Microsoft Reaches Out To Partners with New Program
Windows 7
Independent hardware and software vendors, original equipment and device manufacturers, and developers will be able to ensure their products are compatible and use the features of Microsoft’s new software.
Mike Nash, corporate vice president of Windows product management, said Microsoft is engaging Windows 7 partners differently from the past. Previously, for example, Microsoft typically shared ideas that were final. Sometimes, he admitted, things would shift and make it difficult for partners to plan when they should begin developing products.
As Microsoft gets closer to the final version of Windows 7, Nash said, the company wants its partners to test their Windows Vista-based products to make sure they run well on Windows 7. For partners who don’t yet have Windows Vista products, Nash said this is an opportunity is to build products that target both Windows Vista and Windows 7 because the architectures have similar foundations.
Making a Smooth Transition
Because there were so many different iterations of Vista and each worked somewhat differently than the other, there were an inordinate number of complaints and dissatisfaction among customers who adopted one version of Vista, only to realize later that they needed a different version or a different product, explained Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.
Nash encouraged partners to download the code and tools for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 betas to get a sense of the products’ capabilities and identify opportunities. He also suggested partners join the ecosystem program and begin testing their applications and devices.
June 24th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
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