Channel 9 to interview Jim Allchin, we want your help... | The Coffeehouse

scobleizer
I'm the video guy

Looks like we'll get a chance to interview Jim Allchin. We want your help.

First, read the reports of the blogger dinner last night that he had.

Then, help us come up with questions. If we pick yours we'll read your name on the video and get Jim to respond.

It looks like we won't have much time, so we'll probably be limited to three to five Channel 9 questions.

As with all executive interviews it's possible that it won't happen due to scheduling conflicts and such (Jim's a really busy guy and is running the teams that are getting Beta 1 of Longhorn out).

eagle

I would like to hear Jim tell the story about his involvement with computers and is Longhorn something he dreamed of long ago.

How about a blogger dinner in Seattle after WinHEC?

W3bbo
The Master of Baiters

Since he's both into DotNet and the Desktop Search thing:

"Is the Desktop Search thing written in managed code? And if so, how can we tune our apps to reach similar, if not better, levels of performance?"

Tyler Brown
Bullets change governments far surer than votes.

The introduction of CTP's for the Indigo and Avalon pillars has allowed Microsoft to receive an enormous amount of support and feedback. These CTP's have also been released to the general public. Is anything like this planned for Longhorn, or for future projects? I believe that this development process can only strenghten the products that Microsoft develops.

scobleizer
I'm the video guy

Eagle: There are going to be several bloggers dinners in the next few weeks.

Chris Pirillo and me and Buzz Bruggeman are putting one together for next Tuesday evening. There's another one next Wednesday evening (Anita Rowland is putting that together).

Then the week of WinHec we should do something as well. What night works best?

Tyler Brown
Bullets change governments far surer than votes.

Wow... too bad I'm a student in living in Ontario, otherwise I would fly out there to attend one of those dinners!

eagle

scobleizer wrote:
Eagle: What night works best?

24, 27-29 I haven’t been in Seattle in a long time, looking forward to my first pilgrimage to Microsoft and can’t wait to learn about the top secret project Jonathanh is working on.

PocketXP
More Cowbell

Hello Scobleizer,

Thanks for the opportunity.

I am timing my next hardware purchase to correspond with the longhorn beta2 release.
I'd like it to be a 64-bit tablet system.

My Questions:

1. When do you expect to see 64-bit longhorn tablet PC's?

2. Do you believe that the 64-bit horsepower will greatly improve the inking experience?

ZippyV
Fired Up

Questions for Jim (quoted from previous post):

Will there be changes to Notepad, Paint or Wordpad?
Will we finally be able to create Windows themes?
Is the sidebar still alive?
What kind of 3th party applications would you like to include with Windows (not tools like zip support or cd burning stuff, but something like educational software) ?

CRPietschmann
Chris Pietschmann

What do you think about the Mono project?

Does Microsoft plan on bringing .NET to other non-Microsoft Operating Systems?

Mono is an open source implementation of the .NET Framework which runs on MacOS and Linux. Mono brings .NET (the best dev platform in my opinion) to other non-MS platforms.

CRPietschmann
Chris Pietschmann

Beer28 wrote:

I believe he knows what mono is

Yes, I know, I was just explaining it for other who don't. Believe it or not; there are alot of people who still don't know about the Mono project.

I didn't know Scoble asked Suzanne Cook about mono; I'll have to check out that interview.

I would still like to hear Jim's opinion on Mono, and whether Microsoft plans on bringing .NET to other platforms.

sbc
GW R/Me

Perhaps jamie has some questions. I recall him wanting Microsoft to fire him (Jun 15 - "The times they are a changin' ?" and Jul 14 - "Open source kills jobs"). Longhorn isn't out yet, so it seemed a bit extreme.

sbc
GW R/Me

Zeo wrote:
Jim,
What are your thoughts on DVD playback in Windows? How can Microsoft improve the experience of watching multimedia on Windows in the future?

**/Explanation....I hate watching DVD's on my laptop or desktop because I'm constantly faced with the issue of outlook popping up tellig me I have a message, or Norton asking me to download updates...Honestly...I'd just like windows to get out of the way and let me watch my movie..and given that I have so many apps running I'd just like to be able to switch into a model that freezes all of my apps and processes and then lets me wathch a movie without stutters or freezes..and only lets my dvd drain my battery on my laptop...

Almost like a DVD playback mode environment. When I watch a movie on a computer right now it isn't an enjoyable experience like it is on the media center.

**\Explanation

Perhaps you should be able to just put a DVD in, boot the PC and it plays - without Windows needing to fully load (i.e. just load video and sound drivers). I'm sure there was something about that (or playing audio CD's) on some news site.

Zeo
Channel 9 :)

Question 2,

a)Given that current users of windows have grown accustomed to running dozens of applications at the same time, and with more and more applications being used by each user at the same time…what are your thoughts on how Windows can enable scenarios for users with more and more applications being used at the same time?

b)Given that dual core technologies are just hitting the market, what is the windows proposition for allowing users to leverage the newer chipsets with more applications interoperating together at the same time?

jcwelch
The Mad Monk of Missouri

scobleizer wrote:
Looks like we'll get a chance to interview Jim Allchin. We want your help.

First, read the reports of the blogger dinner last night that he had.

Then, help us come up with questions. If we pick yours we'll read your name on the video and get Jim to respond.

It looks like we won't have much time, so we'll probably be limited to three to five Channel 9 questions.

As with all executive interviews it's possible that it won't happen due to scheduling conflicts and such (Jim's a really busy guy and is running the teams that are getting Beta 1 of Longhorn out).

As a sysadmin dealing (like most of my colleagues) with a heterogeneous network, one of the most frustrating things is Microsoft's issues with heterogeneous networks. The continuous push of technology implementation that either works very poorly outside of Windows, (MSN Messenger) or not at all, (Windows Media 10 DRM) means that any introduction of a MS product, or even the testing is delayed while we find out what hidden "gifts" await our Mac OS X/Linux/Unix users.

This is why, for example, we are a Palm shop instead of Windows Mobile, even though, (and I'm a LONG time Mac user), Windows Mobile is a far better mobile OS Platform. But I'm the only one willing to deal with the pain of being a Windows Mobile user not on windows. Palm is simply a better platform if you're heterogeneous.

It means that Windows Media is never going to be our streaming server of choice. It means that we may well move away from Exchange. The modern corporate networking environment is moving towards heterogeneity, not away, but Microsoft is unwilling or unable to help, (or does an EXCELLENT imitation of it) customers with this task in any way that doesn't push them towards Windows.

This forum is a perfect example. I spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out why my post had no formatting whatsoever. Then I reset my user agent to be IE 6, and look, I can suddenly format my posts. Obviously everyone is using IE 6, right? It's silly to make anyone have to play these games, but it's what you get when you deal with Microsoft when you aren't running what they want you to run. Not that the toolbar stuff works, but at least I can now manually format things and my paragraph spacing works.

We don't expect anything for free, we expect that you pay to play, but the continual stream of poorly thought out, feature depleted software from MS for other platforms, (Office:Mac, and the Mac RDC are the only exceptions here) makes it hard to consider MS solutions (MSN Messenger and WiMP Mac, the absolute lack of any Microsoft Linux applications, the lack of anything but the most basic connectors to SQL Server for non-windows OS's, Active Sync is windows only, the tediousness of using AD with non-windows boxen, etc, yadda). But when you deal with Microsoft outside of the MacBU there is a continual attitude from the top of MS that only 100% Windows shops count, and that MS wants all or nothing. Well, you aren't going to get it all, but if you insist on being binary about this, nothing becomes a distinct possibility.

I like MS products. I adore Entourage. But there's a lot of opportunity, PR and fiscal, in making software that doesn't suck(tm) for Mac OS X and even Linux. If I can't get the feature set I need from Microsoft, I can get it from other sources. I'd like to think that even a < 100% Windows shop still counts as a customer, but from where I'm sitting we obviously don't. With Microsoft, it feels like as soon as they discover you aren't 100% Windows, you're shoved to the back of the bus and not allowed to talk to the "good" passengers, or even use the bathroom. Maybe it's that the leadership of Microsoft is incapable of realizing that they cannot force people to work the way that makes Microsoft happy. Maybe it's that they don't want to. I no longer care which, because my non-Microsoft choices get better by the day. What happens when someone hands me a solution that fits my needs because they listened, and Microsoft can't because they won't. I can tell you who will lose in that case, it's happened a couple times.

So, (Sorry for the length of this) my actual question is: "What is Microsoft going to do for people who will never be Windows only to make them want to continue to use Microsoft products where it is appropriate for their needs as customers?"

theodp

Rich Client User Experience, RIP?

Just got back from a major software conference where the biggest announcement was the move towards server-side processing for many of the vendor's products.

I find this dismaying, since the server-side processing user experience can at best be described as crap-o-la, which even the presenters acknowledged ("On the downside, we have had some complaints that it's slow, more difficult to use, and can't be used at all if there's no server connection available...").

I hate to think we're dooming everyone to this least-common-denominator user interface, but it sure seems like corporations are demanding that vendors quench their thirst for "zero footprint" software, usability be damned.

What does Microsoft make of this seemingly unstoppable trend towards server-side processing, which is by no means confined to this one vendor, and do you have a grand plan to counteract it?

Andre Da Costa
Created with PhotoDraw 2000 V2

Hi Mr. Allchin, you said Longhorn is a fundamental platform for building the next generation of Windows applications for the next 15 to 20 years. Could you expound a little bit more on what makes Longhorn the platform of choice for Developers, Businesses and Consumers going forward?

Thanks!

fdezjose
Hello from Madrid...

So what are your plans regarding the Windows Mobile Market? Wouldn't it be nice if you could offer the Windows Mobile OS, Windows Media Player 10 pocket, etc. YOURSELF, not the OEMs.

And what can you say about the different editions of Longhorn?

Can you tell us something about Windows XP SP3?

Thanks! Wink

Zeo
Channel 9 :)

bump

jamie

sbc wrote:
Perhaps jamie has some questions. I recall him wanting Microsoft to fire him (Jun 15 - "The times they are a changin' ?" and Jul 14 - "Open source kills jobs"). Longhorn isn't out yet, so it seemed a bit extreme.

im not a fan of alchin because he killed the internet platform and tools division, stole ie - did nothing with it for 3 years and cut off all - human communication - with developers

we finally have C9 thank god

no matter how good longhorn is - ill never like the guy for trying to bury the net into windows instead of the other way around (like google - instant on) and trying to keep stuff for windows releases in stead of delivering it when its ready

also the lack of transparency drives me crazy
even c9 doesnt get enough LIVE BUILDING talk - so we can provide on the fly feedback before somethings in beta and its too late for our feedback to mean anything *as we did in the ie3/4 days

Zeo
Channel 9 :)

Jim,
What are your thoughts on DVD playback in Windows? How can Microsoft improve the experience of watching multimedia on Windows in the future?

**/Explanation....I hate watching DVD's on my laptop or desktop because I'm constantly faced with the issue of Outlook popping up, or Norton asking me to download updates...Honestly...I'd just like windows to get out of the way and let me watch my movies..

Given that I have so many apps running I'd just like to be able to switch into a mode that freezes all of my apps and processes and then lets me wathch a movie without stutters or freezes..and only lets the dvd drain my laptop battery.

Almost like a DVD playback mode environment.

When I watch a movie on a computer right now it isn't an enjoyable experience like it is on the media center.

**\Explanation

[EDIT]
"Perhaps you should be able to just put a DVD in, boot the PC and it plays - without Windows needing to fully load (i.e. just load video and sound drivers). I'm sure there was something about that (or playing audio CD's) on some news site."

....Yeah we heard it from some "news sites" I'd like to hear Jims thoughts.

You mention being able to boot into the environment...no offense but I HATE REBOOTS and I know that Jim hates them to...so I'm wondering if there would be a way to have the DVD environment pause the background windows operations(much like pausing a virtual pc) and let me play a DVD without rebooting....

Knowing that Jim can't disclose features of Longhorn...I just want to hear his thoughts about making the Multimedia experience of Windows richer/easier/and better...

I DO NOT want to hear about Media Player, or the photo scanner wizard, but more on where he sees the need for improvement and where he thinks Microsoft(AND ONLY MICROSOFT) can deliver improvements to the core functionality/usuablity of Multimedia in the platform.
[Edit]

sbc
GW R/Me

jamie wrote:
sbc wrote:Perhaps jamie has some questions. I recall him wanting Microsoft to fire him (Jun 15 - "The times they are a changin' ?" and Jul 14 - "Open source kills jobs"). Longhorn isn't out yet, so it seemed a bit extreme.

im not a fan of alchin because he killed the internet platform and tools division, stole ie - did nothing with it for 3 years and cut off all - human communication - with developers

we finally have C9 thank god

no matter how good longhorn is - ill never like the guy for trying to bury the net into windows instead of the other way around (like google - instant on) and trying to keep stuff for windows releases in stead of delivering it when its ready

also the lack of transparency drives me crazy
even c9 doesnt get enough LIVE BUILDING talk - so we can provide on the fly feedback before somethings in beta and its too late for our feedback to mean anything *as we did in the ie3/4 days

We wouldn't have complaints about standards (PNG and CSS support) if IE was developed as actively as it was in the past. The browser is still important to some people and IE is costing some developers time due to working round bugs.

jamie

"real" question for Jim:

How is your "Santana" guitar doing - that you got from steve?or bill..forget

did you record anything with it? is there anything "santana" about it inherantly - or just regular guitar

Have you posted any music files youve recorded using it? or is it just sort of hung up on a wall somewere? *for last 3 years... kidding!

jamie

EDIT: * dont mean to sound harsh - probably shouldnt use words like "never will like" in a forum

My info maybe incorrect (2 books: How The Web Was Won and Breaking Windows).

If youve read those 2 books - and use to actually talk to great people like ben and chris - and were on the side of the "internet doves" ..not the "Windows Hawks" .. youll know better what I mean

IP&T division was C9.. only 3/4 years ago..

rjdohnert
You will never know success until you know failure

Myone question for Jim Allchin,

"What new features in Longhorn will help Microsoft attract more Linux and Mac developers and users to the Windows platform?"

r_keith_hill
ktm250

When can we say goodbye to file extensions in Windows? It is kind of lame to use such a crude and easily broken (stomped) mechanism. Documents should be able to declare their:

1. Unique type - if they have a unique type e.g. .doc, .xls, .ppt

and

2. Compatible types - e.g. .wxs is compat with .xml which is compat with a text document - therefore the shell should know that I can edit a .wxs file in Notepad.

I also shouldn't be able to confuse the shell like I can today by changing the file extension.