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Ballmer touts Windows 7 features

October 17, 2008, 12:40pm PDT | Length: 00:04:32
At the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo in Orlando, Fla., Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer revealed that Windows 7 is going to be a major release, not just a Vista update. He says the new Windows will have a better user interface, information management tools, and performance. It isn't practical to wait for Windows 7 instead of deploying Vista, he says, since both systems are compatible. Interviewers: Neil MacDonald and David Mitchell Smith of Gartner.
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Talkback Most Recent of 12 Talkback(s)

  • RIGHT, like Windows ME
    Weren't those the exact words when they brought out the Millennium Edition, like Vista, one of the most screwed up Ops ever?
    I can understand greed, but first getting consumers accustomed over many years to use an OPSys like XP and then change the rules is beyond reason, it is pure idiocy (if you forgive my profanity).
    ZDNet Gravatar
    marc_90292@...
    20th Oct 2008
  • Change the rules?!
    What kind of learning curve are we talking about here? Anyone accustomed to XP can use Vista you dolt.

    And seriously, what's really wrong with Vista? In general and in your own experience? Comparing it to ME is the easiest route that Windows haters take. Just like with Blu-Ray and Betamax. History doesn't necessarily have to repeat itself.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    guruboy@...
    22nd Oct 2008
  • Al Bundy
    The world is looking on in disbelief as Sarah
    Palin buries McCain's hopes of getting to the
    White House, but some of us can guess who
    she learned her schtick from!

    I run a tech business and I would neither run
    Windows XP, Vista [is there really any
    difference] nor wait another 12 months for
    whatever horrors '7' might hold. I certainly
    wouldn't trust this fool to front my business.

    When they were still serving up Bill's hapless
    techie-based bull$h1?, we tended to forgive
    him because he looked like the geek kid next
    door - if rather wrinkled of late.

    But when you have Al Bundy shouting the
    odds as if he's trying to make his commission
    on a car lot... any credibility Microsoft might
    still have goes out of the window.

    He can say what he likes. All we hear is:

    "Wait - don't wait - no, that's wrong - er... do
    what you like, we're still making a massive
    profit out of every box of bloatware."
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Graham Ellison
    21st Oct 2008
  • re: Al Bundy
    I sat and watched Ballmer tried to speak, and I've never heard him speak before. Was the man drunk? He sounded like an absolute moron. Are we back to Dan Quayle? It's scary that this idiot is running MS (though there's no love lost between me and MS).

    I'm not sure what the Palin comment is about. I think McCain's biggest hurdle is himself. Yes, he's knowledgeable and seasoned, but he's just too old and out of touch. He can't relate to the average American ... 6 houses? As much as I abhor Obama, McCain doesn't have a chance. We're definitely headed for some change ... so far from the fundamentals on which this country was built that we might as well get a new name for it.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    davidr69
    27th Oct 2008
  • RE: Ballmer touts Windows 7 features
    Microsoft management actually thinks that Vista is a good stable operating system. Ballmer should learn to shut his mouth until Windows 7 comes out and see if it's another piece of crap like Vista. If it is then he should take the whole group that designed, developed and tested it and fire all of them
    ZDNet Gravatar
    sleak-vic@...
    21st Oct 2008
  • Make Explorer like Mac's Finder...
    ...and you might have a halfway decent OS. One of the major features of any OS is how it allows users to search and find files. On that, Mac blows Windows out of the water. Mac's Finder allows users to browse, find, and preview files with simple keystrokes. With OSX Leopard you're able to select a file and hit the Spacebar to preview any document without even launching a program. Will Windows 7 allow users to do that? If not, Microsoft needs to go back to the drawing board. As it is now, Windows Explorer is about as archaic as its ever been. Prettier graphics are useless if the interactivity hasn't improved.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    3dtodd
    23rd Oct 2008
  • RE: Ballmer touts Windows 7 features
    Well I hear M.S. Ballmer sounding the company defense verbage. I retired from the Army in 1986 and moved to Tacoma WA. I watched microsoft go through it's growing pains and it seems that unlike other mega companies they are still claimung growing pains and it will all work out meanwhile the consumer is paying for the R&D for each release with no compensition for the R&D they do and report back to microsoft. Each time a piece of crap program is released and consumers/customers have problems they effectivly are told the same as the Army told thousands of Vietnam vets for years all the while they are dying from dieases related to agent orange that lead baloon didn't float just like the game microsoft is playing with it's customers and as soon as an enterprising person comes up with an alternative microsoft may learn how the shoe feels on the other foot. My point if I have not made it clear is Microsoft has mega bucks to the tenth power yet they still put out substandard work and should be ashamed from Bill Gates all the way down to the lowest code jockey being paid o so well for doing a crap job and yet they show up in public and smile all the while selling the customer junk.
    P.S. How many tries dose it take to realize you need to fix it!!!??
    Thank you.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    holijo@...
    23rd Oct 2008
  • RE: Ballmer touts Windows 7 features
    Well I hear M.S. Ballmer calling out the company defense verbage. I retired from the Army in 1986 and moved to Tacoma WA.
    I watched microsoft go through is't growing pains it now seems they are lingering much longer than anyone else ever saw. microsoft has made mega bucks! and still pushes out substandard products the consumer/customer pays for each brain child of the code jockyes and then the R&D begins microsoft uses information sent in by the customers regarding problems with the program that they just purchased suposedly ready to go microsoft takes this info and makes ready to release the next nonfunctioning program and the consumer has done the real world R&D for them. microsoft is playing the same game as the Army when they were dealing with all the agent orange claims from the Vietnam Vets shine them on and give nothing or as little as possible. Microsoft has made MEGA BUCKS to the tenth power and still puts out sub par products and has no thought of the wrong they are doing taking money for a product they already know is faulty am sure that illeagle somewhere.
    P.S. How many tries dose it take a HUGH!!! company like microsoft to realize they must finally fix it !!!!????
    Thank You.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    holijo@...
    23rd Oct 2008
  • RE: Ballmer touts Windows 7 features
    I want to see the CEO of a company to be more enthusiastic about his product, not defensive. The way he sip a water every time he answer question is not a good sign. He should be proud about his product, so he can say something good about it without being defensive. Poor Microsoft, with all the money in the world, that all you can do ?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    catstudio
    24th Oct 2008
  • RE: Ballmer touts Windows 7 features
    Anyone else find Ballmer's energy level a little too high?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    jerang@...
    27th Oct 2008
  • Win7 as bloted as its owner?
    I think it all boils down to a lack of competition. A
    monopoly can do what ever it wants and still make a huge profit. It is sad.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    infra223
    29th Oct 2008
  • Where Did MS Get This Blowhard?
    He says a lot and says nothing.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    johnugotmail@...
    4th Dec 2008

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