[max americana]

“Ballmer says that according to consumer research, the No. 1 complaint about Vista was the change to the Windows user interface.”

*****

quote of the year. Gee, Mr. Ballmer, you really know why we hate Vista (sarcasm), and you have the pulse of the Windows crowd (more sarcasm).

[HAL9000]

more...

So is this the next phase of how people will use their computers. Gates says it’s the beginning of an era of computing based on a new hierarchy of input systems. Today the machine is really set up for one person to sit at a keyboard. “We’re at an interesting junction,” he says. “In the next few years, the roles of speech, gesture, vision, ink, all of those will become huge. For the person at home and the person at work, that interaction will change dramatically.”

Windows 7 is apparently 18 months or so away.

Walt asks Ballmer if he’s worried about the next iteration of Mac OS X, which will likely be released before Windows 7. Is there a risk that the work you’re doing now with multi-touch will look dated when Apple releases its next OS?

Ballmer says he’s confident Microsoft will have fantastic Windows 7 PCs, regardless of what Apple’s got on the market. “There’s a lot in Windows 7, and our goal is to produce fantastic PCs with our hardware partners. Walt presses him, noting Apple’s recent growth in the PC market.

Ballmer notes the difference in scale between the two companies: “We sell 270 millions PCs a year, and Apple sells 10 million. They’re fantastically successful, and so are we.”

Walt hits on Windows quality issue, noting that he’s seen old Macs running significantly faster than new Vista machines.

Ballmer admits there’s room for improvement: Steve Jobs has a great business, he says. His model works well. But so does ours. 10 million people like his model. 290 million like ours.

Kara asks Gates how it feels to have Microsoft defined by Apple via its “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” campaign.

Gates clearly isn’t happy with that question. Dodges. Ballmer jumps in. Hits that 290 million metric again. “Every share point Apple picks up is a share point we don’t like. But we like selling 290 million units.

Walt’s not letting him off that easy : “C’mon, you CAN’T be happy with the way this Vista thing has gone.”

Ballmer: “What’s an appropriate response to that question?” Gates bristles: “You’re repeating yourself,” he says, alluding to the fact that the question has been asked already.

[devere]

Buy Apple.
Microsoft has lost the mandate of heaven.

[Ticonderoga34]

Funny that Microsoft doesn’t have a cute name for Windows 7. Maybe they are going to stop the B.S. and deliver a workable OS. I wouldn’t bet on it though.

[scott7278]

The obligatory Steve Ballmer video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvsboPUjrGc

[Swordmaker]

Windows 7 preview - ". . . And there it is … well, damn if it doesn’t look pretty slick. Clearly the Windows dev team’s been busy with more than just Vista service packs. Quick side note: Windows 7, like other Microsoft OS’s before it, seems to have borrowed a thing or two from Mac OS X. This time it’s Apple’s Dock, which Microsoft appears to have borrowed. Multi-touch and a Dock. In Windows. Steve Jobs must be so proud.

Larson-Green pulls up a brand new app, “Touchable Paint.” She uses all 10 fingers to draw a tree. Then, she brings up a photo gallery. Noting that multi-touch makes it faster and easier to manipulate photos, she demonstrates … well, she demonstrates a lot of features that anyone who’s ever used an iPhone will already be familiar with: two-finger zoom, flicking through a slideshow, single finger panning through thumbnails . . .

The MS copy machines have been busy Ping!

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.

[MaxMax]

Walt asks if Vista has damaged with Windows brand.

Is this a book?, or a really really bad editorial?

[TomGuy]

I recall a live teleconference when MS was rolling out Win98.

The presenter claimed it to be ‘the most tested, the most stable’ Windows ever.

The presenter reached over to the laptop to press the magic key and reveal the marvelous Win98 to the watching techno world.

[Click]

[BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH]

It was a ROFLMAO moment that went down in computer techno history.

[RayChuang88]

Windows 7--unlike Vista--will probably ditch a lot of legacy code in favor of faster operation. That means you can forget about running anything in Windows 95/98 emulation mode, which means true flat-memory model optimization to reduce code size.

[zeugma]

Ballmer says that according to consumer research, the No. 1 complaint about Vista was the change to the Windows user interface.

Just wow. It's not the bloat, the DRM, the driver compatibility issues or the huge resource requirements. It's the color of the lipstick on the pig that is the real problem!

This is why MS-Windows won't get better, folks.

[DesScorp]

“Ballmer says that according to consumer research, the No. 1 complaint about Vista was the change to the Windows user interface.”

Balmer needs to get a new research firm. Overwhelmingly, the biggest complaint that I’ve seen is that Vista makes even brand new hardware run like a 386.

I was hopeful when the rumors of the MiniWin kernel came out, but apparently, Windows 7 is just going to be Vista with even more eye candy. Apple’s sales should continue to grow then. If it wasn’t for the availability of PC games, I’d abandon Windows at home altogether.

[toddlintown]

I’ve got just one finger for Microsoft.

[Rudder]

Walt asks if Vista has damaged with Windows brand.

Doesn't Walt also speak English on occasion?

[BulletBobCo]

http://blip.tv/file/340692/