Just a few words on MSDE, Vista, blogging etc etc

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I have been watching carefully traffic around "MSDE doesn't run on Windows Vista".

In the main I have been pleased to see constructive comments coming in - but I have also seen a fair share of comments along the lines of "This proves it - Microsoft is evil", "I am right, MS is always wrong", "Doesn't Microsoft care about ISVs".

Let me attempt to clear up a few things.

- We are still Beta on Windows Vista so things do sometimes change. I will feedback the more constructive comments.
- As it stands, the official line is MSDE will not be supported on Windows Vista
- I was not the first to blog on this (I am a month behind some) - but I guess I have a more passionate audience :) I thank you for that :)
- We are working through our managed ISVs that we believe are affected - but I recognised that many other ISV (and indeed other companies) would welcome an early heads up on this - hence I chose to blog. One of the great strengths of blogging is we can give early heads up or simply "turn up the volume" on specific issues, opportunities or technologies. I think this is a good thing and better than waiting for 100% official statements to appear several weeks or months later.
- I never underestimate the time it takes to regression test code and the specific problems faced by ISVs. For me I have spent 9 or my 10 years at Microsoft helping ISVs in the UK make the right decisions around MS technology.
- Microsoft does not lightly take decisions that cause rework. I believe SQL Express is a better option for ISVs than MSDE and a stronger platform to move applications fwd. Most of my ISVs agree with me on this - I nearly said all - but I will stick with most.

There has also been some "why do you moderate comments - you are stifling discussion". The main reason is simple - none of you would want to see the SPAM comments we get hit with or the unhelpful rants that sometimes end up on a blog related to Microsoft. I like to see passion - but I like to see with it balance and constructive discussion.