Microsoft Suffers Leaks, Lagging Sales Numbers As They Look Forward To Windows 8 386
nandemoari writes "With only a few weeks until Microsoft's Windows 7 Release Candidate 1 (RC1) is released, Microsoft is already looking for people to help with Windows 8. An April 14th job ad posted by Microsoft says the upcoming version of Windows will have new features like cluster support and support for one way replication. Apparently the Windows 8 kernel is being reworked to provide dramatic performance improvements. Windows 8 will also include innovative features that, according to Microsoft, will revolutionize file access in branch offices." Relatedly, several users tell us that both 32 and 64-bit versions of the Windows 7 release candidate have been leaked into the wild via p2p networks. The current leaked version shows little change beyond bug fixes, so it would seem what you see is what you get. This all comes as Microsoft posts quarterly sales that have fallen for the first time in the company's 23-year history. Seeing a 6% drop in revenue and a 32% drop in earnings, some within the Redmond giant expect the downward trend to continue.
Buh? (Score:3, Insightful)
How is this a leak? Or news?
Yet another new version (Score:3, Insightful)
So thats saying that what isn't out yet is already being replaced, so why should i upgrade.
How about just make something that works?
Re:Buh? (Score:2, Insightful)
How is this a leak?
Because the RC hasn't been officially released.
Trash talk (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Yet another new version (Score:3, Insightful)
Because they'd rather spend tons on R&D, marketing, support, etc. for something people don't want to buy (Vista, Windows 7) than to continue to press discs for something people do want to buy (XP).
Fuck yeah. (Score:5, Insightful)
This all comes as Microsoft posts quarterly sales that have fallen for the first time in the company's 23-year history.
This is a perfect opportunity for trash talk! Suck on failure, Microsoft! Sales looking a little limp this quarter? I guess that's why they call it both micro and soft!
Heh. More seriously, as Joel points out [joelonsoftware.com]:
Microsoft has an incredible amount of cash money in the bank and is still incredibly profitable. It has a long way to fall. It could do everything wrong for a decade before it started to be in remote danger, and you never know... they could reinvent themselves as a shaved-ice company at the last minute.
It's good to see a hint that this fall might finally be starting, but even in this economy, it will be a long time before Microsoft dies.
Re:point of reference (Score:4, Insightful)
Or Linux will be ready for the desktop
* I troll, I troll, I'm typing this on my Centos machine
Re:Buh? (Score:4, Insightful)
Neither. It has been posted prior to every previous OS release by Microsoft, replacing only the current and next OS names.
In particular, they include this statement every time: "provide dramatic performance improvements"
And is "revolutionize file access in branch offices" the filesystem MS promised for Vista, or is that still DOA?
Windows.. Eight? (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:point of reference (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Here we go again (Score:3, Insightful)
Keep in mind that in this case we are extrapolating features from an MS job posting, not from an official press release. Therefore this isn't exactly hype we're looking at here - but rather internal plans which may change as time progresses.
Re:Yet another new version (Score:5, Insightful)
I want Windows 7... kernel... I don't want its shell (explorer et al) though. The idea of moving to an interface that does things differently, I don't have a huge aversion to. The idea of moving to an interface that can't do the things I can do now in Win2003... well that's just plain silly.
Re:Yet another new version (Score:5, Insightful)
Why don't they just sell service packs? As in you get upgrades with X features like Aero Glass, a new explorer, etc. but keep all your settings and applications. Like Apple does. Or some Linux distros except obviously it's free.
In marketing though I wouldn't call it a service pack. But you get the idea.
Re:Windows.. Eight? (Score:1, Insightful)
This is not a press release, this is not the "hype machine". This is just a job posting for a company that is confident that it has a future, at least long enough to make it worth filling this position. Basically, this is not news, and there is nothing for you to be upset about.
Re:Yet another new version (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm not sure there's a single industry in which the average business puts out a product without at least starting to plan the next one.
Re:point of reference (Score:4, Insightful)
Comment removed (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Yet another new version (Score:5, Insightful)
> I'm not sure there's a single industry in which the average business
> puts out a product without at least starting to plan the next one.
I'm sure you are correct. However I'm pretty sure this is the first time Microsoft has hinted about V+2 before V+1 shipped. Up to now the cycle has been:
1. Release. This is THE product you must have. It fixed everything you hated about V-1 and is just packed full of awesome.
2. As customers actually buy V and find it creates as many problems as it fixed, even after the first service release announce the upcoming V+1 in development. Release some internal builds and screenshots to the tame tech media to begin working the hype up. Yup, V+1 is going to be the bomb, every feature you could possibly want is going to be in this puppy, it will finally be secure and you will even have whiter teeth!
3. As release date passes without a release start removing features. Make sure all the pirates and tech media have a recent build. Ensure all reviews are between the upcoming release and competing shipping products to suck out their oxygen. Nah, who needs NDS when Active directory is coming any day now and will rule!
4. PROFIT! ; Goto 1
This time Windows 7 isn't even being hyped as more than a corrective for the stuff people hated in Vista, no real new features. The new features are now being hyped for V+2. Which is only more evidence that 7 is just Mojave/Vista SE.
Re:New OS naming trend? (Score:3, Insightful)
The first NT came out before they started using year numbers, and continued while the year numbers were being used. And 2000 came out around the same time as ME. Basically, MS has no naming system, unless you count schizophrenia as a naming system.
Why don't they just sell service packs? (Score:3, Insightful)
As in you get upgrades with X features like Aero Glass, a new explorer, etc. but keep all your settings and applications. Like Apple does.
Apple doesn't sell service packs. Going from 10.4 to 10.5 is an upgrade not a service pack. You can download and install service packs for free just as with Windows. And while you can keep some of your applications not all will work. I found that out when I upgraded from Tiger, 10.4, to Leopard. My security suite, with an AV, firewall, and backup software were broke with the upgrade. After I did a compleat install instead of just an upgrade on top of Tiger. The same with my utilities.
Falcon
a dead Microsoft? (Score:4, Insightful)
It's good to see a hint that this fall might finally be starting, but even in this economy, it will be a long time before Microsoft dies.
I'll be at the start of any "I hate Microsoft, they're evil!" line, but I DO NOT want to see MS die. We need more competition not less.
Falcon
Re:point of reference (Score:3, Insightful)
To come back to your point, yes Apple would make as evil a monopolist as Microsoft, but I'd prefer if they all had to compete for my $$.
A monopolist of what? Hardware? So Dell, HP, Acer, etc. are going to be swept away? Or Software? Wait, what will we run that Apple software on?
If Microsoft goes belly up, and Apple doesn't license clones, the other computer manufacturers will throw so much money/talent/marketing at *BSD/Linux that it won;t be fun (unless, of course, you're the target of such spending).
Re:leaks (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Buh? (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah, those retards thinking WinFS nee Relational File System nee Object File System was supposed to be a file system! Rubes!
Re:a dead Microsoft? (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, I'd say that Microsoft dying would be a *huge* step towards more competition...
Re:Buh? (Score:4, Insightful)
And is "revolutionize file access in branch offices" the filesystem MS promised for Vista, or is that still DOA?
I would hope by now that people are able to see through this as yet another defense against encroaching Free and Open Source solutions. If this "feature" is actually delivered, any bets that it will not play well with Samba? Given Microsoft's history, there is every reason to suspect poison in every Microsoft offering.
Re:Yet another new version (Score:3, Insightful)
He seems more like a computer guy who doesn't like change that reduces functionality and/or efficiency.
Honestly, if those are the guys you're firing, good luck. Changing for the sake of change is idiotic at best, and self-destructive at worst. There are a lot of reasons change can be bad, and the smart computer guy looks at his individual situation and sees if change is A) Necessary B) an Improvement and C) Feasable.
From the screen shot it looks to me like this guy has a "system" that makes him efficient at what he does. If you'd rather your imployees remain generic and not take full advantage of an OS to improve their ability to work, for the sake of pending "change" every 5-10 years, you are probably a really crappy manager. You probably also think you are a great manager. Kinda funny how that tends to work out.
Re:a dead Microsoft? (Score:3, Insightful)
Taking in account that Microsoft destroyed competitors by unethical methods rather than superior products... hell yeah, I'd love to see them die.
Re:Buh? (Score:1, Insightful)
Err, that *might* be because:
- Microsoft hyped it since Cairo (early 90s), or 2003. Whichever.
- As a next-generation *file-system*.
- Microsoft then put it up as a fundamental Vista feature.
- Then dropped it (again).
- Oh, yeah. There's FS in the name.
I mean, yeah, okay, I got it: "it's not a file system. It's not abandoned. It's not a big deal." I know.
But someone here claimed for years to have the biggest dick on the planet, then it turns out that 'he' was a girl, and in the end decided to get an implant salvaged from a fetus.
That someone deserves to get the piss taken off. That's Microsoft. And they only have themselves to blame.
Re:Buh? (Score:5, Insightful)
Every press story about Windows since 1994 [today.com] reads:
I am so excited about $NEXT_VERSION of Windows. It will go beyond just solving all of the problems with $CURRENT_VERSION, it will be an entirely new paradigm. Forget about security problems, those are all fixed in $NEXT_VERSION. And they're finally ridding themselves of $ANCIENT_LEGACY_STUFF.
Also, there'll be $DATABASE_FILESYSTEM. It'll be awesome!
I wonder how $NEXT_VERSION will compare to $NEXT_NEXT_VERSION.
Re:Fuck yeah. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:a dead Microsoft? (Score:5, Insightful)
We need more competition not less.
If you assume Apple would fill that void, I wholeheartedly agree. In their own way, they are worse than Microsoft.
However, if Linux filled that void, that is actually much better. Have you not noticed?
There is competition on every level on Linux, from the kernel down.
On the kernel level, you can have Linux, Solaris, BSD, Darwin, even HURD.
If you choose Linux, you can use ext3, xfs, jfs, or reiserfs -- and those are just the ones off the top of my head that are reasonably stable and fit for desktop use.
There are alternate init systems -- everything from old-school sysvinit to Apple's launchd to Gentoo's weird dependency system to Ubuntu's upstart.
There are alternate shells -- bash, dash, csh, ksh, rush, emacs...
There have even been a few attempts at alternate X servers, though X.org remains pretty key for now.
There are alternate desktop environments -- GNOME, KDE, XFCE, etc -- and alternate window managers which can be used within those, or by themselves -- metacity, compiz, kwin, fluxbox, ratpoison, windowmaker, fvwm, twm... Or none at all.
There are alternate file browsers -- Gentoo, Nautilus, Konqueror, Dolphin, Midnight Commander, bash...
There are alternate web browsers -- Firefox, Konqueror, Epiphany, Galeon, Opera...
There are alternate package managers -- apt, rpm, portage, ports...
And there are alternate distros to wrap it all up.
Trust me, if Ubuntu ever gains a dominant position, that would be more consumer choice, and more competition, not less. The most obvious reason? I'd probably be using Kubuntu.
And that's ignoring the reasons competition doesn't matter as much, for open source things...
Re:Yet another new version (Score:1, Insightful)
Ok if you think there are no knew features in Win7 then you just are not looking. The kernel features alone are worth the upgrade. If you look at what is on the server side is gets even better. Some of the shell changes are nice but dont represent the real change.
Some items to note
Min-win
Battery Life
Boot from VHD
Multi Touch
Home Groups
Direct Access
Search Federation
Branch Cache
Fault Tolerant Heap
Driver Sandboxing
The list goes on and on. But i would not expect anyone here to spend the time looking
Re:Windows XP Mode (Score:4, Insightful)
I suppose it's easy to interpret "it was a kick-butt achievement" to mean that I liked Classic, so let me just elucidate; when I say it was a "kick-butt achievement" I'm saying that it bridged the gap between two extremely different systems. It allowed Apple to leave behind the spaghettifest that was OS 9 while keeping the customers that they had.
I'm talking about the end-goal as a business to retain customers that you already have while essentially uprooting the entire customer base and moving on to something better.
I'm sure your personal experiences with Classic aren't unique, but that doesn't change the fact that it achieved its goal: it allowed most applications to run (I'll counter with my own pull-out-of-butt metric for how many apps ran under Classic), thereby allowing Apple's loyal customer base to have an upgrade path while retaining the ability to use their already allocated software investments.
And it did it all while running a flakey OS on low-powered hardware.
Well, here's a big issue: (Score:4, Insightful)
Windows 7 isn't even out yet and already there's talk of the next product coming around the corner. I think this is part of the problem Microsoft is having with Vista: Nobody wants to invest in the considerable outlay in "upgrading" to the latest version of Windows when they already know their investment is going to be irrelevant in a year or two when something newer (read "better" in the eyes of Joe Sixpack) hits the shelves.
"I'll hold off," say millions of cash-strapped computer users.
And thus, the cycle repeats.
Re:a dead Microsoft? (Score:3, Insightful)
I calculate the number of permutations on JUST the name variations you provided. It came out to 172,800 different combinations.
This is going to make computing better? Sure as heck not easier. "Hello, help desk"..."ok, I need for you to tell me the following 35 different things..."
I know it's fun to play with the tech, I do it, but money comes from businesses. The one thing that might be able to push *nix, bsd onto corporate desktops would be a widespread standard, the complete opposite of your points. People already complain about trying to keep up with MS's updates, now we have to deal with a potential 172,000 updates? And don't give me update managers, because now we'll need to cover 32 different update managers.
Don't know how old you are, but back in the early late '70s & early '80s there was all kinds of competition in the OS market. That was some wild west craziness- there were nearly as many hardware architectures as software. And that was just the home market. It all setteled down because people didn't want to deal with that many combos.