Microsoft Group Vice President Jim Allchin is the point man in Microsoft's plans for the future. As the driving force behind Windows and a member of the company's Business Leadership Team, he's perhaps the individual most responsible for Microsoft's past—and future—successes. Allchin came to Microsoft in 1990 from Banyan Systems (now ePresence), where he was the principal architect of the VINES distributed network OS. He initially worked on Microsoft networking products but quickly moved into the then-secretive Windows NT group to help develop enterprise solutions. With Microsoft's move to Windows XP, Allchin found himself grappling with the differing expectations of enterprise and home-based consumers.
Allchin maintains a more private persona than many other Microsoft executives do. He doesn't often make public appearances at trade shows and other large events, although he has been a steadying presence at the company's internal developer events, analyst meetings, and strategy sessions. But when XP was in beta, Allchin took center stage, guiding the merger of Microsoft's consumer and business Windows products into one NT-based product line. Since Microsoft first hatched XP (as Whistler) in December 1999, Allchin has been accessible, open, and honest about his plans for this important product.
Throughout XP's 18-month development, Allchin has remained a staunch supporter of Windows as the platform of choice for both business and home users. This year, I've had several opportunities—among them, a private interview, an XP Technical Preview, and a press conference call—to hear Allchin's take on Microsoft's most recent OS. The following compilation of those discussions and interviews reveals that this man is clearly excited about his work and eager to work one-on-one with customers to solve problems.
A Solid Foundation
"I spent last summer away in Europe," Allchin related during one discussion, "and everyone had PCs [running Windows 9x]. I was somewhat humbled by all the productivity that was going on. But seeing the frustration users faced ... I became a changed person. Now I want to spend all my time on the consumer stuff." With XP, Allchin said, Microsoft has a chance to use Windows 2000's solid code base to ease consumers' frustration.
"Who wouldn't want a device that was intelligent, dependable, and approachable?" Allchin asked. "A device that lets you experience life better? We need to change the bad rap that the PC has." Though Microsoft works with hardware makers on various PC designs and initiatives, the company can have the most influence on consumer satisfaction through the Windows OS. And Allchin promised that the next version of Windows—XP—will be a "solid foundation for all users. We did a good job with Windows 2000, but there are weaknesses. We drove up quality, but didn't do a great job with hardware and software compatibility. We didn't try to change the experience. It wasn't task oriented. So now we're taking that foundation and addressing the problems. We're improving the experience, and the quality of this release will be even higher than it was in Windows 2000. With Windows XP, the focus is on improving the activities you do with the machine. We're making features more discoverable than they were in Windows 2000 or Windows Me. Joe Belfiore's [shell] team has worked on a task-oriented approach."
Features That Make a Difference
Allchin admitted that aside from XP's new UI, the upgrade won't be that noticeable for Win2K Professional users. "But remember that most people haven't seen Windows 2000 yet," he said. "Think of the experience change from Windows 9x to XP." And that change, as he noted, is dramatic. Allchin and the rest of the XP team are excited about the product, which is the most significant upgrade to Windows since Win95.
Allchin was also quick to point out that XP represents an important upgrade for business users. "We know, quantitatively, that XP offers higher reliability than Windows 2000," he told me. "We know it's better in terms of security. But there are features in Windows XP that really make a difference too. With Remote Assistance, business users can have a less hostile Help desk. For collaboration, Windows Messenger is a cool tool for quickly exchanging videoconferences or audio calls within the company. Remote Desktop lets users go mobile and still connect to their work desktop. (Microsoft's developers no longer have to keep a copy of their code at home. Now, they use Remote Desktop to connect to their work PC.) Mobile users will see huge benefits from Windows XP. There's better laptop support. The wireless support is phenomenal: Take a laptop and move it different places, and it works without needing to be configured. Windows XP offers more reliability [and especially] resilience. If someone installs a bad driver or the system configuration dies for some reason, there is a checkpoint for rolling back the system. This will save support calls. Honestly, there are quite a few features and capabilities in this release that make it perfect for business users.