Over the past few of several years, each the Windows client and Windows server teams have been structuring their releases to alternate in between main and minor ones.
(About the server aspect, the Softies have already been rolling out a key release followed by a small update (recognized as Release two, or R2) every two a long time. Around the consumer side, the timing has become off, however the major/minor cadence is fairly similar.)
Starting with Windows 7, but, that logic and naming framework that Microsoft has worked to establish for Windows appears to breaking down.
Yes, I’m going to reopen the can of worms about Windows Server 2008 being one and the same as Windows seven Server. The reason I’m not letting go of this is because a bunch of things nevertheless just don’t add up (and not just to me — to a number of other folks in the Windows community with whom I have spoken).
In the August 18 posting to the Windows Server blog about Windows Server 2008 R2/Windows 7 Server,
Office 2007 Pro Plus Key, Group Product Manager Ward Ralston noted that even though Windows seven Server (a k a Windows Server 2008 R2) is an interim, more minor release, “the (Windows seven) customer in fact will be a significant release.”
Hmmm. No one appears to be buying that. Customers, partners and Microsoft pundits — basically, almost everyone other than Microsoft execs — is currently considering Windows seven consumer to be a minor release. Microsoft officials have already been careful to explain that there won’t be any main changes to Windows 7 customer and that most apps that work on Vista should work on Windows seven without a problem. And given that it’s a lot harder to get customers excited about a minor release than a main one, the Windows team’s reticence to call any Windows release a “minor” update is understandable.
At the risk of being accused of being a tin-hat-wearing conspiracy theorist, let me posit a few of thoughts as to what might have happened:
Possibility A: The Server team did, indeed, decide to release one fewer versions of Server (killing off what originally was going to be Windows Server 2008 R2 and going straight to Windows 7 Server). I don’t know exactly when this decision might have already been made. But as you can see from this 2007 roadmap slide around the UX Evanglist blog, Microsoft’s plan, as recently as November 2007, was to ship Windows Server 2008 in late 2007 or early 2008. If that schedule continued,
Office 2010 Home And Student, Windows Server 2008 R2 would hit in late 2009/early 2010, and Windows Server 7 in late 2011/early 2012. But Stephen “UX Evangelist” Chapman also has a roadmap slide, dated January 2008, which appears to equate Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows seven (though that slide also may be interpreted as Windows 7 client and Windows Server 2008 R2 being built atop the same code base).
Possibility B: The Server team decided the R2 naming had become beyond confusing and decided to go with big, round numbers (Windows seven Server, Windows 8 Server,
Windows 7 Professional Product Key, Windows 9 Server) instead. That would mean the product which should have been named “Windows seven Server” (if Microsoft stuck to existing naming conventions) is now actually Windows 8 Server (maybe?). Or is it Windows 7 Server R2? Hmmm. I think it is interesting Microsoft is declining to provide even a placeholder name for the significant release of Windows Server due to follow Windows Server 2008 R2.
Before I get another email from anonymous at anonymous.com accusing me of intentionally misleading readers (and why would i do that — not quite sure on that one), let me just say I find the usually transparent Windows Server team’s opacity on this to be unusual.
Update (September 29): Stephen Chapman, over at the UX Evangelist site, documents how Microsoft did,
Office Enterprise 2007 Key, indeed, change its plans for Windows Server. As Chapman notes, Microsoft’s original plan was to release a minor Longhorn Server R2, followed by a significant “Blackcomb” Server (Windows 7 Server). Based on Chapman’s research and logic, it sounds like the Windows Server marketing team has some work ahead to realign its branding with its “major/mior” release cadence.
What do you think Microsoft should codename/call the release of Windows Server that follows Windows Server 2008 R2?
[Poll=26]
Other write-in candidates?
Update: As a few readers have pointed out, looks like the head of Windows Engineering, Steven Sinofsky, and I were on the same wavelength today. Scary! After reading the latest Sinofsky post, I’m still not sure if the Windows team and its leader consider Windows 7 to be a main or a small release — but I think the internal view is that Windows seven will be a major one. Sinofsky blogged:
”The magnitude of a release is as much about your perspective around the features as it is about the features themselves. One could even ask if being declared a main release is a compliment or not. As engineers planning a product we decide up front the percentage of our development team will that work around the release and the extent of our schedule—with the result in hand customers each decide for themselves if the release is “major”,
Office 2010 License, though of course we like to have an opinion….
From our perspective, we dedicated our full engineering team and a significant schedule to building the Windows 7 client OS. That makes it a key undertaking by any definition. We intend for Windows 7 to be an awesome release.”