We made the RC1 build of IE7 available for download today. Yippee! This is the near final release of IE7 for XP class operating systems. At this point, we'll only fix big big bugs before we release (sometime between October and December, depending on feedback.)

Go get it now!

Oh, please oh please install the security updates from Microsoft and any other vendor whose software you run. I've just been talking with a bunch of users who are experiencing problems with a major website. Looks like if you have the latest updates from Microsoft, there's no problem, but of course, these people weren't updating their computers.

It's so easy. Visit http://updates.microsoft.com and click the Express button. Even better, if you see a choice that says something about using "Microsoft Update" choose that; this will update most of your Microsoft software including Windows and Office. Pick all of the automatic options to make it even easier.

It's a dangerous world out there with lots of bad people who want to break into your computer. We fix tons of security issues as well as reliability problems in these updates. It's definitely worth keeping up-to-date.

I just finished making my travel arrangements to Jakarta (that's in Indonesia for the geographically challenged) where I'll be speaking at the Bellua Cyber Security conference August 30-31. Seems like most of my international travel lately has been to Southeast Asia/Oceania - not that I'm complaining. Maybe it's time for me to find a speaking gig in Spain or Italy next...

In any case, I've never been to Jakarta before -- any tips? If you're headed to Bellua, let me know!

I'm proud to announce that we released the beta 3 release of IE7. We fixed a ton of bugs, incorporated changes based on beta feedback, and continued to improve our security. You can read more about the release on the IE blog and get the new version here.

There's a bunch of news coming out about it already. I did an interview with CNET yesterday that was posted today as well. They didn't quote me out of context too much... :)

Wahoo!

This week we had our traditional bbq at Bill Gates' home for our interns. As the company has grown, this event has become more exclusive. It used to be that all of the interns and mentors went plus senior managers, etc. Now, it's a subset of the interns (not exactly sure of which subset) plus VPs & general managers (not sure how I got invited; I think it's because our awesome recruiters like me...) Anyway, it's probably been 6-7 years since I"ve been to Bill's house for this event.

Boy, the interns look young. I'm almost twice their age, but they're still as smart as ever. If we get these guys to come full time, we'll be in good shape for the future. I really enjoyed talking to them, especially, the young woman who thought I was an intern too...

We didn't really spend time in the house. You come in and go down this long staircase to get from the entrance to the backyard where the event was. As everyone walked down the stairs, you could see them peeking into the rooms, theater, etc. to check out this famous home; it really is lovely. I understand this was the public side of the house, and that there is a more private area as well (which I haven't seen of course).

Bill came out and was chatting with the interns. As usual the "donut" formed around Bill with interns listening, some trying to sound smart, others just taking it all in. Smaller donuts formed around some of the better known execs as well, while other execs milled around talking to each other.

Anyway, it was a beautiful night on the lawn on the shores of Lake Washington.

One of my group mates had to leave early from the business problems class I attended this week. He mentioned there was a big company announcement at 1:30pm that day he had to help set up (he is the head of our corporate events team), but he wouldn't tell us any details when asked. So, of course, two of us started IMing around to our contacts who might know something about it (Bill's speech writer, PR guys, etc.) but everyone was uncharacteristically tight-lipped. (We're not consistently good about keeping secrets, especially a few hours before an announcement.) So, we had a good time trying to guess what the deal was. We all took a break from the class to watch the webcast.

I can't say I'm surprised that Bill is leaving. We've known this day would come for a long time. I agree with Bill's statement that we're better positioned than ever for this from a leadership perspective. In particular Ray Ozzie has been a great addition to the company; I really like his insight and style so far. (Although I wish he kept his blog up to date...)

Honestly, despite all the amazing things I think Bill accomplished in technology, I suspect history will remember him for the work the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will do. He and Melinda have an unprecendented opportunity to really make a huge difference. I can't wait to see what they do. I'm glad Bill will be focusing his energy on the Foundation's great work.

Still, I found myself getting a bit emotional during the press conference. Microsoft really is Bill's company. I'm proud of what we've accomplished under him and am sad to see him go. Personally, obviously Microsoft has been one of the major influences on my life, forming the framework of my last sixteen years and shaping who I am. It's natural, I think for me to associate a lot of the goodness in my life with Bill and the work he's done. Steve Ballmer is great too, but I didn't really meet him until last week at Strategy Conference. I have "Bill stories" going back throughout my career. This change is even more poignant since I just saw Bill last week, so his presence is fairly immediate for me.

I'm glad that the transition will be an orderly, thoughtful exit. We'll be fine without Bill, but we won't be the same. Should be interesting to see...

I just finished another good three day class at work. This class was the final class in a set of three and was meant to be the application of the first two. My fellow students were other mid level managers who were identified by their management as having some potential for more development.

Like virtually every such gathering, we started with a "get to know each other" exercise, but this one was actually useful. We sat in a circle. The first person had to pick an adjective that sort of described them and started with the first letter of their first name, saying both together (i.e. 'Tea-drinking Tom" was the first person). The next person said "Tea-drinking Tom" and then said their own adjective and name, "Snow-shoeing Scott" and so on. (I was "Talisker Tony".) Unlike other intro drills, everyone paid rapt attention so they didn't screw up in front of the others (we're a little competitive too which helped.) As it turns out, it's very important to see the person's face when you hear the name (not sure why). Invariably, people ran into trouble remembering the names of the people near them, especially the one immediately before. Still, it was a great exercise and one that helped keep the names in our brains.

The class itself was a lot like the Strategy Conference I attended last week; we broke out into groups and discussed a business problem (what rules/guidance/limits should Microsoft place on Microsoft employees blogging, if any) and then presented it at the end. The topic was controversial and difficult because it's easy for a blogger to create a PR controversy or leak sensitive information, but they generate a lot of value for our customers and the company by their very free nature. I think we had a reasonable compromise solution and will try to get it implemented (I can't disclose the plan just yet.)

Anyway, like Strat Conference, it was good to work with other senior leaders from around the company. I liked my group and hope to stay in touch. It was a bit unusual to do two of these back-to-back though. I think I would have gotten more out of it if I had more time between them. It was just a fluke that this happened. Oh well.

Kathy Sierra, author of the fantastic "Creating Passionate Users" blog just wrote a post about how out-of-context surprises like the bud vase in the new VW Beetle can delight users. She listed a bunch of neat examples of this, so imagine my surprise when my talk at Webstock was one of the examples! Now, it's too bad that a nice Microsoft guy at a web conference is a surprise, but I appreciate the recognition.

Context: A Microsoft guy giving a conference presentation

Delightful Out-of-Context Surprise: He's a Really Nice Guy! With kids even!

Tony Chor was a highlight for many of us at Webstock, myself included, who weren't expecting someone quite so fun, down-to-earth, approachable, and, well, cute. Then again every employee of Microsoft I've actually talked to seems to be a Really Nice Person.

(For the record, Kathy was great in her talk. She was intelligent, witty, and charming, keeping the audience rapt even though she was the last speaker of the conference.)

Last week I had the privilege of attending one of the regular Microsoft Strategy Conferences. This three day classes/working session is meant for senior functional leaders/directors from across the company to get together, learn more about how to form strategy, discuss some of the big challenges facing Microsoft, and make contacts outside of their normal group.

The thing that makes Strategy Conference unique compared to other MS classes is the access to execs. We had half a dozen or so vice-presidents there, some who I interact with regularly like Christopher Payne (Windows Live Search) and others who I'd never met like Jane Boulware (Central Marketing Group). What's more, we got serious quality time with Steve Balmer and Bill Gates - rare for even our execs. It was great to have unstructured, very open conversations with Bill, Steve, and other execs and gave me new insights to the things that are on their minds (and things that they are less concerned about.)

I feel especially fortunate because my breakout group was super. We had attorneys, researcher from Microsoft Research, marketers, business managers, and other product people working well together and having fun. Blair Westlake was the VP assigned to our group; I'd never met him before. It was fascinating to learn about the economics of the TV industry (Blair runs our media partnership efforts and was the Chairman of Universal's TV and Networks group).

Although there were one or two people I met who make me wonder "Really? You're the best your team has to offer?" I was once again impressed with the talent and passion of my peers and leaders. I learned a ton about what's going on in the company, got new perspectives on problems I've been thinking about, and had a lot of fun.

While the three days were pretty packed, I really enjoyed it. I appreciate the fact the company really invests in our employees through training and access. The conference recharged my faith and commitment to Microsoft and gives me more optimism than ever that we have great people leading the company forward.

I just finished my talk at Webstock here in Wellington. I'm currently going through my typical post-talk adrenaline crash. I enjoyed the talk and am gratified that people laughed at my jokes and that the demo machine behaved well - never a sure thing when running beta software, projecting to a strange monitor, and running on a live internet connection. I understand the talk will be made available online soon. I'll post it when it does, and I'll write more about my Webstock experiences later.

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