Windows 7
Bill Gates talked about Windows 7 being released next year, and while most people dismissed that as vaporware, I'm seeing more and more news about the next version of Windows, which could (hopefully) put Vista to bed soon. Or at least, next year.
At the D6 conference in California this past week, there was a demo, showing some of the "Surface" or multi-touch capabilities that will be included in Windows 7.
Multi-touch is intesting and let me tell you that if you haven't played with it, it's cool. I recently got an Ipod iTouch, and I definitely like the ability to flip through things with my finger. However it's not necessarily overly exciting or useful after the first few minutes. I would like to have the ability to move things around on the screen with my fingers, click links, zoom, contract, etc. on my desktop, but I'm not sure how much I'd use it. A mouse felt really natural to me and made me more productive immediately, but moving from keyboard to screen and back? Not sure for us IT folks. For my Mom, it would be cool.
I just don't want to replace all my monitors. Maybe they could use this Laser Touch system instead.
Keeping Mum
I did see an interview with the program manager for Windows 7, which talked about how there isn't a lot of talk about Windows 7. Apparently the new leader, Steven Sinofsky, doesn't want to be transparent, instead being translucent about what is happening with Windows 7. Personally I think that this has always been the case, with there being manipulation on what is really going on at Microsoft by various groups (legal, sales, marketing, etc.).
I really don't expect it to be any different. There are things that you can't, or don't necessarily want to release. We don't want all our personal dirty laundry aired to the public, coaches and athletes won't really tell us what they feel because they have to deal with teammates, and companies have to hold things back for competitive, legal, or other reasons.
In Other News....
I'm going to try something new on the podcasts and flip through the news, pointing out a few things that I think are interesting. It's too much to write about, but check out the video or audio podcasts below to see what you think,
Steve Jones
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How to Improve Your Chances of Taking an Unwired Vacation - It deserves a full editorial, but this is a must read. You need time off, away from work, and being unwired is a good way to recharge. |
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The Voice of the DBA Podcasts
The podcast feeds are now available at sqlservercentral.podshow.com to get better bandwidth and maybe a little more exposure :). Comments are definitely appreciated and wanted, and you can get feeds from there.
or now on iTunes!
- Windows Media Podcast - 34.2MB WMV
- iPod Video Podcast - 28MB MP4
- MP3 Audio Podcast - 5.7MB
Today's podcast features music by Incompetech. Kevin Macleod has some great compositions in all genres of music. Check him out at www.incompetech.com.
I really appreciate and value feedback on the podcasts. Let us know what you like, don't like, or even send in ideas for the show. If you'd like to comment, post something here. The boss will be sure to read it.