I didn’t talk to you there, but I did listen to you and the others with you at the Houston launch.

I had already convinced myself that I would not install Windows Vista or install it on my kids’ PCs (we have 8 in the house including the central file server). In fact, I was close to abandoning MS altogether which would have been quite a migration for me. Please bear with me as I don’t get to tell my story much.

You see, I am the rudder that has moved many ships. In the late 80’s and early 90’s, I worked for a somewhat renegade part of Shell called SWEPI (Shell Western Exploration and Production). Their IT was a BIG IBM shop and had already made the announcement that all desktops in the company would be migrated to OS/2. I led the assault on that decision and was able to get Shell to place the newly-released Windows 3.0 on the users’ desktops with OS/2 relegated to the developers at the Houston IT center. While at SWEPI I created the user interface for the Windows World 1993 winning program, “MIG” – the entry from Shell. That was created in Visual Basic 2 (beta).

While at Shell, I beta tested NT (3.1?) and started replacing the IBM LANMAN servers at our location with NT Servers. It made management of the network there so much easier.

VB was incredibly powerful and enabled me to create a shareware “helper” program that hooked into AOL v 1 (1990) to make my chat experience a little more manageable. You see, although AOL v 1 & 2 had chat, they had no way to create a list of online friends and track their online status. VB allowed me to hook into their GUI and track my “buddies”. I created the first “Buddy List” for AOL (and I think for any program like that) with AOTools v.1. I updated it for AOL v.2 when it released, then AOL included the features I had pioneered in AOL v.3. No, I didn’t even think about patenting the concept. At the time, who would have believed that IM would be so ubiquitous? I still have the source code in the original .LZH package I sent out. Help files and everything.

In 1994 I was beta-testing “Chicago” and loaded it on a grossly underpowered 486 (16MB) PC so I could get my beta version of Access 2 to run decently. You see, Enron wanted me to build a prototype electricity scheduling system for the newly deregulated wholesale electricity market – again, something that had never been done before. They expected to run my prototype for about 6 months while they started development on a Pro-C (Sun/Oracle) version. First, Enron threatened to fire me for loading a beta-test OS on their Netware-based environment, but then started asking questions about the OS and asked if I would help them investigate using NT as their network system instead of Netware. In exchange, they gave me a nice Pentium box for my development work.

PLS, the scheduling system, operated on Access 2.0 for a little over a year at Enron before we replaced it with EnPower, a client-server app written in Delphi 2.0 (VB 3 was just a little too slow at the time) with Oracle on the back-end. I had created a successful PC-based client server app prototype using Access 2.0, ODBC, and Oracle for them a few months earlier, convincing Enron to abandon Sun boxes at the user’s desk in lieu of PC/NT setups. They saved a ton of money there.

While at Shell, I was in the inaugural TechNet program. I was THE Microsoft evangelist there and at Enron. On two different occasions, I personally purchased MSDN subscriptions so I could stay with the latest MS software, and I have beta-tested more Microsoft systems than I can remember. Until a couple of years ago, I still had all my “Chicago” beta distribution CDs.

The ground is laid now. I’ve been a Microsoft advocate for all these years and a guerilla influence in every IT shop I work in or run. I’ve run MS on all my PCs at home (most home-built, so the OS wasn’t included - $$$). Now with 8 PC’s, it’s hard to keep them all in software. OS, Office (no, Works isn’t enough), and I really need some good parental control system.

Because of the anarchy in the Houston IT community caused by Enron’s bankruptcy and its domino effect on the economy, I am now a Project Manager at Citi. Still in the Energy industry (not the banking side). MANY times I have considered knocking on Microsoft’s door to let them know how much an evangelist I have been and wanting to get on the payroll.

OK, I’ve been long-winded. I simply can’t afford to keep up with MS software on all my PCs, so OpenSource was looking good as an alternative. Linux, OpenOffice,etc.

Then I went to the conference. Main reason – to get the free copy of Office 2007. I’ve been on the beta / trial since it was made available, but it will expire soon. I STILL had no intention of moving to Vista – especially with all the negative reports coming out. The keynote was flashy, but didn’t give me any reason to reconsider.

Then there were the developer sessions. Why would I go to them instead of the Management or IT Pro sessions? Because you don’t know what you are getting until you know how to develop in it. I’ve run companies – I’ve managed IT groups. Nevertheless, you don’t know an OS until you know what you can develop with it and what hooks are there for you. MS is NOT getting the message out very well, but YOU GUYS kicked butt. Now I HAVE to consider Vista. Doesn’t make it any more affordable, but it makes it something worth saving for. Perhaps I’ll just get MSDN again and populate my PC’s at home with those licenses.. After all, I have a houseful of geeks. They all take PC classes in school or are learning development on their own. I’m teaching my fiancée Excel for her work and have one son wanting to make a career of WebMastering. Yada Yada.

MS needs to know that YOU and your associates are the ones really convincing people that Vista is the way to go. YOU are showing us not just what Vista can do, but HOW we can do it in Vista. And Office 2007

Please feel free to forward this on to whomever you want. I scoured the MS site for email addy’s that I could CC this to to make sure you get the recognition you deserve, but couldn’t find any.

Thank you for your time