You can’t just say “here’s how things are.” It takes consensus building and other soft skills to get your ideas into Windows. But as a developer you’ve got a big advantage over the other disciplines. Whereas someone else can dream up a feature and mock up screenshots and describe how they want it to behave, if a developers passionate about something he can prototype work and really show people what he’s talking about.
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
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Anonymous
August 19, 2008
Where are the testers? Surely there should be a testing team.
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
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Anonymous
August 19, 2008
What about the team that removes features in every release? :P (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Features_removed_from_Windows_Vista) Jokes apart, Microsoft, please make Windows 7 fast and responsive, optimize Vista's code, add back some much loved features (not everything in that list needs to be added back), make 64-bit a commitment, don't end up with a UI like Vista and have compeitive feature parity with Apple's OS. I would be delighted to see equivalents to Automator, Keychain, Quartz Composer, iChat, GarageBand etc. And of course better support for pro audio is long overdue. I'm scared after reading some of the comments and will be even more scared if MS starts listening to each one of them. Some of them seem to have absolutely no knowledge of NT's architecture/internals after so many years of usage and some are requesting features which are well-implemented in Windows Vista.
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
Please improve the desktop publishing (DTP) support by including a more robust text engine such as http://www.hopelessgeek.com/2003/10/24/panthers-major-text-services-upgrade.
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
every time i install windows i install Winrar, copy handler and Avafind. this 3 tools are far better that what Windows gives us. hope Windows 7 can match all the above. Good luck steven
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
I am curious about how new features get proposed and kicked around. How often does a developer put something in on their own time?
Anonymous
August 19, 2008
Hey! Big thanks for this blog, allowing users to put there two cents(and more) in. I have request for the DirectX technologies, PLEASE Un-depricate the main DirectX api's: DirectDraw, DirectInput, DirectSound, etc. Bring these all into the 9.0c version, 10.0 if your feeling generous. DirectDraw? YES!, ask hardware venders to fill in missing features that have gone undone for so long. Suggestions: rotation's in one degree increments, ROP effects that actually work, hardware pixel perfect collision detection. Thanks for your time! Matt C.
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August 19, 2008
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August 19, 2008
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Anonymous
August 19, 2008
The Movie Maker is a joke. I am an amateur movie producer and Movie Maker is one of the worst edit tools there is. iMovie far much better and I hope in Windows 7. There will be a Movie Maker 4 that is worth using. The new Movie Maker should be easy to use, but have some advanced functions like: Chroma Key, Unlimited Tracks and support for many codecs (import and export). Snorre
Anonymous
August 20, 2008
Some quick general blogging suggestions if i may:

Include some simple images/diagrams to better illustrate some lengthy text points.
A few titles and sections to long posts would help readability.
Great work so far, hope to see some dev/code/software architecture related posts soon!

Anonymous
August 20, 2008
I'm using ubuntu at work and use Windows at home only because of some drivers problem with linux. Will Windows 7 be open sourced? This doesn't mean free! If I've a bug and I'm able to fix it or I want a feature not implemented what can I do without sources? It could also speed up development/improvement and understanding of the operating system.
Anonymous
August 20, 2008
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Anonymous
August 20, 2008
a few of suggestions for windows 7:

small small small! make it fly on a netbook. cut the deadwood and unnecessary features. 80% of vista is just plain bloat
do things for the users, not the big corporations. we all loathe drm, so just get rid of it. bring windows back to the people and they will love you for it
don't make the 'idiot mode' the default; stop pandering to the lowest common denominator. do i really need a pop-up telling me my ethernet is running at 1gbit? of course not!

Anonymous
August 20, 2008
Great blog Steven, excellent information, and a great insight into the development of Windows 7. I'll resist pointing out the errors, misinformation, inaccuracies, subjective views, and self absorbed statements made by some "commenters". I want to read about the engineering and development of W7, not pages of %$£&!. Thankfully I've been on the "Windows Early Feedback Program" through the MS Connect site for nearly a year now. Naturally/hopefully MS will have an extensive beta program for W7 like it did with Vista; I look forward to being invited! As one of the many official Vista beta testers on the program since early/mid 2005, I know that all of us made a positive difference to Vista. (like some of you could have, as it was a public beta for the last 5 months before release!) Question... how much validity do peoples comments here have compared to the "Feedback Program"? And any idea when the Windows 7 beta program may start?
Anonymous
August 20, 2008
Great blog. Looking forward for more posts. How about just ONE version for windows? Why should we have starter, basic, home, ultimate, business, enterprise... it's ridiculous... ONE VERSION... Or maybe 2 one 32 and one 64. That's it. Also don't add "Ultimate Extras" if you are not going to release any.
Anonymous
August 20, 2008
I don't thing the size of the team is necessarily a problem, but I would be concerned about leadership. Not to impugn your abilities, but to wonder aloud about how such a big team/enterprise can have a clear vision. Vista did seem a lot like the product of a committee, improved in almost every single detail over XP, yet somehow no better - arguably worse! - when taken as a whole. It disappointed us. Not because it failed to deliver the exciting bits that you promised and then withdrew, but because it failed to fix the one thing that we most wanted fixing in XP. I want Windows 7 to have a vision, and I want that vision to be one word long: Security.
Anonymous
August 20, 2008
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August 20, 2008
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August 20, 2008
@melandir I totally agree that there needs to be an advanced user during installation. Personally, I always wait until someone with similar interests has taken the time to remove all the bloat. Why not encourage this? For instance; what if people could distribute a file that you could import into a Microsoft app and create your own install cd? This could even be a way to incorporate different packages (ultimate, enterprise, etc.) Finally, XP has a large customization scene. Why not outsource the GUI to open source (maybe not the default one). Many XP users hacked uxtheme.dll and implemented their own visual styles. Why not follow android's model and offer a competition with a cash prize?
Anonymous
August 20, 2008
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August 20, 2008
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August 20, 2008
I would like to see something about Assistive Technology changes, that is if there is a team working on new or inproving AT over the Vista's OS. David Peaslee IT/AT User Support Lane Community College 4000 E 30th Ave Eugene, OR 97405
Anonymous
August 20, 2008
Pls dont forget the music/multimedia producers this time and stop to bloat and slow down windows with useless visual extras like sidebars and overwhelming security options etc ... or more ppl will go MAC OSX :) in hope of a perfect windows 7 jm
Anonymous
August 20, 2008
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Anonymous
August 20, 2008
I know this isnt actually a request for Windows 7 but also for Windows Mobile 7. Please, continue what you began with Vista´s MobileDecice-Center. Maybe include backup-features or a picture-viewer for photos sored on the device. Another thing is SideShow (or nowa sensors?) support, I already noticed that Microsoft is working on that. The community is really really waiting for something like this in general - using the computer without the computer turned on fully. SideShow is a step into the right direction, but look at Linux: Mini-OSes that are integrated into the BIOS - THATS useful. Besides I´m hoping for the same things as the rest of the world: Speed and more options to personalize Windows.
Anonymous
August 20, 2008
Steven and Jon, I've seen several people mention the .NET platform and along these lines, I wonder if you could at some point talk about the Windows API as you see it now (Windows 7) and where you see it going. As a developer I've pretty much set aside my 20+ years of C/C++ development on Windows/etc and migrated to C#/XAML. It's not my first choice, but it's where I see the most recent work being done, so I've migrated that direction. Now I realize that the .NET platform isn't the Windows API, but effectively it's like it becomes one. Reading the comments here, shows that. The layers of API models within Windows is getting to be a bit much and with C# having some unfortunate flaws I wonder how you see all this fitting together? Or are we on an evolutionary path where we'll just have to see how it works out? And as an aside, with much of the external development focus on C# I can only imagine this must be impacting the size of the talent pool for those you might need for developing on future Windows proper.
Anonymous
August 20, 2008
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August 20, 2008
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August 20, 2008
First of all, i want to thank you for listening to us. I really believe that Windows 7 will be a very good OS. Some things that could be improved in Windows 7:

The network center was a big improvement, but some things could be better. It would be a good thing if we could manage IP-configurations for different networks.
If ICS is enabled, the networking adapter's IP is set to 192.168.0.1 and DHCP is turned on, but the network can't be identyfied. Why? I would prefer to choose for myself whether or not DHCP is active and I want to choose the IP.
Tabs could be used in the Windows Explorer, maybe with the possibility to display several tabs in the same eplorer window.
Tools like Notepad and Paint need improvements in functionality.
The UAC really needs improvements. A good thing would be to make it configurable, maybe with different user styles. I don't want to say that it is useless, because it isn't. But for an experienced user, it is kind of annoying. I am sure that you do everything you can to create this OS. Best wishes and greetings from Austria.

Anonymous
August 20, 2008
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Anonymous
August 20, 2008
I'm waiting impatiently for WinFS (or sometning like this) in Windows 7 - the storage size is going into terabytes now and it is essential to have the right tools to manage files, to find files etc.
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August 20, 2008
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August 20, 2008
As previously mentioned in another comment, it would be great to enable supporting older games. I shifted to Vista Ultimate on my home machines (business computers still running XP for compatability reasons) and had some recently purchased Lucas Arts games that would not run. I have now shifted back to XP for most of my entertainment purposes. Hopefully Win7 will not have the same problems.
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August 20, 2008
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August 20, 2008
I know that at least multi-touch and VT (virtualization) will be in Windows 7. I'm hoping that MS will focus on having 64bit only version.

A simple and quick navigation of desktop menu's and applications would be a huge plus.
Able to use right click menu to easily uninstall any program on desktop. Upon uninstall, prompt password would be needed with accept and deny boxes.

Anonymous
August 20, 2008
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Anonymous
August 20, 2008
Thanks for the introductory post. Very informative and although it was long I guess you couldn't have made it any shorter (or longer) :-) I'm looking forward to the new version but I'd like to know:

What are the primary goals of the new OS? I'm hoping for these to be included:

Speed
Lower footprint (file and memory)
More manageable (so easier configuration for end users and also for the more technically inclined, so a big configuration screen like the Active Directory Privileged for normal configuration.
Better structured APIs. The .NET Framework is fantastic but I would've like to see a similar cleanup/restructure of the Windows API.

What happens once the entire feature set has been implemented? Does a new team get created for the final UI integration work and then for bug fixes?
Are you building on top of Vista or is the original goal of a complete re-write still there somewhere?
Is it likely that you'll end up with a single kernel that is used all the way from Windows Server down to Windows Mobile? Thanks again for the blog. I'm sure it's going to give us a better insight into the development process and hopefully give you a better understanding of what your users really want!

Anonymous
August 20, 2008
My customer wish no. 1 is independence. Since XP there is an alarming tendency to DRM. You should stop making your OS a gilded cage with a cable connection at home which dictates costumors what to do and what not. This is the only reason why linux is so successful and why people like me still stay at my Windows XP, even if we have to do it for a decade. A positive feature of Windows Vista which is definitively worth continuing is your HDD encryption.
Anonymous
August 21, 2008
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August 21, 2008
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August 21, 2008
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August 21, 2008
Continued--- OPTIONS: I know I was pretty much just talking about that but, options in general. The more options asked combined with logic, the less work for the user and the more it will make windows work how he wants it. Let's have a more 'universal' windows rather than what microsoft predefines it to be. Options to control which options are going to be shown if it gets too much. Whenever there's an option you can add for something that is only going to be effected by the extra logic of adding the extra option one time (thus only effecting app startup time not system performance), chuck an option in there so you don't annoy 50% of the people with the options you guys end up going with. UI: Run command, and shutdown button on start menu by default. Add Videos along with Music/Pictures on there too. Network connections takes too long to get to and that's what i mainly use network-wise. Add 'lock desktop icon positions' so they're locked to that res (for installing drivers etc.)
Anonymous
August 21, 2008
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Anonymous
August 21, 2008
wow sorry that was a bit rushed. a few words out of place when i was copy&pasting. and by 'real blanking' i meant turn the monitor off because just having the black image ghosts my lcd overnight.
Anonymous
August 21, 2008

re: The Windows 7 Team

Where are the testers? Surely there should be a testing team. Wednesday, August 20, 2008 12:49 AM by Poi YOU are the tester! :-) Why not a wiki? PS Office 2007 has a terrible NEW interface! Is there a way to get the previous interface back?

Anonymous
August 21, 2008
Steven, your surname sounds polish, I wonder if you have polish ancestors. Best regards from Poland
Anonymous
August 21, 2008
I noticed on the internet that 1/3 of those who buy a computer with Vista, downgrades to XP. This is an indication that W7 needs to be out no later than 4Q 2009, before the holidays. I would advise more teams to get the product PERFECT, without the need of SPs and out sooner. MS has the resources. This may be the only way to change your image - Beef up R&D and not hire Sienfield as your spokes person.
Anonymous
August 22, 2008
The upgrade path to Vista is for the MME/MMS Microsoft MultiMedia System broken! Please provide the exact SAME functionality as given with Windows XP! With Vista all developers have to migrate using the new WASAPI interface what requires a rewrite of all audio applications! For DAW DigitalAudioWorkstations a default applied dithering using Vista MME/MMS is not exceptable!
Anonymous
August 22, 2008
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Anonymous
August 22, 2008
As many have said that you for opening up to the public the inner workings of how MS works on OS's. An important part of an operating system is the hardware the system is working on, how is MS pushing hardware manufactures and vendors to develop and expand on the availability of hardware that supports muti-touch on both Desktops and laptops and portables? I would be nice to see an on screen keyboard for multi-touch that is transparent to translucent which overlays over the screen allowing users to type directly on the screen. I would also like to see 3rd party software vendors supply updates through windows updates in addition to hardware drivers through Windows Update. Please bring back the option to switch back to the expanding style menu's from XP, not knowing what programs are available it makes it hard to search for the one you want, and you shouldn't have to click open the folders.
Anonymous
August 23, 2008
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Anonymous
August 23, 2008
> Notepad needs improvement. As the default text editor, it should at least be able to cope with unix end lines. A non-issue. Just install Notepad2 (freeware) or Textpad (cheap shareware). This what I like about Microsoft very much, they don't destroy the market for third party applications. Yet "rar" support would be a feature very much needed. My girl friend had r00, r01 etc. files and was totally surprised when I suggested her to install WinRar. How could she know?
Anonymous
August 23, 2008
To all the folks requesting a modular OS with backwards-compatibility brought in through some emulation layer, and also to those commenting on Windows being at the end of its usefulness and asking for a rewrite: Sorry folks, but my guess is that Windows7 is not that operating system. If Windows7 Server is going to be Windows Server 2008 R2, that should give us an indication of how much difference there will be architecturally. And I just don't see MS releasing radically different client and server operating systems, so Windows7's client OS is looking pretty much like Vista R2. But Microsoft isn't stupid. Any product comes to the end of its useful life at some point and needs to be overhauled, and they know that Windows is not immune...could you see us still working on a DOS-based system today? Anyway, Microsoft is thinking ahead, but are (wisely) keeping expectations limited at this point. The keyword here is MIDORI. To be honest, I'm actually pretty surprised that nobody has mentioned it yet. Do some searches (I'll get you started: http://www.google.ca/search?q=microsoft+midori); it's worth a look.
Anonymous
August 24, 2008
This blog has been created to share useful information. Thanks and greetings!
Anonymous
August 24, 2008
This blog is an awesome idea. There's always going to be an Anything-But-Microsoft / Slashdot element to these things, especially when they start up. "Puppet of the marketers, etc." But those folks will lose interest soon enough, then the real dialog with real customers can continue. This level of openness between MS execs and real customers is great to see. I think the discussion will benefit everyone, and provide those both inside and outside the company with perspectives they might not have otherwise considered. I look forward to reading more of this open discussion with real customers.
Anonymous
August 25, 2008

re: The Windows 7 Team

>> Notepad needs improvement. As the default text editor, it should at least be able to cope with unix end lines. >A non-issue. Just install Notepad2 (freeware) or Textpad (cheap shareware). I don't have that kind of power over my IT organization. I need this to just work in the base install of the system, or it does me no good.

Anonymous
August 25, 2008
Hi. I know everyone loves to complain about Vista, but really, its a great OS, and compared to the MAC os(s) compatibility is laughable. I was disapointed with all that was left out of Vista, i think that with Windows 7 - not being out for a while, the devolopers should try and aim to cram as much content in, i would not, nor do i know anyone who would, care if the OS completed size went over 20GB. hard drives are so cheap these days, and with the rapid acceptance of SSDs, speed of access is not going to be a problem, i do admit that the Windows team should always strive to achieve the most efficient OS, but i'm running an AMD 64bit processor, with only 2GB of RAM and my system gets up and ready to go in only 20 seconds, or less. So perhaps if windows 7 allowed a customizable installation - like openSUSE (or other Linux distros) then users could choose what they wished to install, which could decrease load times and overall OS speed. What im trying to say is, dont aim for the lowest denominator, maybe make a PC and a Laptop (and also maybe a Netbook, PDA, SmartPhone) version, but keep the innovation and ammount of software that comes with a Windows OS, and extend it! thanks, chris
Anonymous
August 31, 2008
It would be good to apply some quality target standards across the OS teams - e.g. so that all content-containing dialogs are resizable, and that all settings dialogs include an import/export option to manage the same settings via .REG Also, get back to the "big picture" stuff, i.e. collect all the loose settings and so on into templates that fit the overall sense of what the user is trying to do - in keeping with the "abstract details to users' understanding of tasks" concept. For example; let's say I want everything to get out of the way because I'm playing a game. That shouldn't require visits to multiple UIs to shut down background stuff etc.; I should be able to select "games mode", and perhaps collect my own settings into my own defined modes. Similarly, if I'm chasing down malware, I want the UI to show me everything and lie about nothing; shut down 3rd-party integrations, show all files, stop groping content ahead of my intent, don't let files define their own icons, impose strong file type discipline, etc. One of Vista's best features is the Reliability monitor - which may just be a matter of better exposing what was buried in the Event Viewer, in ways more relevant to what one is trying to do. I'm sure we could get similar usability improvements by collecting what already exists in the feature set, and also applying a consistent UI across features so that finding, setting, saving and restoring settings would be more intuitive than it is at present.
Anonymous
September 30, 2008
not sure if this has been requested or even if my post is in the right part of this blog but i'd like to see file explorer returned to the original format of two panes one for source and the other for destination
Anonymous
November 27, 2008
I run a 2core Duo, 2gig ram and PentiumM with 2gig ram, both 2.3Mhz, I had vista for 1yr and recently put xp back on both and omg the thing just purred, please please make Win 7 as smooth as XP, no 1000 processes running sure candy is nice but at what expense?? i cannot afford to keep buying hardware, perhaps make Aero all that optional.
Anonymous
December 29, 2008
I have been beta testing windows 7 and so far, I am extremely impressed. However, will their be an option to mount images as virtual drives? All current software is incompatible and I can't find anyone to help me with this one. I like to make images and use them instead of having to keep using the volatile cd/dvd format.
Anonymous
August 15, 2009
The comment has been removed
Anonymous
April 21, 2010
http://www.sevenforums.com/general-discussion/79677-pinned-icons-missing-after-upgrade-windows-7-a.html#post697375
Anonymous
April 28, 2010
hi! i would just like to ask your help in activating my windows 7 ultimate. i upgraded by to windows 7 ultimate from windows 7 starter. but later, i was asked to provide the product key. i think i am now in the grace period before my windows 7 ultimate will be shut down. my windows 7 ultimate product id is: 00426-OEM-8992662-00497. i hope u can provide me with the product key. my email address: hotloverboy6932@yahoo.com thank you very much
Anonymous
June 08, 2010
A larger bar for precise volume control is needed. Thank you.
Anonymous
October 06, 2014
The comment has been removed

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The Windows 7 Team

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