Microsoft opens up Windows Vista to the world

There’s something that Microsoft is doing much better than Apple, says Giles Turnbull at O’Reilly MacDevCenter.

“Microsoft is opening up like no other company I have ever seen. Just take a look at all the detailed information about … Windows Vista that is coming out on weblogs written by the coders and managers working on each project.”

This is not professional PR, he insists, “they are full of detail, full of facts, full of stories of success and sometimes failure. When something goes wrong, these MS webloggers tell their audience about it, they fess up. Then they get back to work, and fix the problem.”

As a result of their open policy, we know a great deal about Windows Vista and the applications that will run on it. “No other company the size of Microsoft is opening up to this extent. Most companies a fraction of Microsoft’s size are terrified of being so open.”

But I think it’s about time we collectively recognised that MS is right at the leading edge of corporate communication, using weblogs as a tool to directly connect MS employees with users, Windows developers, and excitable nerds. Microsoft is going on a journey as it works on Vista, and its customers are being invited to tag along.

[Via Scobleizer]