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klwilliamsToday was our annual company-wide meeting, and I was one of the chosen few from my group who got to go up to Redmond to attend in person. Seattle was cold and rainy, the stadium was colder, lunch was a cold sandwich in a box, and you know what? I had a great time.
We got to see demos of some of the new products coming out, including Vista, Office 2007, and Zume. (Ah, Zume. I wants, my precious.) You know those commercials with the Mac guy making fun of the PC guy? I don't think those commercials are going to be relevant pretty soon.
Vista, our new operating system, has incorporated photos/video/DVDs extremely well, with excellent resolution and some handy usability features I've never seen anywhere else. More interestingly, though, is the way search has been incorporated everywhere in the operating system (as well as how search.live.com has been improved and can be used with the new OS). Keep an eye out for Vista, as it is worth it.
I liked Office 2007 mostly because the Outlook improvements included a pane for keeping all of your tasks/to do's in one place, no matter where they came from (Tasks, email, etc.). There were some other improvements that were cool, too.
The Zume, though. We've outdone the iPod. Really, particularly with video, and with the ease of transferring music. The interface is simpler and gets you where you want to be faster, too. About my only complaint is that it only comes in black, white, and brown, though the brown is pretty. They'll be on sale around Thanksgiving, and I can get them for 10% off. :-)
Bill Gates was there, and we gave him a standing ovation for several minutes.
Even cooler was the presentation by the research team, which I can't tell you about except to say that some of the things you see in science fiction movies and TV shows we can do now.
We got to see demos of some of the new products coming out, including Vista, Office 2007, and Zume. (Ah, Zume. I wants, my precious.) You know those commercials with the Mac guy making fun of the PC guy? I don't think those commercials are going to be relevant pretty soon.
Vista, our new operating system, has incorporated photos/video/DVDs extremely well, with excellent resolution and some handy usability features I've never seen anywhere else. More interestingly, though, is the way search has been incorporated everywhere in the operating system (as well as how search.live.com has been improved and can be used with the new OS). Keep an eye out for Vista, as it is worth it.
I liked Office 2007 mostly because the Outlook improvements included a pane for keeping all of your tasks/to do's in one place, no matter where they came from (Tasks, email, etc.). There were some other improvements that were cool, too.
The Zume, though. We've outdone the iPod. Really, particularly with video, and with the ease of transferring music. The interface is simpler and gets you where you want to be faster, too. About my only complaint is that it only comes in black, white, and brown, though the brown is pretty. They'll be on sale around Thanksgiving, and I can get them for 10% off. :-)
Bill Gates was there, and we gave him a standing ovation for several minutes.
Even cooler was the presentation by the research team, which I can't tell you about except to say that some of the things you see in science fiction movies and TV shows we can do now.
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no subject
Date: 2006-09-22 05:31 am (UTC)I'm glad you had a good time :)
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Date: 2006-09-22 01:36 pm (UTC)8^D
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Date: 2006-09-22 02:22 pm (UTC)---L.
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Date: 2006-09-22 03:35 pm (UTC)I'm guessing my laptop probably won't accommodate Vista, so it may be a long time before I get to find out first hand how cool it is. I'm always a couple of years behind the tech curve as far as personal electronics. Heck, I still have a cell phone, digital camera, and iPod that do not overlap in functionality at all. So 2004.
Glad you had a good time. Jim Cramer is bullish on MSFT, so it all looks good for you!
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Date: 2006-09-22 10:29 pm (UTC)You have drunk the koolaide :-) Everyone I've talked to said they had a really good time at Safeco yesterday.
I have yet to make a company meeting in the last 3 years. The first year, we had a release I had to babysit, then last year I was in Dublin at the ROC negotiating with my internal client, and now this year. I wonder if I'll ever get to go to the annual fun fest? :-)
Dani
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Date: 2006-09-23 12:32 am (UTC)Jeez, I have no idea where that came from... so sorry!
Glad you had a good trip :)
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Date: 2006-09-23 03:37 am (UTC)You can always tell an Apple-girl!
~~whisper~~ (I don't think so either, but it might be a little risky to mention that here, out loud, amongst the all the Gates crowd, you know.)
Goin' down to the crossroads
Date: 2006-09-24 07:11 am (UTC)Welcome home, and be well. :)
Re: Goin' down to the crossroads
Date: 2006-09-24 05:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-25 08:04 pm (UTC)I guess I shouldn't mention that this weekend was stunning and today it's supposed to get back up to 80 again. No, I didn't think so.
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Date: 2006-09-25 09:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-25 09:37 pm (UTC)