Incremental Blogger

Rob Bushway has finally had it with the digitizer issues in the Dell Latitude XT Tablet PC. As I’ve blogged in the past, I’m frustrated by the false triggers, dead spots, erratic behavior of the digitzer too. It’s a pain if you use the Tablet features a lot.

Ideally it would be nice if Dell took the initiative here and recalled the product, offered refunds, or publicly stated that they will offer heavly discounted prices off of any updated Latitude Tablet PCs should there be one.

But all this goes beyond Dell. I’m very concerned about what might happen with the pending launch of Windows 7 betas. Here’s the problem: The Latitude Tablet PC is a rarity these days because it potentially can support multi-touch, which is a new, showcase feature of Windows 7. That’s great for Dell. The Latitude may be one of the main devices that people try Windows 7 out on for the new multi-touch features. However, if the digitizer fares no better under Windows 7 than it does now, this could be a bad beginning for Windows’ multi-touch.

In fact, the potential downside is so significant here, I’d suggest to Microsoft that if Windows 7’s multi-touch experience is poor on the Dell and there’s not any other consumer-available (and compelling) hardware that supports multi-touch, that Microsoft should pull multi-touch for now. There’s absolutely no reason to start out on the wrong foot–particularly in light of how familiar people are with multi-touch on the iPhone. If you can’t get close to this, the time is not right. Just wait a couple months for other hardware to catch up.

Digitimes is reporting that HP and ASUS are going to be releasing touch and multi-touch enabled notebooks in 2009. Mike Elgan of ComputerWorld thinks that this means we might see something as exotic as a dual screen multi-touch device in 2009. All this talk of multi-touch makes sense considering that Microsoft is set to publicly reveal the multi-touch-enabled Windows 7 for the first time at this month’s PDC event.

I’m still a bit skeptical where this is going though (in the short term)–even with my strong enthusiasm for Tablet and touch technologies. I guess we’ll find out part of the answer to this at PDC when a build of Windows 7 will be made available. How far will multi-touch be supported in Windows 7? Are we talking about extended mouse events that support multiple users? New gestures? Or might we be talking about new eventing that only apps written in let’s say the .NET platform might be able to take advantage of? And what about Microsoft’s apps, such as IE and Office? Any multi-touch support? Further, as of yet, we have no idea where the bigger picture is here. Microsoft has provided zippo leadership to the broader ISV community as of yet when it comes to multi-touch. Nada. For something like multi-touch that could be so interesting, I’m suprised Microsoft is playing it so quiet. It makes you wonder how committed Microsoft is to this user-interface approach. Are we talking of something that’s as innovative as the iPhone? Or something Surface inspired? Or might this be a “let’s get our feet wet in multi-touch and see how it goes” kind of feature?

The most important thing will be its utility, but even with that Microsoft’s success here depend on how much commitment it demonstrates to this model of interaction. Without leadership, or tepid leadership, the OEMs will muddle along, the ISVs will baulk, and the door will be left open for competitors to show how it’s done. Maybe I’m having an off day, but with the resounding silence I hear from Microsoft up to this point, the more I’m concerned I hear history repeating itself. Fingers crossed that my anxiety is poorly placed.

Longtime Windows developer, Larry Osterman, blogs about his impressions of working on Windows 7 versus Vista. His main point: Due to better processes the primary build is much more stable, more predictable, and manageable to work with. Sounds like Microsoft has done a good job of keeping the dynamics of developing a significant programming project in check. That’s a good thing for the dev team and forthcoming Windows 7 users. I expect we’ll see a quite impressive Windows 7 CTP at PDC this month because of it.

But for me, it points out something that I don’t talk about very much: At least for me, working in a large team like this, on a product that’s in large part in maintenance mode (yes, it is), doesn’t appeal to me. Yeah, I could write a gadget for a widget that attaches to a button on a dialog that’s burried in a manager accessible through the control panel, but eh, frankly it doesn’t interest me. I know I can do so much more. I’d rather do so much more.

I love the challenge of huge projects, but I’m very much a smaller team is better minded thinker and that’s not the way most well-established products, like Windows, get managed. It makes complete sense the way it is. It’s just not for me. It’s fascinating to read about what the Windows team is up to though.

Ed Bott tries to put to rest the speculation that a re-write of Windows is eminent.

While I agree with Ed that it’s unlikely that we’ll see a new flavor of Windows any time soon, I think he’s missing something here. Something big. What is it? Those little phones.

Here’s the thing: With the transition to portable computers and Intel and everyone else unable to deliver faster and faster processors that are power-user notebook friendly we’re on track for a cross over point with dedicated devices. So for any new OS, I’d say don’t look to your desktop. Look towards your phone. That’s where the big innovation change is most likely to occur. The desktop/server IT world can stick with Windows the way it is. Everyone else will move on.

If you look out five years I don’t see Microsoft changing Windows that much. Maybe we’ll see better connectivity across connectivity types. Maybe we’ll see more integration with communication services. But by and large, for the IT world, I don’t expect we’ll see much change.

Now looking at the phone I see something different. Here’s where I wouldn’t be surprised to see a new OS pop up out of the blue. Not only would it be a much smaller task, it’s already a more dynamic market, and it’s ripe for innovation.

For the high-end desktop/server/virtualization market, I think there will be plenty of processor power for more of the same. Could a better tuned OS come to the rescue? Sure, but most people won’t even be paying attention to it if it were to ever come out. They’ll be too busy using other devices.

So, if you ask me don’t watch the high-end over the next five years. Watch the low end. Watch the low-cost PCs. Watch the phones. Watch the dedicated devices. That’s where the processor innovation sweet spot is now. That’s where the OS innovation sweet spot is most likely to come. The OS lags the hardware. Always has. Always will.

Yes, some day the numbers of “desktop” PCs is going to get dwarfed by these other devices and their OSes and we’ll ask ourselves why we were so hung up on Microsoft re-writing Windows–because the future OSes will be evolving in front of our eyes all along. They’ll just be coming from the non-desktops.

So when might we realize all of this? Hmmm. What do we have now? One billion Windowsish PCs out there now? That market took about 20 years to grow. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the device world “replace” it in half that time. Working backwards, I wouldn’t be surprised that all of this becomes obvious in five years or so. With Windows 7 slated for around 2010 and another three years for the Windows version after that in 2013…that means by the time that follow-up version of Windows hits the market, I’d expect that we’ll begin to really see how the OS isn’t what it used to be. Heck, with the web and all you can say that now–though rightly so I think you can argue that the web is too desktop oriented too :-).

Watch out. There’s more change to come. That’s for sure.

In a post today on another topic, Ed Bott makes the claim, “Intel’s decision makers no doubt have a pretty good idea what’s in Windows 7 and when it’s likely to be released. Their decision to skip Vista tells me that the next version of Windows is further along than most outsiders think.”

A couple of things here.

First, my gutt tells me Ed is probably right though it makes me bummed. I’m a long-time Windows developer and I know very little about Windows 7 outside of that in some form there’s going to be multi-touch support–but exactly how it’s going to be implemented I have no idea. The result? I can’t plan nor write anything for it. All I can do is watch the hardware and guesstimate that Microsoft is going to provide a standardized way to interact with the hardware that’s bubbling up in the marketplace. (Heck, even Google has a multi-touch API now.) This concerns me a little–especially as I see Apple and the web chomp away at Microsoft’s innovation mindshare–but I know I can keep on moving on whatever Microsoft does. They’re way too big for me to worry about too much, if you know what I mean.

Second, it’s already public as to when the next version of Windows will be available–sometime in late 2009 or 2010. Nothing else has been said about 7 although we now know that Windows 7 will be at least discussed at PDC.

Third, Microsoft has stated that it’s talking with some partners about Windows 7 of which Intel is probably on that list since it works with hardware vendors. So Ed Bott might be correct in that Intel knows quite a bit about 7 and that outsiders are in the dark.

And finally, it’s clear to me that Microsoft’s don’t talk strategy with Windows 7 is more about not talking with the end user and developer community than anyone else. This will probably change–at least a little–when the first beta comes out–though wouldn’t it be Saturday Night Live funny if Microsoft never talked about Windows 7? Heh.

Mary Jo Foley speculates on some Windows 7 features.

As a developer it sure would be nice to know if there’s a new set of capabilities forthcoming in Windows 7.

I continue not to be a fan of Microsoft’s Don’t promise, Don’t tell policy–an unfortunate overreaction to the wrong lesson learned from Vista. But what do I know. I’ve never been in their shoes. So I’ll just step over here to the corner and sit quietly….well, maybe I’ll groan every now and then….but I’ll try to be quiet.

Since Microsoft announced multi-touch support in Windows 7 the other day, quite a few people have been posting online and mentioning to me offline that they think Microsoft should not be adding features like this to Windows, but should rather be focusing all of their attention on stability and performance within the OS.

While I agree that Microsoft needs to keep improving in these areas, I also think it would be a mistake for Microsoft to hold back. However…

That being said, as I’ve blogged before in some ways I also think these people are onto something. And maybe, just maybe the Windows team ought to hold back. Not because I want them to, but because rather it’s time to pass along the innovation baton to someone else. Here’s what I mean:

I suggest that the Windows team adopt the “No” mantra. Want multi-touch in Windows? Nope. You’re not going to get it. Want better webcam support? Uh uh. Want speech recognition that can work with children? Not in this lifetime. Want more synthesized voices, or music rendering support, or, or, or? Not listening. Can’t hear you.

Now, to be fair, there will be times when Windows needs to add this or that feature at a low level. When this time arrives, then the Windows team needs to be pulled in. But for most cases, the Windows developers can be kept away from people requesting this or that. They can stick with their No mantra.

One step to achieve this is to get rid of Windows developers. If you don’t have developers, you can’t do anything. So step one is cut back. And I mean way back. Maybe to 50 or fewer. Yes, possibly fewer. That’s all.

The focus for Windows proper will be to just do a good job with the Windows core. Nada else.

So with the Windows team a sliver of whatever it might be today, how will Windows stay competitive? Uhm, by moving everything to the next real Microsoft API: the .NET Framework in and out of the browser.

This is where all the rapid-fire innovation gets moved to. This group is all about getting things done and keeping up with current ideas.

Now, do I really want this to happen? Not really. But from what I’ve seen it might as well be the case.

For the last couple of weeks Lora has been trying to get me to build a website where people can post their suggestions, quirks, and flaws for Vista/Windows 7. I’ve been dragging my feet because this is one of those things I think Microsoft should be doing, such as on Channel9 or 10 or whatever.

Well, it looks like neither Microsoft nor I have to worry about spending the weekend coding up a site, because Long Zheng has coded up such a site. It’s called the Windows UX Taskforce.

By all means, if there’s something in Windows–particularly the UI experience–get on over to Long’s site and add your suggestion/bug/irritation or vote up or down suggestions others have made. Let’s all work together to make Windows even better.

This is a great opportunity for Tablet PC, touch, and mobile folks to get their message out for fixing those little bugs in Journal or to make requests to better integrate ink into Windows Mail and so on. I think it’s even fair game to ask here for ink to finally be integrated into Messenger for the Mac. It’s a bummer to not be able to ink back and forth with someone on a Mac.

I would make one suggestion for users of the Taskforce. There needs to be better tagging of the items. If something is in the Windows Shell, then tag it as Windows Shell. If it’s in Journal, then tag it as Journal. Otherwise, it’s going to be a pain to sort the contents when it gets large.

This is great to see Long take the initiate here. I will repeat, though, that I think Microsoft should take over this database. Come on Channel9. OK. Even if you don’t want to take on the one week or so of work to launch it, then how about putting a prominent link on your sites to The Windows UX Taskforce service?

I get a kick out of the Bingo game Arstechnica puts together for major Apple events in anticipation of what might be said or what new features might come out.

I think this time around, we ought to have something similar on the Windows 7 side.

Since Microsoft is saying little to nothing about what might be included in the forthcoming Windows 7 OS, it ought to be rather interesting to put together a collection of features that we’ll actually see in a beta version of the OS, without getting too far off base.

So what features should we include in a Windows 7 Bingo card? Here are a few I’m thinking about:

* Multi-touch. So you say, “Hey, Microsoft already announced that!” Yeah, but they could always change their minds as we all know from Longhorn. But also, why not give a freebie or two
* New UI. Another easy guess.
* Pie menus and new dock. We saw a bit of this in the Windows 7 demo. Not sure if these were concept features or not.
* Faster boot times
* Live connectivity. Another easy one.
* Auto-switching from WiMax/EVDO to WiFi
* Fewer SKUs
* New device support–possibly for webcams or accelerometers or some other sensor
* Cloud-based backup

I need to look around to see what other features people have been predicting we might see in Windows 7. Surely there must be already enough for a Bingo card. Anyone have any they would like to add to the mix?

Oh, and since this is a bingo game, there has got to be a prize. I’m trying to think of something fun, that’s appropriate for Windows 7. So far we know that Windows 7 will have multi-touch so I’ll try to think of a prize that goes along with this. Any suggestions?

Another thought: Maybe we could have different Tablet/Mobile sites each come up with a different bingo card….hmm.

Whereas the other day Long Zheng started a thread on various UI kinks in Windows that he’d like to see Microsoft iron out, James Kendrick is entering the mix by making some suggestions for improving mobility features in Windows 7.

Although I’d like to see the issues they bring up addressed, I’ll restate that I bet we’re getting late in the game for making such Windows 7 requests. Even though a beta hasn’t hit the streets yet, I don’t think there’s going to be a lot of time for integrating in these types of community feedback–unless Microsoft developers are already covering them. Windows is too big and the current ship date (late 2009 or early 2010), doesn’t leave much time.

At this point we don’t know what’s going on, so I’m of the mind to wait and see what Microsoft comes up with rather than getting ahead of them. I may be persuaded otherwise though.

Paul Thurrott adds his insights into the recent Microsoft announcement that Windows 7 will include support for multi-touch.

Right off the bat Paul says, “I don’t think this usage model is going to be particularly compelling for most people.”

However, he continues, “when you’re sitting in front of a traditional PC display at work, a mouse and keyboard will almost always make the most sense. Move into a meeting room, however, and a touch-enabled Surface-based interactive wall might offer the best way to get your point across. And while standing in line at a Starbucks or grocery store, you might want to quickly triage your email using a chiclet keyboard-based phone or a touch-screen enabled iPhone. None of these interfaces replace each other. They just complement each other and form the pieces of what will be a very pervasive relationship between you and the various computing resources you do and will regularly access.”

Agreed 100%.

I don’t know exactly what Microsoft is thinking in terms of multi-touch, but here’s part of my interpretation and how Paul’s commentary fits in with what I think Microsoft is actually doing.

First, what I think where Microsoft is going with multi-touch is not to suggest that most users will switch to it. I don’t think that’s the case at all. However, there are cases where multi-touch is reasonable and for these cases, we’ll now have a standard model (hopefully) for interacting with devices via multi-touch techniques. This is a big win. Standardization counts.

Small devices, like the iPhone, where screen real-estate is a premium is one good place for multi-touch. Very large devices are too, such as interactive whiteboards or horizontal surfaces, like a display built into a conference table. Multi-touch also makes sense on a Tablet PC where there might already by single point touch support.

Might more notebooks support multi-touch gestures, kind of like the new Macs are with their touchpads? Sure. But like Paul says its unlikely that this feature will blow people away in most cases.

So this part I agree with Paul on.

Where I think he’s missing something “new” is with respect to multi-user interaction. For all practical purposes we don’t have this yet. If I understand where Microsoft is going with this, multi-touch will enable more than one user to interact with a whiteboard or with a display built into a table or even a touch-enabled game on a notebook folded down.

With multi-user support there are going to be some interesting new types of programs. I think it also will encourage Microsoft to step up and free the restriction that windows have to be only in one orientation.

Finally, there are some apps where multi-touch just makes sense. Ever thought about how limiting current onscreen keyboards are because they don’t support multi-touch? Control keys and the like have to be toggled because you can’t press more than one thing at a time on the screen.

And yeah, there are some virtual instruments where multi-touch makes sense too. You may not be enamored by these, but take a few minutes to think of various types of virtual gadgets and the like that make more sense if there is multi-touch. Hint: Think games.

Are all of these reasons to dump your existing models of user interaction? No. Like Paul says multi-touch will be another option. I’m betting it’ll also enable some richer apps in some cases, richer collaboration in others, and convergence in interaction behaviors across a variety of devices.

Put together multi-touch is a compelling addition to Windows. Did Microsoft make the case for it at the D conference. Nope. The demos weren’t fresh, people had seen this stuff before, and many of the areas where I think multi-touch makes sense weren’t presented. Well, at least people walked away with the impression that Microsoft was arguing that multi-touch was going to catch fire on notebooks. Hopefully, developers will fill in the void and once Windows 7 beta starts shipping begin to come up with some creative uses for multi-touch.

Lora shares her thoughts too on where multi-touch fits in as it will become one more form of natural interaction that we can use with our computer devices.

Although it would have been cool for at least once for Bill Gates to use a Tablet PC during one of his keynotes, he at least doesn’t fail to mention them. In his final keynote as full-time Microsoft chairman at TechEd, Gates talks of Tablets and education:

“I think of every student having a device that avoids the need for paper textbooks. The Tablet device will let them take notes, record audio, connect to the Internet. It’ll be superior in every way and yet it can’t be purely keyboard based. It has to have this touch and pen as well.”

In case you’re wondering, he didn’t say much more about Windows 7 other than referring to the multi-touch demoed last week at D. He did add:

“We’ve also got the pen capability, that we’re taking to a whole new level in terms of easy recognition and how that is implemented in the hardware.”

Not sure if he was referring to Windows 7 here what’s currently available in Vista. My guess is the latter, but it’s hard to tell.

I was glad he finally is mentioning vision in more detail. This has been a very lacking aspect of Microsoft’s interaction strategy if you ask me. Surface, TouchWall and the like are all beginning to use cameras, though there’s lots more than can and should be done. I’d like to see a whole new vision processing capabilities added to the .NET Framework.

Not much is known publicly about the next generation of Windows, currently called Windows 7, but we’ve managed to uncover some exclusive rumors about Windows 7 and we’re most excited to share them with you. What’s really got us going is that finally it appears that Microsoft has gotten a clue and understands how to position itself and its products in the consumer market. Much of this is due to lessons learned from Apple. Yes, imitation is the best form of flattery. And there’s no doubt that Microsoft is sharing some love with Apple. The result, Microsoft tipsters are telling us, is to break from the chains of the IT world and make Microsoft a better Apple.

Here are seven ways that Microsoft is planning to out Apple Apple with the Windows 7 product line:

1. Better secrecy. Apple is the king of information control–only announcing products when they are ready to ship. This helps to build suspense and gives Apple the option of making last minute changes without negatively affecting anyone. So Microsoft’s new approach? As Steven Sinofsky has already indicated Microsoft won’t be announcing Windows 7 details early like they did with Longhorn. But this is only the tip of the iceberg We’ve learned that Microsoft is going to take this even further and not release Windows 7 details even after the product launches. How wild is that? Email sources are telling us that by doing so Windows 7 is sure to be the most untalked about product launch ever, leading to some of the best press ever for Windows. So clever.

2. Better naming Microsoft fully appreciates the fact that it hasn’t been very good with product names. They’re often too long, stale, and easily confused. So Microsoft decided to take a page out of the OS X book, and call the next version of Windows….drumroll….OS W. How cool is that!!?? We thought so too.

Rumor is that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is even getting into the act in order to one up Apple CEO Steve Jobs and is legally changing his name to Steve Careers. Not only that, Microsoft’s PR firm has hired an unknown, well-known writer to pen a sharp tongued blog titled “The Fake Steve Careers.” Can’t be more hip than this.

3. Simple by design We never thought we’d see the day, but finally Microsoft has come to its senses and agreed with Apple that single button mice are the only way to go. So the next versions of all Microsoft mice will all only have one button. For all of you Windows fans hooked on right clicking, don’t despair: All one button Microsoft mice will have a special, small button on the single mouse button which you can use for right clicking. That’s thinking different taken to a whole new level.

Now Microsoft isn’t content with stopping there though. No way. We’ve received exclusive details from a Microsoft patent application for a new single button keyboard. You can’t get any simpler than that. How does it work? The keyboard defaults to the letter “A” and then you simply press the key once again to select the letter “B”, twice more for “C” and so on. When you reach the desired letter, number or function key, you simply dwell for four seconds and whala you’ve typed a letter. Rumor has it that the Tablet PC team is all over this and is quite enthusiastic about this new keyboard design because finally it’s going to be faster to handwrite text than type it. Very, very elegant.

4. Better peripherals lead to better experiences Microsoft finally realizes that it needs to provide better support for the latest generation of hardware. Macs have their built in iSight cameras, for instance. Microsoft sees the wisdom of Apple’s way now and is going to require all Windows boxes to include Microsoft’s new XraySight. You don’t have to do anything to get it to work, it just starts xraying you when you first boot up Windows 7. Story goes that there is a tie in with Microsoft’s healthcare initiative and Microsoft will be sending all Xray scans to doctors throughout the world to check up on you. Should they see even the smallest hint of a problem, you’ll get a popup warning on your display. Quite impressive I’d say.

5. Better ad campaigns Microsoft has finally realized the value of a clever series of TV ads and has hired the ad agency responsible for the well known Apple campaign “I’m a PC, I’m a Mac” to style a series of ads for them. In particular, the new Microsoft ads will be geared towards encouraging people to upgrade from Windows XP to Vista. The bulk of the ads will feature two characters, one an aging man called XP, and the other a hipster called Vista. The spots, titled “I’m XP, I’m Vista,” will be running round the clock encouraging people to switch to the new OS.

6. Less is more Not everything is set in stone with Windows 7, however. Microsoft engineers, for instance, are experimenting with a mini version of Windows that takes the idea of min to the max. We’re not sure if it’s going to actually be Windows 7 or not, but we have learned it takes the idea of “less is more,” which Apple is applauded for, to an extreme. In this version of Windows, in fact, the Windows experience is all but trimmed down to a Start button, Notepad and Solitaire. No more archane command line windows. No more tree windowed Explorer windows to topple your layout of files. Just two basic programs. What about the web? Don’t worry, you can always download it later along with all your favorite classic Windows apps. Microsoft is still working on this part will all work though.

7. More frequent updates Of all the new Windows 7 details we’re most excited about this is the one. We already all know that Microsoft is committing to more frequent OS updates. That’s nothing new. But up to this point, we haven’t really learned how frequent, frequent is. Well, now we know. Whenever Apple ships, Microsoft will ship too. That same day. How much simpler can this be? Rumor has it that in fact, the first version of Windows 7 is going to be ready to ship at Apple’s WWDC this June.

We’re still looking to dig up more details about Windows 7 and Microsoft’s new Apple-inspired thinking. Stay tuned.

ComputerWorld writes that Mircrosoft is working harder to ensure that when Windows 7 actually ships that there will be solid drivers for it. Makes complete sense.

Along these lines, I think there’s a very succint “dependability” program that Microsoft ought to commit to this time around.

It’s very simple:

For all notebooks released in the last X number of years (with a complete list of notebook models listed online), Microsoft will commit to ensuring that there will be 100% driver support. People just don’t and can’t swap components in and out of a notebook like they can a desktop, so notebooks should just work. It’s not the components that the consumer worries about. It’s the notebook as a whole.

With more and more people purchasing and using notebooks today this tweak to the logo program is extremely important–and something that should be succinctly communicated.

I realize it’s a pain and a huge potential liability, but this is the state of where things are at. If Microsoft wants to compete effectively against Apple, it has to do it.

The logo program was supposed to signal a level of quality, however, after Vista, the logo brand is too tainted. It’s little more than a sticker now. Microsoft needs to revitalize their commitment to quality and particularly for the ever growing number of notebooks needs to stand up and succinctly make it clear that notebooks and Windows 7 will go together. Swimingly.

Long Zheng over at istartedsomething is collecting up little UI issues within Windows in the hopes that someone at Microsoft is interested in fixing them in the next version of Windows–kind of like what Chris Pirillo did awhile back with the Vista beta at the request of former Windows head Jim Alchin. He insinuates that he has a back door channel with someone who can really do things. That would be cool.

Long’s 48-item list includes one alignment problem in Windows Journal toolbar. Actually, there are a couple other toolbar problems in the program too. One is that the copy/paste icons are effectively reversed.

The copy icon is shown as a clipboard and the paste icon as two text excerpts. These are not the standard icons.

Now you could argue that the copy to clipboard icon which shows the clipboard is correct (though it’s ambiguously close to the standard paste icon which has a clipboard and a text excerpt), but the paste icon (shown as two text excerpts) is clearly something that’s used in most apps as the copy icon.

By way of comparison, here’s what the copy/paste icons look like in Word 2007. You can see that the paste icon at left is a clipboard with some text and the copy icon is two small excerpts of text shown in the middle right column.

Another issue is that the toolbars themselves often disappear when Journal is in use. It’s highly frustrating, particularly when rotating views.

It would be nice to see these little things fixed. I’m not holding my breath though. It’s a little bit late for community feedback in this area. What, you say? There’s not even a Windows 7 beta out yet!!!

That’s right, but that doesn’t mean that Microsoft isn’t on a well-scheduled train to get out Windows 7 by late 2009/2010 as they have publicly stated several times. And by all accounts this train–with a fairly firm date–is not going to sacrifice quality. So in the balancing act between the triad of time-features-quality, that means “features” or feature changes have to go. That’s the nature of the beast–unless, you figure out a way to warp the space-time continuum, which I’m all for, these fixes are unlikely to get added to any to do list at this point.

The problem is that stability and making changes at the last minute don’t go together–no matter how cosmetic the changes may seem to you, me, and the developers themselves. It takes very skilled people to make these “quick” changes, and my guess is the highly skilled people are committed to work on stability or new features. So this kind of clean up stuff, if it’s not already on their list, is unlikely to be added at this point.

But you rightly argue: How can this be? Aren’t alphas and betas all about cleanup? Yep. But I’ve seen no indication from Microsoft that that’s one of the objectives with Windows 7. I’m guessing that if UI cleanup were a strong goal of the Windows 7 team, that that would mean they were all over lists like this maybe six months to a year ago–not a handful of months before they release a beta that’s got to work well, because of the condensed beta cycle being planned.

Put another way, this “beta” is really going to be a beta. It’s not an alpha called a beta or a “community preview” assumed to be a beta. It’s a beta. The features will be locked down. The changes will be kept to a minimum.

Now I have absolutely no internal knowledge of any of this. It’s 100% conjecture. And it would be cool if Steven Sinofsky or someone else managing the effort could blog about this and give us some thoughts on their thoughts about how people could help the most.

Of course, don’t expect too much dialog at this point. Steven Sinofsky has made it very clear that there’s not going to be any back and forth talking till the team is ready. Doesn’t hurt to try though, and that’s what I like about what Long Zheng is doing. It all starts with one.