Did you bring your camera phone? Please snap a couple of shots from the back of the building so we can check out the action too.

It was the same in Miami Tuesday. Maybe if I won the processors it wouldn’t have been so bad.

Ditto on Miami, Microsoft presenter was a total jerk. Not that the audience was any better but for someone to be that arrogant is incredible.

Microsoft ought to be ashamed.

He is talking to the OEMs what do you expect?

Let me guess:
- Whining about Action Pack
- Whining about no Vista
- Asking for Vista before general release but not willing to run the beta
- Whining about OEM rules
- But..but.. “COA IS LICENSE!!!”
- When in doubt, reinstall?

While I’m sure the MS guy could have been nicer I would love to see Microsoft eliminate the OEM program.

I was there as well. I felt bad for the guy but as Vlad says he was quite rude and very insulting to a number of users.

What Vlad neglected to mention was that the flames were quite loud. The exchange he mentions was not under the breath. It was VERY loud.

I really felt bad for the MS guy in Miami. He was getting a new “orifice in the rear” installed by many in the audience. There was a really obnoxious guy in the front audience who was quite out of line, most of the time. (He even traded an Office 2007 tote bag he won for a chance to win something else again. He did, two Xeon processors!)Sure its OK to bring up issues, but there is a way to say things. He was quite rude. Eventually, the MS guy starting taking it personally. You could tell, he was not prepared AT ALL for the kind of audience we had there. Even the Intel presenters made cracks about how MS was not given any mercy. I can only imagine the stress he will be under as he goes around on this Road Show. HOWEVER, (in our defense – the audience)the presentations by the MS guy were horrendous. There was nothing in them of value that we did not know already, nothing new that has not been covered in TS2 events. He zipped through the sections so fast, you did not even have time to look at the slides. He was so worried about finishing on time that in one of the afternoon sessions, he had 15 minutes left over with nothing to say and didn’t even realize it. Intel’s stuff was MUCH better organized, and better presented. I learned quite a bit from them (especially about why to switch from AMD…see? Marketing does work!).

I was there also and it was obvious to all that Brett from MS did not understand OEM or System Builder licensing. Hard to teach or explain something you are clueless about. I thought the audience gave him enough room to hang himself. He back pedaled so many times he needed a tricycle to ride off stage. Intel was much better prepared and put on a very informative show. MS might want to stick to TS2′s until it is ready 2 rock with the big boys.
Mark

Regarding Orlando,

He did a good job demonstrating Vista.

Everything else went poorly.
He ran through the SBS presentation.
He clearly lacked understanding for what OEMs do.
He showed no respect for OEM partners.
He showed no concern for our business.
He openly attacked two people, ridiculing one and telling someone he had personal problems. There were a few more people that he openly antagonized, belittled and was outright rude to.

Not the best showing Microsoft at all. The “Backstage” pass was just a part of the Action Pack tech demo toolkit.

All in all it was a very poor showing for Microsoft. I was shocked that they let Microsoft guy back on stage after lunch. It was very sad.

For the record, only their presenter was rude. I spoke to two other Microsoft people during lunch and in the vendor area and they were quite nice and knowledgeable. I chalk this up to Microsoft’s poor hiring practices. I thought he may just have had a bad day but I see by the comments that this was not an isolated incident.

I came across this comment you posted last year. I have the Verizon xv6600 phone with Windows 2003. I wondered if you still find this correct, and if so, where or how might I do this conversion (also, is it worth it?)

Richard S Glosser, MD Miami, FL

Actually, you should be really happy that you own the HTC device (by the way, “AudioVox VX6600″ is just the marketing term, what you actually own is an HTC Harrier)

Anyhow, it is upgradeable to Windows Mobile 5. At the local SBS group meeting last night I upgraded the Siemens SX66 from stock Windows Mobile 2003 SE to Windows Mobile 5 in a 10 minute presentation. SX66 is virtually identical to VX6600 except it uses a different radio stack since you’re on a different network from us. But there is a version of WM5 out there, still in beta form.

Its coming though. You definately purchased the right device.

-Vlad Mazek
http://www.vladville.com

- Vlad Mazek, MCSE, MVP
http://www.Vladville.com

Unless you’re a client of mine I do not make personal/consulting recommendations on my blog.