Microsoft's Improved Development Process with Windows 7

First, I still haven't installed Windows 7 even though I'm pretty confident the update will take care of the MP3 problem. I'm still holding off on the install because I really don't have time to play around with Windows 7. Just a little too busy.

Anyhow, I came across a comment on an MSDN blog written by Larry Osterman about the changes the Microsoft engineering team has made during the development of Windows 7. They've introduced the "triad," which is a collection of representatives from developers, testing and program managers. All of their work is organized by triads. All three of these disciplines provide input into the process. Larry says, organizationally, the Windows 7 development process is dramatically better. It's a pretty interesting read -- here's a link to Larry's post.

Having worked several years in software development and project management, their new "triad" structure sounds good to me. The triad reminds me of a conversation I had with Dan Costello many years ago. Dan wanted to use a similar organizational structure with his web development company, Acumium.

Windows 7 Beta and MP3 Files

Here's what Microsoft has written in the Windows 7 Beta Release Notes regarding MP3 files:

"When MP3 files are added (either manually or automatically) to either the Windows Media Player or the Windows Media Center library, or if the file metadata is edited, several seconds of content may be permanently removed from the start of the file. This issue occurs when files contain thumbnails or other metadata of significant size before importing or editing them.

To avoid this, ensure that all MP3 files that may be accessed by a computer running Windows 7 (including those on removable media or network shares) are set to read-only. To do this, in Windows Explorer, find the files, right-click them, click the General tab, and then select the Read-only check box. Then back up all of the MP3 files prior to using Windows Media Player or Windows Media Center.

If some of your files have already been affected, you may be able to recover the data by using the Previous Versions feature. To do this, right-click the file name, click Properties, click the Previous Versions tab, and in the File Versions pane select the most recent previous version."

So going through this procedure to select all MP3 files to make them Read-only could be a major hassle for someone with a mix of MP3s, WMAs, FLACs and AAC files. In my case, I have everything organized by artist, albums and tracks. All tracks in an album use the same filetype, but not all albums were encoded with MP3s. Unless you've got your folders organized by filetype it might take a long time to go through a music collection to modify their properties and backup everything.

Since the warning also applies to MP3 files that are stored on network shares, I think I'll hold off for awhile before installing the Windows 7 Beta. While listening to Microsoft's CES keynote, if I recall correctly, it sounded like Steve Ballmer said they were going to open up the beta for the public today (Friday). If you decide to install the Windows 7 Beta, I'd love to hear back from you if you figured out a good way to protect your MP3 files with minimal hassles.

Windows 7 Beta Available to MSDN and TechNet Subscribers

This is tempting... but, there is one problem that makes me want to hold off just a bit. Here's what's included in the installation instructions for Windows 7 Beta:

To protect your MP3 files:

1. Before you install this Beta release, back up all MP3 files that might be accessed by the computer, including those on removable media or network shares.
2. Install the Beta release of Windows 7; download and install the Update to Windows 7 Beta (KB961367) located on this page.

I better check into this a little bit more before jumping into installing the Windows 7 Beta. At this time, it may be more hassle than I need. Many times all compressed audio is referred to as MP3s. I'll need to learn if this also includes WMA Lossless, FLACs or just real MP3s. Since I don't have that many MP3s, it's not as much a hassle, but nevertheless it is something that warrants a little more investigation. I just have never seen this sort of warning for an OS install and I'm really curious why this is needed.