July 2015
Volume 30 Number 7
First Word - Journey to Windows 10
By Keith Boyd | July 2015
In 2001 I received my first Microsoft “Ship It” awards for Internet Explorer (IE) 6 and Windows XP. The initial reaction to Windows XP is humorous in hindsight. Pundits were aghast at the new “Aero” UI and predicted doom for the first Windows release featuring a combined Windows 9x and NT kernel. For a few months, sales were tepid, and Microsofties everywhere held their breath. Then there was a collective exhale as consumers and businesses made Windows XP a smash hit.
Sure, there were problems along the way—the number of exploits in Windows XP forced the entire company to stop and spend months on end doing a “security push.” To this day, there are copies of David LeBlanc’s “Writing Secure Code” on shelves all over Microsoft. Windows XP might have been chock full of security holes, but it was subsequently hardened, improved upon, and to this day remains one of the most beloved products in Microsoft history. Microsoft began the Windows Vista project with its mojo intact.
As Windows Vista development began, the IE team was famously dismantled, in favor of a new team tasked to build a modern, connected-client platform. The “Avalon” team (of which I was a part) built the managed application platform known as Windows Presentation Foundation, or WPF. Throughout the myriad missteps of the Vista project, my conviction about WPF as a platform that could propel Microsoft forward was resolute.
Alas, the travails of Windows Vista are well documented. We finally shipped five and a half years later, and while there was legitimate excitement for WPF and other new technologies, Windows Vista failed to ignite the virtuous cycle that propelled the PC industry like past releases. It was the first legitimate dud in a long time.
Enter Steven Sinofsky.
Much like the “Star Trek” movie franchise, Windows was enjoying success with every other release. Sinofsky aimed to stop that by infusing a new confidence and culture in the Windows team, and under his stewardship he produced the widely respected—and even loved—Windows 7. But also staying true to the “Star Trek” analogy, that same leadership team, riding a high similar to that of the earlier Windows management team that successfully fused the NT and 9x kernels in only 18 months, went for a moon shot—and produced Windows 8.
Like Windows Vista, Windows 8 struggled out of the gate. However, the product itself improved markedly with Windows 8.1. In fact, any early user of Windows 8 who was turned off by the new “modern” UI should give Windows 8.1 a look. Even on machines without touch, Windows 8.1 is easy to use and navigate. The new app platform has caught on, with amazing apps and games added to the Windows Store every day. It might have had a slow start, but Windows 8.1 has Windows back on the right path.
And boy, did Terry Myerson, Michael Fortin, Joe Belfiore and the rest of the Microsoft Operating System Group leadership team seize the moment with Windows 10. I’ve been using an early beta for several months now and I love it. All input modalities, from touch, to voice, to mouse and keyboard, feel completely natural and intuitive. The “modern” concepts introduced in Windows 8 are now seamlessly integrated into the OS. The fit and finish—even on my early build—is amazing. Stability, with very few exceptions, has been stellar. Many of you are experiencing Windows 10 for the first time after Build and Ignite and I suspect your reaction is much the same as mine: Wow. Windows is back. And while I might not be a member of the team anymore, I couldn’t be prouder.
If my “Star Trek” analogy holds true, we’ll say that Windows 2000 represents “Star Trek: the Motion Picture”—groundbreaking, but boring. Windows XP is analogous to the glorious “The Wrath of Khan.” Windows Vista maps to “The Search for Spock,” which might be retitled “The Search for Relevance.” Windows 7 is “The Voyage Home,” a release where we came home to the fundamentals of Windows. Hopefully Windows 8 isn’t the “The Final Frontier,” but it did receive a similar reaction from critics.
What does this mean for Windows 10? Perhaps it’s apt that the last movie with the original “Star Trek” crew was titled “The Undiscovered Country.” It wasn’t necessarily my favorite “Star Trek” movie, but it was solid, nostalgic, and packed a few surprises. But I actually think you can expect a lot more from Windows 10. In fact, with all that has changed in the latest version of Windows, it may be best to think of it as a full-blown, J.J. Abrams-style reboot. It’s that good.
Keith Boyd manages the developer documentation team in the Cloud and Enterprise (C&E) division at Microsoft. In that capacity, he oversees editorial strategy for MSDN Magazine. Prior to arriving in C&E in 2013, he held the same role in Windows. When he’s not at work, he’s enjoying time with his family, including his wife, Leslie, and three sons, Aiden, Riley and Drew.