When is Microsoft finally going to start sharing information on Windows 7?
After all, if the Redmondians stick to their own oft-quoted ship target of 2010 for the operating system, that is just two years away. For developers two years isn"t a whole lot of time when trying to make decisions about whether or not to build a new product that will be designed specifically to take advantage of new features and functionality in a new Windows release. And for IT managers struggling with deployment plans (as in deploy Vista now or wait two more years for Windows 7), that window on the next version of Windows isn"t overly wide, either.
When Microsoft customers and partners were seeking information about Vista Service Pack (SP) 1, some Microsoft officials defended the company"s new "translucency" (vs. transparency) policy. By sharing too much information that was subject to change, Microsoft wasn"t doing its customers and partners any favors, the translucency backers argued. But not everyone on the Windows team thought the new rules were good for Microsoft"s constituents. Microsoft needed to dial back its translucency hard-line, they said (privately — since they didn"t want to be seen bucking the powers-that-be).