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MS Upgrades To Be Smaller And More Frequent
duplicantk8 writes "Following the numerous delays to the Vista launch, MS is planning to have more frequent and smaller incremental upgrades, according to the Financial Times." From the article: "Those delays are set to end late next year with the simultaneous launch of new versions of Windows and the Office suite of PC applications in the company's most significant new product cycle since Windows 95. The new versions of the company's key PC software are likely to rekindle higher growth after a period that saw its growth rate slip below 10 per cent for the first time last year, according to Wall Street analysts. Mr Ballmer's comments are the most public sign yet of the dent to Microsoft's confidence in its core development process that resulted from the Vista delays."
Wonder if they have finally figured out a way to update the OS without performing a reboot.
I don't think they can get much smaller than the changes planned in Vista.
FanFictionRecs.net
We want to make life easier by giving only one update a month... then a few months later... we want to ensure timely security patches, so we will release them as soon as we make them...
;)
I think they're trying to please too many people at the same time... this is called 'impossible'...
---
Programming is like sex... Make one mistake and support it the rest of your life.
For some reason windows update will be replaced by the commands.
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
These "smaller and more frequent" releases were formerly free bugfixes. Now they will be crap you have to pay for. I think we'll see things like the service pack issues where small fix #9 worked okay, but #8 and #10 had horrible issues.
"Scientists don't change their minds, they just die." -- Max Planck
Wasn't WinFS originally supposed to be out with NT 4, and they *still* can't make it?
No, this is an attempt to make you *pay* for Service Packs.
2008: Upgrade to Windows Vista version 2.0 for only $200!
2009: Upgrade to Windows Vista version 3.0 for only $225!
2010: Upgrade to Windows Vista version 4.0 for only $275!
2011: Upgrade to Windows Vista version 4.0 for only $350!
2012: Upgrade to Windows Vista version 5.0 for only $1000!
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
Does this mean that microsoft will have more releases than Debian Woody?
Smaller, more frequent upgrades will cost more to publish, will increase their support costs, and won't result in increased sales/upgrades. Most home users upgrade automatically when they buy a new PC, most corporate users upgrade en masse when there is good reason to do so. Trying to shorten the upgrade cycle in the corporate environment will backfire. Smart IT managers will still only upgrade when there is a compelling reason to do so, and now they might have the opportunity to cherry-pick smaller upgrades that would theoretically be less expensive.
Microsoft almost got it right with XP, but then they got greedy/stupid at the last minute and fragmented the product line (first Pro v Home, then Media). The 31 flavors of Vista is bad enough, but to compound that with multiple, more frequent upgrades will be even worse.
Basically they are saying that "Black Tuesday" becomes "Black Nine Fifteen In The Morning."
I'm sure sysdmins in MS-centric shops all over the world are rejoicing.
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
Compare to non-proprietary development where there is no rush to create features, and security issues get resolved quickly.
You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.
Just change his name to Steve and call it a day.
Remember the 1997 buzzword "beleaguered"?
Does anyone else remember in the mid 1990s when Apple announced the same thing? It was around 1996, and Apple was finding it impossible to get its next generation Copland/Mac OS 8 operating system out the door. I think it was then-CEO Gil Amelio who announced after several years of delays that Apple wasn't going to do monolithic releases any longer. They would do little ones to be more manageable. Eventually, they came out with Mac OS 7.6, Mac OS 8 (what many considered to be 7.7), and Mac OS 9. That's also when they started shopping around, looking at Be and NeXT.
As Apple discovered--and now, I guess Microsoft is discovering the same thing-- it's really hard to keep backwards compatibility, drive new features, and do it within a reasonable budget when you have a big installed base. Apple's installed base was never more than a small fraction of Microsoft's, but Microsoft's resources were also proportionately more extensive.
Microsoft is having as many (or more) delays with Longhorn/Vista as Apple had with Copland/Mac OS 8. In the mean time, Apple bit the bullet with NeXT/Mac OS X back in 1997, and now they're seeing some pretty good returns on their investment. Releases have been fairly rapid, and they've introduced lots of innovative features.
So as far as coming up with their next OS, Microsoft, you can use the word now. Apple doesn't need it any more.
Insert simplistic political, ideological, or personal proselytization here.
It's not as if that's a new idea though. Mac OS 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4 ...
Incremental upgrades: another Apple idea Microsoft likes and plans to borrow?
it reboots your system for you. really pissed me off how many times i lost work to it.
http://www.livejournal.com/users/cixel
Wouldn't you love the be the developer who gets Ballmer or Gates as your pair programmer.
[developer]:You forgot to comment that code
[Ballmer]: (pickup chair and tosses it smashing his triple head display of Dell 2405 monitors) The code comment's itself!!!
[developer]: What about best practices? I'm suppose to be learning from you.
[Ballmer]: Well then start by getting off you ass and picking up that chair. Now with both hands on the arm rests.....NO NO NO...use you're back to lift, not your legs.
"Look Lois, the two symbols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change."
It is like Microsoft is really have woken up finally and started to do something. Last few years I have had that expression that all what Microsoft wants to do is bullying it's customers. Now they are trying to impress everyone with PR shock, flooding in massive with lots of info about new products.
o f-the-comics-book".
Yeah, they feel competition, and I thank any single Linux/BSD/Solaris distro, Firefox, Apple for that. Because it is all what we need to get IT really work for common crowd - to be useful, productive, etc.
If I am honest, I have seen new screenshots and well - they don't impress me. So far I have seen a habbit to even KDE guys admit that less is more, don't even talk about GNOME and OS X guys. And here comes Windows Vista with what can I call - detail overblown. Yeah, nothing in the stone yet and I hope they will get rid of that "so-much-details-that-my-destkop-looks-like-page-
p.s. I'm not Windows user, I'm Linux/OS X advocate, but still I can't ignore what happens to
Windows world as lot of my colegues and friends uses it.
p.s.s. and yes, I think GNOME/KDE guys can create
much better and more functional eye candy than that.
user@ubuntubox:~$ stfu This server is going down for shutdown NOW!
If I hear innovations out of MS's mouth one more time I swear...
All of the innovative features I've heard about in the up coming ms poo (read: vista) is that it will have a cleaner gui (read: like aqua) allow for icons to be representative of what they contain (like osx) and genie like effects for minimizing things (like osx)
It's such a buzz word these days.
the only innovation I see is copying other peoples stuff, and suing the pants off of anyone who even glances at theirs.
I bet all 7 versions of vista blow.
And what's worse, I'll probably still end up using it at work.
Today at work I was talking shit about vista. . . imagine that. A co-worker said "I can't wait for the new internet explorer!" and was serious.
I asked why, and he said "because it's going to be awesome!". again he was serious. I almost vomited.
I had to hear the rest, so I asked why it would be awesome. "its going to have tabbed browsing and other cool stuff!"
What other cool stuff I asked. "Stuff" was his reply.
Being excited about tabbed browsing is like getting excited because the new '06 Lexus will have a bose tape deck
i don't care
That's not funny.
...
I think the folks who suffer with Windows are used to rebooting for all sorts of reasons. E.g. IE runs too slow, my app just crashed, I need to install a new program, something is not working,
Due to their inability to admin their own machine, some resort to throwing it out and trying again, with new hardware.
I think it is the Unix admins who have the fetish for the no-reboot. Or perhaps a single, precisely done reboot, to remotely bring up a machine with an entirely new OS.
Similary, folks who use windows think they need anti-spyware, anti-virus, extra-special firewall crap --- because they think there's no way a computer can withstand the tide of crap without extra-special help. It is just impossible to imagine that an OS could withstand it all.
Lately it seems that hardware companies are in the game -- e.g. Intel processors with features designed to make up for the deficiencies of Ballmer's bunch in Redmond.
http://www.thebricktestament.com/the_law/when_to_
A very minor update to 2000 to convince people to shell out another $100 for a better looking interface, a couple of moderately usefull features little else?
Isn't that why most of the corperate and even many home users (like myself) of 2000 opted NOT to upgrade at all?
The article was sketchy, maybe smaller expense, smaller expectations make some sense. Less cost (to MS and the consumer I would think) per upgrade, less benifit, decide to upgrade every few years, but MS has part of the user base upgrading all the time, not just in the year or so after a big software release.
Some people dont even know 2003 exists!
Durrr. "Windows 2003" is only available as Windows Server 2003. It is intended for a different market than 2000 (business) or XP (home/business).
Withdrawal before climax is very ineffective and those who try this are usually called "parents."
They wont make the same mistake as with Windows XP and 2000: They were so stable that there was no demand for windows 2003. Some people dont even know 2003 exists!!
...whereas some people can't tell the difference between consumer and enterprise (server) releases of software.
People who need to know about Windows 2003 know about it. My mum doesn't need to know, so she is blissfully ignorant.
Or "Instead of delaying it even longer, we'll fix it as we go along and hope no one notices we are releasing patches for stuff we should have fixed before roll-out".
Seems to me they are still using the "update" line on the public where they should be using "oops, we f***ed up", it will just be more frequent.
Those delays are set to end late next year with the simultaneous launch of new versions of Windows and the Office suite of PC applications in the company's most significant new product cycle since Windows 95.
This phrase gets dusted off for every OS release MS makes. Heard it for 98, ME, 2000, XP, 2003... and will continue to hear it for every other bloody version MS flogs.
Maybe Microsoft has come to the realization that the rest of the world has - that every new version of Windows isn't as "revolutionary" as Windows 95 was. Ever since the end of the .com era when computers really just became commodity items, Microsoft has been trying to convince us that their next new OS will also be the next greatest thing in computing. Much of what I've read about Vista isn't all that interesting, and it's good to see the computer industry give Vista the coverage that it deserves. If Microsoft hopes to avoid going down in flames altogether, it has to adopt the incremental strategy that everyone else uses. What will be interesting to see is if Microsoft can manage this well. With 7 new flavors of Vista alone, throwing more versions of the OS into the mix at a rapid rate is just going to confuse the market even further. To be at all successful, the first thing that they'll have to do it switch back to a numbering system like Mac or their old year-based system (95/98/2000) so that people can keep tabs on their OS. This is good not only from a marketing standpoint where people feel like they've got an old copy of the OS that they want to upgrade, but it's also good from a patch standpoint. How are people to know whether ending the life cycle of a named OS is going to impact their version?
Personally, I think that Microsoft will continue to implode under the weight of Windows. The testing alone on all the various current and future versions of Windows will suck up a significant amount of their resources. I'd be willing to bet that just a few years after Vista is released that Microsoft starts talking about end-of-life for XP because they can't sustain all those different releases. Of course so few people will have paid to upgrade their machines from the last release that there will still be a huge number of people running old code. Then they'll need to have a discounted upgrade program, which further erodes earnings, leading to even less support, and the cycle goes on...
If you don't want crime to pay, let the government run it.
I updated several of my devices without a reboot. Those sort of patches seem rare, and likely for good reason.
The catch is that if you need to patch a critical system file, it's orders of magnitude more simple to just replace it upon reboot (since nothing's running). Otherwise you need to close down any applications and services that are using that file. Some system files are used by the GUI interface itself, at which point you're crossing your fingers and hoping it pops back to reality during the patch process.
It's probably technically possible to do certain patches without rebooting, but you'd have to have a savvy enough user to shut down and bring back dependent services. Linux admins are used to that sort of thing. For home users, it's far easier to simply reboot.
I think the mispelling of Microsoft is what did the post in. Acceptable mispellings include "M$" "Micro$oft" "MSFT" and "M$FT"... "Microsuck" is really hitting below the belt. (Well, it implies that something is happening below the belt, at any rate).
2005: with the simultaneous launch of new versions of Windows and the Office suite of PC applications in the company's most significant new product cycle since Windows 95
IIRC, wasn't almost the very same sentence used in 2001 prior to the launch of Windows XP?
For Linux that is.
/. users will voice complaint -- Linux on the desktop sucks. The key to break into that market is ease of use and while as /.ers we can generally 'figure it out' even if we are unfamiliar, the average Joe will not. Apple is going in the right direction there but with limited hardware and inflated prices, it's not a viable alternative for the desktop, as pretty as it is.
:)
Tell me which corporation will install a new point release of ANY Microsoft OS? Hell, remember service pack 2? That's technically speaking, a whole point release. And where I work, and countless other places, IT managers opted NOT to install it for a *very* long time until the bugs were worked out in that point release.
This idea of 'smaller' and 'more frequent' upgrades plays merely into the Linux world's hands. The problem with Windows is that there's a tie-in to everything. So if a change must be made, it affects the OS at the kernel level. With Linux, kernel updates aren't as frequent nor as impacting. However, KDE can release a new version and since it's part of x windows and not attached to the OS in a surgical manner, it really doesn't matter. People don't know that now because Linux isn't mainstream, but they will when they find themselves extensively testing for compatibility with legacy apps they have in-house, or whatever with regards to Windows.
This is the opportunity for the Linux community to come together and offer a *true* desktop competitor to Windows. As it stands right now, and I know the
If Linux as a desktop becomes EASY to use (and I mean damned near idiotproof), the server can pretty much remain as it is. Nobody cares about the server when they are using their desktop, especially as an end-user in say, Accounting. They just want to get their figures out the door without having applications crash and close on them.
Now's the time to do it though.. Microsoft is going to set themselves up badly with Vista... and sometimes you only get one good chance to whack the bad guy in the back of the head. And then kick him while he's down
The price is always right if someone else is paying.
its a terrible idea to lift with your back instead of your legs.
"Bend at the knees" is what they say
Cause there's nothing funny about back pain.
If I get modded down, someone obviously didn't get the humor.
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
If you simplify the world by definining complex ideas using buzzwords, you can draw make all sorts of ill fitting connections.
OpenDoc may have been "modular", but everything modular is not related to OpenDoc. If fact, the two ideas you link have nothing in common, and your ability to connect the two based on one buzzword is sobering. In fact, it makes Jesus cry.
MS is not copying Apple's product release strategy either; there is no "strategy" involved with releasing minor updates to product.
What Microsoft is copying is the straw-grabbing desperation of Apple from 91-96, where they announced one OS inititive after another as their development plans fell like flies in a microwave oven.
Lately it seems that hardware companies are in the game -- e.g. Intel processors with features designed to make up for the deficiencies of Ballmer's bunch in Redmond.
Back scratching at it's finest. Microsoft bloats it's OS and applications, so people have to purchase a new computer and pay the Intel and Microsoft tax.
*DrugCheese rants*
Smaller and more frequent also means less expensive and yearly. Which basically means that Microsoft is moving to the subscription model it always wanted. Windows users will pay a "small amount" e.g., 20 bucks, every year for minor and insignificant updates. In other words, we'll be paying for what we now get for free.
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
(tinfoilhat)
More frequent updates, so that they can slowly lay the groundwork for mandatory upgrades to Vista?
(/tinfoilhat)
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
you mean, more like a virus?
hmm.
-Styopa
Just like Sony Entertainment has been doing for Everquest2, don't give patches for free, charge people. Call them "Adventure Packs" and come up with fancy names so people think they are getting something extra and not something they should be getting anyway. Let's see, call the first critical patch: "The Spyware Saga" and part of the "Adventure Pack" includes a popup blocker and anti-spoofing Software. They can start advertising an Expansion Pack "Vista: The Clone Wars" and have people pay for more patches.
Where I work we're only now getting Office 2003 because the IT department tested thoroughly and was waiting for the worst of the (numerous) bugs to be patched by MS.
No large company is going to install any update or software without some testing first. Short-cycle incremental releases are just more to test, and most companies will probably only bother to test/roll-out when a new feature set looks compelling.
This sort of release schedule works for Apple because they do not have the huge corporate installed base that MS does--most of their customers are individuals and small businesses.
Build a man a fire, he's warm for one night. Set him on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Criminy imaging the support nightmare this is going to trigger at any third party software developer, not to mention hardware compatability, testing, you name it.
I can see why MS wants to churn their user base to increase profits, but all this is going to do is piss people off.
Not only that, but software quality will go down - with SP2 Windows XP is just starting to become good. Now with flavor du jour the OS will never become old enough to be stable.
Quoth the article: "Executives have talked of taking a more "modular" approach to Microsoft's biggest products, breaking them down into smaller elements that can be worked on independently."
So does that mean IE will become a module again?
And the standard release will be the reduced edition?