Microsoft says next Windows won't be as annoying

[Spec8472]

Please can has some paragraph action?

[Gabriel]

I use the Nvidia 8800gtx and have hellgate as the online game.

sigh it is the fact that as soon as I find it stable something else comes up and says update or get screwed.

[boballab]

Please can has some paragraph action?

NO!

[Spec8472]

If Microsoft would pull their head out of their ass and quit trying to do their own in house peripheal driver programing and just go to those companies with an early version of the OS and let them develope the drivers we would all benefit.
(snip)
The best example Microsoft should follow for this was the way Sony handled the PS2. When Sony first developed the PS2 they gave early copies of the operating system to the major games developers so that there would be games out when the hardare hit the shelves.

I'm finding it difficult to read through your rant (seriously, I get a headache just looking at that big blob of text with no breaks).

But on these two points above that you make - Microsoft does have a series of early release programs for OEMs and other Partners.

Any OEM or Microsoft partner gets invited to join private release programs for very early betas. This means you get access to not only the software that is under development - but also have the ability to talk to the actual folks at Microsoft who're running the engineering teams.

While I wasn't invited into the Vista (Longhorn) program before the RC's - I would be astounded if every major device manufacturer didn't have access to Longhorn AND the new driver model documentation at least 12 months prior to launch.

And hey, the new driver model is a good thing - it means less crashes. Under XP if your video card driver was a bit buggy then the entire OS would die. Under Vista, there's a good chance the driver will get restarted if it locks up.

[boballab]

To give a little background before I drive Microsoft under here goes.

I was stationed at Naval Medical Center San Diego when Microsoft asked the Navy (and we got handed that POS) to Beta Win 95, This was in June of 94. Thats right six months, thats all we had to Beta the damm thing and everyone of the bugs in the Program we found were in the release.

12 Months isn't long enough to Beta something as complex as Vista not by a long shot. Sony gave the Game developers 3 years to Beta the OS for the PS2. Many games such as WoW, Shadowbane and such Beta for longer then a year. Look at Darkfall they have been stuck in Alpha for almost 4 and been signing people up for Beta during that entire time with a projected Beta of 2 years before release.

Microsoft runs their beta's too short and they ignore what they get from the Beta period on top of it. Also if you read the article that was posted even Microsoft admits they didn't work with the 3rd party companies and in a round about way they didn't Beta it with normal users.

"We had all the best intentions of helping to secure the PC platform even more, particularly for novice PC users who needed to be protected," said Steven Sinofsky, a senior vice president in Microsoft's Windows group. But Sinofsky acknowledged that Microsoft needed to work more closely with outside companies to avoid a similar mess this time.

In an interview, Julie Larson-Green, a Windows vice president, offered one small example: In Vista, Microsoft took the "add printer" feature out of the Start menu, but is restoring it in Windows 7 after users complained.

Larson-Green said some changes in Vista made sense to developers but weren't fully tested on actual PC users — a misstep she seems committed not to repeat.

Why do you think they released SP3 for XP if Vista was really ready to go? The truth was and is that it wasn't. From the time Vista was released to this Anouncement of this Windows 7, it was nothing but Beta testing.

Silver, the analyst, noted that Windows Vista rejigged complex aspects of the software's plumbing, while Windows 7 is largely a cosmetic overhaul. That might spare this launch from many of the compatibility programs that dogged Vista.

This is nothing but Win95/Win98 all over again except this time the reaction of the public is worse. When things don't work in a Microsoft product and the consumers complain Microsoft typically denies everything. So how bad is it really since this time MS is owning up to the fact they screwed up. The keeping of XP instead of dropping support like they would have for a fully ready replacement smelled like a rat from the beginning and now the Rat has been unveiled. Hell when Fel got his new desktop in may I said then that by the time XP was dropped I hoped Vista would be in its Beta form, looks like I was right.

Look I have Beta tested 5 different programs over the last 2 years (thats each one of these programs Beta lasting 2 years) for 2 different companies that I can't name due to confidentialty agreements but you might be lucky to see any of these programs in another year if all the fixes can be made in time. If Microsoft didn't have the strangle hold on the industry that it does it would never be able to survive it's practice of having the consumer pay to Beta their products. Always wait a minimum of a year before switching to a new MS operating system because what ever they release isn't ready it is just what history tells you. I really like how Windows 3.1 worked and I have no problems now at all with XP because they fixed them, but Win95/98/Me was just a cluster you know what that needed to die, so wait a while an see what really Vista is suppose to be when that initial market date of 2010 rolls around.

After posting this I went checking around and found this:

Speaking about Windows 7 on 16 October 2008, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer confirmed compatibility between Vista and Windows 7:[19]

“ Our next release of Windows will be compatible with Vista. The key is let’s get on with it. We’ll be ready when you want to deploy Windows 7.[19] ”

Ballmer also confirmed the relationship between Vista and Windows 7, indicating that Windows 7 will be an improved version of Vista.

Well you got it right from MS itself that all Windows 7 is going to be is a improved Vista. I think you can figure out from this it is just like 95/98 were they are just trying to fix a program that was not release ready. Here is the link to the full Wiki.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7