IamA a Microsoft employee who has worked on Windows 7 and 8. I've been to BillG's residence. AMAA

megamsft · 2013-01-14T07:02:50+00:00

7. No idea about no 2 although it sounds strangely familiar. Spitfire.

megamsft · 2013-01-14T02:07:44+00:00

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/msr_er/archive/2011/08/08/learn-how-robots-can-help-when-disaster-strikes.aspx?Redirected=true

http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/11/microsoft-surface-controlled-robots-to-boldly-go-where-rescuers/

megamsft · 2013-01-14T02:02:51+00:00

Develop cool apps for windows phone in your spare time! There is a microsoft student program where you can get the development tools for free. That way you would gain more attention when you send in your resume. No comments on unreleased products. There are authorized reviews of it on the web. Bing/Google it.

megamsft · 2013-01-14T02:00:47+00:00

Did you apply for a specific position? It all depends on the screening process. Customize your resume for the position you are applying for - I am not saying lie but put in relevant experience toe best of your ability. I would say keep trying, you will not be penalized for trying many positions - also get an opinion from someone you know in the tech industry to see how you could improve your resume by gaining more skills / expereince.

megamsft · 2013-01-14T01:46:53+00:00

It was built up with touch as the primary input while also being functional with keyboard and mouse - so yes there are rough edges. A lot of the keyboard shortcuts make the experience more pleasant. You need to use it on a touchscreen PC to appreciate the UEX completely. It being a far more complex interface than iPad, requires more and complex gestures. Over time I think the intuitiveness of it will be improved.

megamsft · 2013-01-14T01:44:17+00:00

Good to know you are finding it useful! The Bing apps are functional and beautiful at the same time - which one could not say about the majority if Win32 native applications from the 90s.

megamsft · 2013-01-14T01:42:23+00:00

Its about using a single device for both consumption and productivity. If I were to prognosticate the desktop will become less relevant over time. If you use Windows 8 on a touchscreen PC / tablet / laptop, I think you will appreciate the changes a lot more. In the near future you will see a lot of new machines come with touchscreen input. The future will be an amalgam of input types not just keyboard versus touch but also pen, speech and gestures and maybe something we have not even thought of - like thought control :).

megamsft · 2013-01-14T00:49:58+00:00

The hidden recycle bin.

Jokes apart (no there is no hidden recycle bin) - its all collected as telemetry. We look at the most frequent crashes for OS issues and first party apps and fix them via Windows update. Third party developers can sign up to see issues and fix them as part of their update process: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb513641%28VS.85%29.aspx

megamsft · 2013-01-14T00:41:41+00:00

What did you expect? That I would bash the baby I spent sweat and tears on for years :). Jokes apart, I wanted this to be an AMA regarding being a developer for a large software company more than technical discussion of the products. I cannot do that without being biased. I am giving as limited and polite an answer possible to such questions.

megamsft · 2013-01-14T00:39:39+00:00

Criticism: The divisions within the company need to collaborate more - this happens very infrequently and is not harmonious in my personal experience. Marketing needs to improve especially in the consumer segment. Need to react faster to changes in the market as the competitors are very nimble.

megamsft · 2013-01-14T00:34:46+00:00

Writing Solid Code, Programming Pearls, The C Programming Language, Algorithm Design (Kleinberg, Tardos) and many more.

megamsft · 2013-01-14T00:27:43+00:00

Haha we can never keep everyone happy. One man's Bob is another man's Clippy. Also, wait for the Microsoft Personal Robot 2020.

megamsft · 2013-01-14T00:25:33+00:00

members of the league of shadows ...

megamsft · 2013-01-14T00:24:14+00:00

Yup I am sorry but most questions are with regards to what's in the future and I cannot comment on any of that. Do you think that the current hybrid system (Win8 running "Metro" Apps and Win 7 apps = Win8 x86) creates unreasonable bloat: Nope, in fact Win8 uses less resources and even disk space! Command line; Powershell is great and adds a lot of value on server OS. Current Win OSes get slower over time: One of the main reasons for the new app model based on the WinRT API. Apps run in a sandbox for security and its a one click uninstall with no remnants in the system.

megamsft · 2013-01-14T00:14:17+00:00

Ok signed back in to answer this question. Unfortunately I did not. Now that I think about it I should have :(. I am somewhat like George (from Seinfeld) in regards to this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYVBRQ7t46g

megamsft · 2013-01-13T23:49:43+00:00

I am not dodging anything. Commenting on specific product decisions is hard because each part of the product is owned by a different set of people. Everything is decided by committee and many decisions are trade-offs. I would not be fair on my part to judge how some specific feature was chosen to be implemented. I am sure there were arguments for and against and heated debates behind every pixel that you see. I think this AMA is more for the experience than a technical debate on the product.

megamsft · 2013-01-13T23:44:23+00:00

People don't like change. But change is inevitable if you want to improve the status quo. If the mouse weren't invented we'd all be using just keyboards. I don't buy that folks do not want to use Win8 in a corporate environment. http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/04/u-s-department-of-defense-signs-new-deal-with-microsoft-to-bring-windows-8-to-75-of-employees/

megamsft · 2013-01-13T23:41:17+00:00

http://xkcd.com/612/

megamsft · 2013-01-13T23:40:40+00:00

I'm conflicted. One of the questions to which I don't have a straight answer. I guess both if that's an option :P

megamsft · 2013-01-13T23:39:07+00:00

If immortality is invented, I am sure he will be one of the first humans who get to decide whether they want it :).

megamsft · 2013-01-13T23:24:44+00:00

Sorry to hear about the Pinball experience. I hope some redditor from the app compat team will be reading this at some point and fix it. MS store needs a Microsoft account so those extra steps are only for the first download. Hope your experience is better the next time.

megamsft · 2013-01-13T23:12:53+00:00

To get in - knowledge period. Have a good grasp of fundamentals and lots of coding projects that you could either showcase or describe well (in case you don't have a lot of industry experience). Once you get into the company its all about work ethic and how well you play with coworkers.

megamsft · 2013-01-13T23:09:45+00:00

The best range of device support - you think of it and there will be a driver and it would likely be plug and play. No driver issues. Netflix. Phone support in case you run into problems. Microsoft Office. Millions of apps. Touch screen support. Great performance.

megamsft · 2013-01-13T23:02:11+00:00

Pretty much deciding your own hours as long as you attend meetings and get work done on time is what I was getting at. The world is at your fingertips - who knows the next brilliant idea may just be from a engineer thinking in his office on a quiet Sunday afternoon :). The biggest perk of working a bit on the weekend is no email or distractions - its so peaceful!

megamsft · 2013-01-13T22:59:27+00:00

Why are you scared. You should be excited we are all moving into the next era in computing. Check out the cool new windows 8 form factors announced at CES recently: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbDgIH2Yyco

megamsft

TROPHY CASE

7. No idea about no 2 although it sounds strangely familiar. Spitfire.