Me: I live in Seattle with my wife, child and cat. I have worked at Microsoft since I graduated from College, both in the Macintosh Business Unit on products such as Outlook Express, Entourage, IE, and Virtual PC and in Windows Live on Hotmail, Calendar and People. I am currently a Principal Lead Program Manager on the Windows Live Social Networking team. I basically manage a team of Program Managers responsible for delivering features to support our web and client applications. I've been blogging since 2001 and like to play around with .NET in my spare time working on projects such as dasBlog (the blog that powers this site) and Send to SmugMug (an application for uploading photos to SmugMug). I blog about a number of technology and productivity related topics.
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© Copyright 2010, Omar Shahine
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Hmm, had this email exchange today with my sister. I found it pretty amusing.
Sister: can you send me some ideas for laptop ... So many options out there. Omar: Sony VGN-SZ390 Sister: cool, thanks. Omar: there are a bunch of models and Sony’s site sux so you should probably customize it. However, if you can wait you’d be better off as Vista is about to come out. Sister: customizing sounds like a pain. we can wait. let me know when it comes out. thanks! Omar: You know what vista is right? You should install IM at work. Sister: no, but i bet it's worth waiting for. right? i have aol IM at work. didn't put my msn at work. Omar: Can I post this email to my blog? It’s pretty funny. Sister: what's funny? seriously.
Sister: can you send me some ideas for laptop ... So many options out there.
Omar: Sony VGN-SZ390
Sister: cool, thanks.
Omar: there are a bunch of models and Sony’s site sux so you should probably customize it. However, if you can wait you’d be better off as Vista is about to come out.
Sister: customizing sounds like a pain. we can wait. let me know when it comes out. thanks!
Omar: You know what vista is right? You should install IM at work.
Sister: no, but i bet it's worth waiting for. right? i have aol IM at work. didn't put my msn at work.
Omar: Can I post this email to my blog? It’s pretty funny.
Sister: what's funny? seriously.
Yeah, she is going to wait for Vista, and yes, she knows I work for Microsoft.
But this brings me to a point. Outside of the tech and business world who knows or even cares about Vista and the fact that it was delayed? My sister will buy a new computer one day and it will come with Vista. She'll probably call me and be like "hey, it looks different" and not even think twice about going about her day. She will appreciate the performance and reliability as well as the new applications and improved usability of the OS (not to mention the improved security). The OEMs will continue to dilute the improvements in usability by injecting their little craplets to do things like muck up the built in DVD burning, Malware projection, Firewall and bunch of other things and the world won't really be all that different... or will it? I think it will, because the PC industry will be fueled by a new operating system with half a decade of engineering improvements, hopefully raising the bar in albeit subtle ways... and last but not least maybe it will move the stock price up rather than sideways.