Windows 7: Where Consumers Lead, Enterprises Will Follow?
At the Windows 7 launch event, Microsoft corporate VP of Windows Tami Reller chatted with CIO.com about how Windows 7 came to life differently than Vista, those pesky XP corporate holdouts, and more. Here's our Q&A.
CIO —
Windows marketing VP Tami Reller looked like she could finally exhale at the Windows 7 launch in New York City last week.
"Congratulations on the launch. I'm sure it's been a long road," I said.
"You're telling me," she replied, grinning but understandably weary from the busy day.
Reller then sat down with CIO.com's Shane O'Neill to share her thoughts on bringing Windows 7 to market, the link between when Windows 7 will be adopted by consumers and businesses and how Microsoft will help XP users move on.
Regarding the Windows 7 launch, how has the world changed since sinced Vista's launch three years ago and how is Windows 7 a better operating system for the world we live in today?
The process by which we brought Windows 7 to market over the past three years has been dramatically different than in the past. I think what gets us to a better place today is how we engaged with partners and customers throughout the cycle.
[ For complete coverage on Microsoft's new Windows 7 operating system -- including hands-on reviews, video tutorials and advice on enterprise rollouts -- see CIO.com's Windows 7 Bible. ]
Early in the process we set out to understand how consumers, small businesses and enteprises were using the software and how they wanted to use the software. We communicated with customers in a much more systematic way where we could take their feedback and put it to use.
On the partner side, there was a dramatic change too. We sat down with OEM partners in the very beginning to discuss technology and business goals, meeting on our campus and their campus. And the results are out there in that showroom [referring to the display of new Windows 7 PCs at the launch event].
How did you adjust your Windows 7 planning when netbooks came out of nowhere about a year ago and became popular?
We had a process that was very well-documented, but also allowed us to be agile around things like netbooks. All the Windows 7 versions run brilliantly on netbooks today because we were able to say, 'Ok, how do we adjust? These netbooks are real, this is happening.'
Windows XP is still the X factor in the enterprise. How do you convince businesses that won't budge from XP for whatever reason — the economy, comfort with XP, lack of trust in Windows 7 — to upgrade?
