The debut of Microsoft’s “new efficiency”

The Windows 7 launch road-show came to Amman last week, under the slogan of “The New Efficiency”. It generated considerable enthusiasm with hundreds of attendees. The presence of top Microsoft executives from Redmond and across the region underlined the importance of the occasion.

The press conference featured the guest of honor, Kevin Turner the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Microsoft. After hearing the opening remarks, I had the opportunity to ask Mr. Turner a couple of questions.

After commending Microsoft’s demonstration of commitment to the Middle East, I stated the general consensus is that Windows Vista was a dissapointment and said that we were all hoping that Windows 7 would be ‘the solution’, but will it be and why? And, what’s Microsoft’s view regarding the emergence of online office applications, some of which are free?

Mr. Turner first acknowledged that Vista had its problems and that it generated negative publicity for Microsoft, but he said that Microsoft has now built its greatest operating system in 35 years.

“We’re thrilled and pleased with Windows 7, and the feedback so far has been excellent. We expect to sell over 300 million copies of Windows 7,” he said.

Addressing the ‘online software’ question, Mr. Turner explained that Microsoft has its own strategy to deliver online applications, and was focused on the ‘cloud computing’ future. Regarding paid vs. free online software models, he said that “Nothing is actually free, as it may be supported by advertising, but the beauty of what Microsoft offers is the combination of software and services and the resulting savings gained by businesses.”

Next up was a public launch event, in which Mr. Turner spoke again and was followed by Samer Chidiac, from Microsoft’s Lebanon office, who summed it up well when he said: “People have told us that they ‘just want their computers to work’.”

The user desperation is quite evident in that statement, and the willingness of Microsoft to admit that fact is commendable. And, from the looks of it so far, Windows 7 is a product geared towards making computers ‘work again’ the way we want them to.

Maybe there will still be some security holes, and some glitches here and there, but it appears that ‘the new efficiency’ is coming with a leaner OS, faster start-up, more user-friendliness and much more.

Those of us who are Windows users want the new operating system to be great. We want to stop envying our Macintosh-using friends, before we end up jumping ship and joining them!

Windows 7 has a lot of expectations to live up to, and Microsoft is probably at a real cross-road at this point in time, when switching to other operating systems has never been easier. In the coming weeks, early adopters of Windows 7 around the world will deliver their verdict. Let’s wait and see.

zanasser@gmail.com