We're *all* clueless about *something*

Don Box reponds...

Indigo (one of the three "pillars of Longhorn") does in fact install on XP and Windows Server 2003. The experience on all three platforms should be comparable.

Yes, I've written before that I think Indigo is one of the gems of MSFT's new work. That accounts for just a small portion of the work though. I can't help but wonder whether the rest of the teams just did not try hard enough, or whether their decisions are more valid from a technical or business perspective.

...I know its fun to paint MSFT as clueless dolts who don't care about developer or customer investments, but the reality isn't quite that black and white.

That's not my intent, but unfortunately can come across in part through my writing style. And that's something I regret. I need an automatic "tone" critic.

FWIW, I don't think MSFT as clueless. They're too good at what they do. I just wish I could be a fly on the wall in Redmond to understand their thinking. (Of course it "their thinking" is itself non-uniform. Certainly the company is full of all kinds of agendas and thought processes.)

BTW, every large system development team I've been a part of has made proportionately bad decisions, including those I've led. There are simply so many variables, so many decisions, and so many pressures from all aspects of the effort, technical, business, and political. If this helps, I am as critical of my own past efforts as I am of those taking place around Longhorn. Moreso, since I know the details and where the skeletons are buried! (Ask me about Late-dot-Slow someday.)