The Five Pillars of Windows 7 (part 5 of 5)

The circle is now complete: Bryant posts the final part in his series on the pillars of Windows 7. Note that "pillars" is a common Microsoft term: They like to frame everything in terms of PowerPoint presentations, so normally the company will try to keep "pillars" to three or less, all the better to fit on a single screen. That there are five Windows 7 pillars is, I think, somewhat telling.: Windows remains a complex product.

The final pillar focuses much more on the business-oriented aspects of Windows 7 rather than the consumer additions we saw in the previous four pillars. The scenarios covered by this particular pillar are designed to make deployment and maintenance of Windows 7 easier than any prior operating system. Most of the scenarios in this pillar seem to be nothing more than enhancements of features which made their debut in Windows Vista, which is good for companies looking to minimize costs while looking to deploy an improved OS since it would mean less training for both employees and IT professionals.

Pillar Five: Engineered for Ease of Ownership
Windows 7 will put a number of computer repair personnel out of a job (kidding) while making life much easier for the typical corporate network administrator by providing the tools necessary to keep Windows running as long and as healthy as possible.

BTW: If you haven't seen it, I've posted three Windows 7 build 6519 screenshot galleries over the past few days, and should have a longer write-up about build 6519 sometime in the coming days. In contrast to the strategy stuff presented in these pillars conversations, I'm focusing on just the changes we can see in this first external build, compared to Windows Vista.

Discuss this Article 4

Lindy
on Apr 6, 2008
Honesty I dont see how you or anyone other than someone actually working on the "Windows 7" product can even begin to comment on it. Or be taken seriously for that matter. Windows 7 is what pre-alpha? Concept version 1.3? History is all we have to go on. So we will get Vista 7 in 2012 or we will get charged for a service pack...Windows 98SE/Windows 2003 R2. If it comes out next year it will be Vista R2. This video sums up my comments. Vista in 2003....hahahahah, what a joke. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9ifQvQCO7Y
pthurrott
on Apr 7, 2008
Lindy... I don't think it matters per se "when" Windows 7 will happen. What matters, at this point, is what Microsoft is working on for this release. And these "pillars" posts, which are based on Microsoft's stated directions inside of the first external Windows 7 build, are the most detailed and correct explanation of that yet. Right now, we're just talking strategy. The specifics, of course, will change over time. Microsoft's ability to deliver on that stuff, in a timely matter or otherwise, is another story. But if you all you care about is schedules, your head's in the wrong place, sorry.
sttevo
on Apr 7, 2008
@Lindy: well I for one enjoy reading about this kind of stuff I think it's great.
Stinktoad
on Apr 23, 2008
@Lindy: I agree with sttevo, I also enjoy reading about new additions and fixes and whatnot. Paul had it right. Pull your head out of your ...and start thinking real life.

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