About every decade we make the big decision to update what we refer to as the applets (note we’ll use applet, application, program, and tool all interchangeably as we write about these) in Windows—historically Calc (Calculator), Paint (or MS Paint, Paint Brush) and WordPad (or Write), and also the new Sticky Notes applet in Windows 7. As an old-timer, whenever I think of these tools I think of all the history behind them and how they came about. I’m sure many folks have seen the now “classic” video of our (now) CEO showing off Windows to our sales force (the last word of this video is the clue that this video was done for inside Microsoft). Windows 7 seems like a great time to update these tools. The motivation for updating the applets this release is not the 10-year mark or just time to add some applet-specific features, but the new opportunities for developers to integrate their applications with the Windows 7 desktop experience. While many use the applets as primary tools, our view of these is much more about demonstrating the overall platform experience and to provide guidance to developers about how to integrate and build on Windows 7, while at the same time providing “out of box” value for everyone. There’s no real “tension” over adding more and more features to these tools as our primary focus is on showing off what’s new in Windows—after all there are many full-featured tools available that provide similar functionality for free.
