Microsoft is showing a little different attitude these days. They have been extremely open with Windows 7, making beta copies really easy for just about anyone to get their hands on. They have been, and this is really a shift, very attentive and responsive to the "community at large" during the beta. And now it seems they are going to be releasing the shipping version on time or even a LITTLE EARLY! This is a monumental shift!!! Finally, just to punctuate the whole thing, they have recently announced some substantial discounts for early adopters! See article at Information Week.

It looks like Microsoft is working overtime to drum up business and may be a little worried, you think?

I say it's about time!

For tooooooo long Microsoft has used it's monolithic market share as a reason to cram its over bloated, under tested, security hole ridden software on its nearly captive customer base... Then, finally they loaded that last straw onto the poor camel's back - Vista. The user community revolted by simply staying put with Windows XP. Basically staging an "upgrade strike". At the same time, larger numbers than ever before decided to make the switch to the Mac. Finally with an eroding customer base and upgrade sales flat lining Microsoft had themselves an "oofdah! moment and stared smelling the coffee burning... In the OS department anyway.

Have they truly seen the light? Sadly it would appear, No. Their approach to .Net or nothing, to non standards based HTML rendering in Outlook their refusal to work with competitors on industry standards joint initiatives, still shows them for what they are... A cranial-up-rectal bully that just doesn't get or care how to play well with others.

For now, out of all this, at least I may get a reasonable price on a finally stable OS to run Open Office, ColdFusion, PHP, CS4, MySQL... you know, all my anything-but-Microsoft apps on.. And for that at least I'm grateful.

I hope, selfishly I'll admit, that Windows 7 is all it is supposed to be, and what Vista should have been. But at the same time I hope it doesn't do too well. I'd like to see Microsoft sweat some more. I'd like to see them realize that a web standards compliant Outlook would actually be the RIGHT long term choice! That Internet Explorer should actually support WC3 (World Wide Web Consortium) standards. Maybe, if Apple continues to erode their base and they continue to lose market share Microsoft will actually see the light. They, and the rest of us will be the better for it.

I'll admit, we have to give Microsoft credit... In the early days they took us to places that few could have imagined, but for a long time now they have turned to the dark side where power and control are far more important to them than progress and innovation or even quality.  I don't want to see them go down, I just want to see them be a productive part of the development community, to be a force for progress rather than an obstacle.

Let's hope they will take the lesson learned in the OS department and move the rest of their efforts in the same direction.