Gadgetopia

It’s nice to see pretty much every last MS employee blogging now, but the background still lingers with that slight marketing/PR fish odor. They’ve clearly attempted to provide employees with a direct outlet, but I get the feeling that those folks must have to sign some agreements before they get their blogs, or that they’re acutely aware that they shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds. If you read the MS blogs, Microsoft is a shiny, happy wonderland where they serve free rainbows for lunch, and they write software to make kittens even cuter. There’s seldom a negative word about MS.

That’s why running across the Mini-Microsoft blog was so refreshing. Someone who is close to MS that’s concerned about how much MS 2004 looks like IBM 1985. An interesting peek into day-to-day life at MS.

If you had to guess what the market’s reaction is going to be to the next version of Windows when we finally, finally manage to give it the bums’ rush, what would it be? My guess: zero reaction. What are we putting in there that is going to excite the user / analyst? Better security, more stability? Dude, are you telling me what I just bought from you is insecure and broken? And you want me to pay you to make it better?

You’ll note that the blog is hosted on blogger, rather than through the MS-provided channels.