Consumer (consumer syndication domain)

By INA FRIED, CNET.com
NEW YORK (CNET) ― In some senses, Tami Reller has one of the toughest jobs in technology. She is tasked with selling Windows 7 in the wake of Windows Vista and amid a relentless assault from Cupertino in which the PC is depicted as slow, virus-ridden, and buggy.

In another sense, though, her job is getting a lot easier. After three years of trying to muddle through Vista, Microsoft is ready to release Windows 7 - a product that, by most accounts, is much better than its predecessor.

A lot has changed since the launch of Vista, including nearly all of the faces at the top of the organizational chart inside of the Windows unit.

The most notable change is the ascension of Steven Sinofsky, who shifted from heading Office development to spearhead Windows 7. He now runs the entire Windows division. More recently, though, Reller was tapped to lead Windows marketing.

In an interview late last week, Reller shared her thoughts on the launch of Windows 7 and fielded some questions about how Microsoft is handling some thorny launch issues, such as the fact that Windows 7 is a less-than-simple upgrade from Windows XP.

Below is an edited transcript of our interview.

Q: The Windows 7 launch is coming up on the 22nd. What do you guys have in store?
Reller: I would first start by saying that the market is ready. I mean, the market is ready for us to launch Windows 7, and we are ready to bring it to market. And I think the "we" includes not only all of us here across the company, but also our OEM partners (original equipment manufacturers) with which we've been working so closely, the retailers, both e-tailers and traditional retailers, which are ready to take this to market. So we are ready for October 22.

How has the relationship with computer makers evolved versus where it was with Vista?
Reller: The relationship, and how we've together engaged and brought Windows 7 to market, has changed. And it's changed in an incredibly productive and positive way. In fact, just yesterday, we had time with the Dell leadership team, and I think it's a very good example of just how, from the very start of the process, we had deep technical engagement, and we had deep business-planning engagement, setting collective goals and just being clear on what each other's priorities were.

We've seen a bunch of computer makers announce Windows 7 models. Are there more rabbits that will be pulled out of the hat, or have we seen the most exciting PCs we're going to see at launch?
Reller: You'll see a few more new PCs, for sure, in all categories, whether they're gaming machines, new notebooks, or new Netbooks.

What do you see as the key feature or selling point of Windows 7?
Reller: It's fascinating. Many of us have gotten into the habit of asking, "Hey, what's your favorite Windows 7 feature?" It's a good way to engage. The good news is, because we have 8 million enthusiasts, there's a good amount of people to ask. And everyone does have an opinion.

You've got the road warrior workers, which make up a good part of the enthusiast crowd. For them, wireless is big. For the power productivity worker, Snap is huge. (Snap is a feature that lets a user manage windows by dragging an open window to one corner. It then "snaps" to fill half the screen.) There are two features that are completely common, and that is just faster (booting) and faster resume (from sleep). It's like, hey, my PC is available when I need it. The second is just the clean (user interface).

And did you have one of the Windows 7 house parties?
Reller: Mine is happening after October 22nd, just based on when I can fit it in. But I'm attending some as well.

Just as an anecdote, I often have roundtables with about a dozen or so people across my team, and I've done this for a long time. And I had one the other day, and it was most of my finance folks, who aren't always the most outgoing group. That's not always what they're known for. It was fascinating, because instead of talking about this finance process or this number, all they wanted to do was talk about their launch parties.

What was the cleverest thing that one of them did?
Reller: OK, so this was my finance team. One built (a launch party) into sort of a fantasy football theme. That was creative. The other was sort of building a montage from a vacation that a bunch of them had taken together.

Shifting gears a bit, how does Microsoft plan to advertise Windows 7? What's the pitch? With Vista, it was The Wow Starts Now. How do you advertise Windows 7?
Reller: One is, letting the product speak for itself, and letting the customers do the talking, and building a community around all of that. And you'll see that common (theme) in our marketing holistically--you know, advertising being a piece of that.

Should we expect to hear more from Kylie, or probably hearing from other voices post-launch?
Reller: Kylie has been great. I mean, she's been a fabulous spokesperson that a lot of people resonate with. There will be more. There will be more voices.

Any celebrity Windows 7 endorsers beyond, I guess, The Family Guy?
Reller: It really is about our sort of real customers. I mean, that's how you should think about our focus. It does seem like this launch is a little more low-key than past--particularly Windows--launches...With Vista, there were acrobats on a billboard. There have been other stunts for other things.
Reller: I think there (are) two reasons. One is that we're living in a different world today. I mean, communication flow is much more instantaneous, and so we've really tried to think about how we communicate through the whole life cycle of Windows 7.

The second thing is, from the way that we plan the product to the way that we market to the product, to the way we sell the product, to the way we engage with our partners, it's been collaborative. It has been letting the product speak for itself. And we'll stay true to that on October 22, and we'll stay true to that post-October 22, which just results in sort of (fewer) acrobats and more customers.

Continue interview on CNET.com

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During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft.

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