With just months to go until Windows Phone 7 handsets become available CNET have had the opportunity to go behind the scenes. Heading up the effort is Microsoft Exec, Terry Myerson. Pretty quickly he was asked about the lack of copy and paste in the new OS…
“I think we are going to have something very high quality and different. We won’t be better on every dimension and we won’t be better on a feature point on all of the dimensions we wish we could. I think about this really as a first release, a first release for this team. If I had more time, I’m not sure that would make the top 10 list of things. I think users use cut-copy-paste, periodically, (but) there’s other things they use more frequently.”
It seems that finishing the product and getting it right is more of a priority right now, with a heavy focus on quality. They’re clearly aware that they’ve not just rebooted – they’ve chucked the whole thing out the window and started again. Myerson states that, by doing this, it’ll take “five years to build a project we all want to have”. This in itself is a pretty shocking remark, but Microsoft has a long-term commitment to the OS and aren’t under false impressions that it’ll instantly bounce back in 2011.
The competition is tough – they admit that, and they know that the product can’t just be for techies. The big question is – will they catch up with Apple and Google in five years ?
I must admit, the article is a very interesting read, with the challenges and pressure clearly showing as the mood swings through Myerson and his team. Interesting times ahead..
Link – CNET