Having followed Microsoft's exploits since its inception, I can safely say the best anyone can hope for with Windows 7 is moderate success. For all of the fanfare surrounding the new OS, Win 7 is really just a Vista martini. The operating system may have two olives instead of one this time out, but it's still made with the same cheap Microsoft vodka.
I haven't received a single personal note from a Microsoft PR person for roughly four years. Instead, the company has taken to sending out very lengthy and somewhat boring cheerleader-type consumer newsletters to the media in an attempt to keep us informed. It's essentially spam with lots of links and no real compelling content, which seems to be the work of someone who has recently finished taking English as a Second Language courses.
Somewhere along the line, Microsoft apparently decided that it only wants to deal with those amenable suckers who will give it a pass on everything—or perhaps the company has just given up any hopes of getting favorable press. Whatever the case may be, the Microsoft of 15 years ago did a much better job managing the media than it does today. The shift signals more than a simple annoyance—Microsoft's carelessness with the media seems to represent an overall careless that permeates throughout the entire company.
The recent spam newsletter, "Microsoft at a Glance," is the perfect example. For one thing, periods are left off at the end of sentences. This was likely an oversight resulting from having a computer-generated newsletter, since it seemed to happen in a specific sequence. It's the cheap vodka syndrome all over again.
This sloppiness is also reflected in Microsoft advertising, highlighted by some of the lamest ads ever produced for television. It's also displayed in the Windows 7 do-it-yourself party concept, an unprecedented eye-roller of an idea that easily topped the "I'm a PC" campaign, the latter of which, mercifully, appears to have been put down like a horse with a broken leg.
Where is the "wow?" Where is the tour-de-force? It's not going to happen with this marketing team calling the shots, so we have to assume that no matter how good or bad Windows 7 might be (it's good, but not really better than Vista SP2), the company doesn't understand the value of using better vodka.
I've long asserted that Steve Jobs was right about Microsoft years ago when he accused the company of collectively having no taste. But now I'm not so sure. There are flashes of brilliance and good taste all over the company, but Microsoft is just lazy, careless, and not at all detail-oriented anymore. There are also indications that the employees all play a zero-sum game, hoping the guy in the next cubicle fails. This is a flaw that crept into the company long before Gates's exit.
In the end, Windows 7 is a big deal—but it should be an even bigger deal. It will get a lot of attention for the next week, but the buzz will wane rapidly as people realize that there is no new paradigm here, just more cheap vodka that will inevitably be followed by the same old Microsoft hangover.
