Mr. Gallagher's Classroom

Life as a Microsoft beta tester.

I  have been a Microsoft Windows beta tester since Windows 98 was released.  Since then I have beta  tested Windows ME, Windows XP, Office XP, Office 2003, Microsoft Server 2003, Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista and most recently for the next generation of Windows that is called WINDOWS 7.

After working on the Windows XP beta for more than a year,  I was invited by Microsoft to become a Windows XP Associate Expert in 2001 to assist other users of Windows XP.  Microsoft flew about one hundred of the top beta testers in the country out to Redmond, Washington to attend a weekend of briefings by the Windows XP Team
 Developers.  We received a tour of the campus and visited the sights and sounds of Seattle.  It was a great time as I had no idea how huge Seattle and the Microsoft Campus had grown over the years.  For me, it was a terrific experience to actually meet the lead engineers who had worked on the development of Windows XP.

Needless to say, a lot has happened since the release of Windows XP to the public in October of 2001.  You may remember that it was only a month after the attack on the World Trade Center.  Microsoft had originally planned to cancel the event after the attack, but Mayor Rudy Giuliani asked Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, to hold the kick-off event of Windows XP in New York City in an effort to bring back a sense of normalcy to the city and to show that life would go on.   

Although I was very pleased to be able to meet Mr. Gates and Mayor Giuliani, with the other beta testers  at the
 launch of Windows XP, it was a bitter-sweet occasion given the smell of smoke that permeated every street in the city.  As you can imagine, the reception afterwards was held with extraordinary security.  We must have passed through five security points before being allowed in the same room with Mr. Gates and Mayor Giuliani.  For me, it was the thrill of a lifetime given what had happened to New York and this country the month before the event.

Since that time, I've gone on to build my own computers and I've lost count of the number of folks that I have helped with their computers. The purpose of this very long story, is to let you know - that I know - a good computer story when I hear one.  It's what I refer to as a "booboobaba story."  That's when a paper is due and a student invents a story to explain why the paper didn't get
done.  In those stories, funny as it may seem, it is always the computer's fault - never the student's.  So.....for those times when it's actually the computer's fault, I'd like to offer my computer skills to help those students, in my class, who need computer assistance.  Yes, this is a history class, but I can tell you from twenty-five years in the business world, that a working knowledge of computers is a must in today's workforce and it will be a major requirement once you get to college.  That is why most of your work will be done on computers.

I'm also going to try and ascertain how many of your parents are comfortable with computers and would be willing to assist other parents and students.  Given my time constraints, this offer for assistance is only for my current students.  As classes proceed, I'll be posting more information about the COMPUTER DESK.  So check back here from time to time.  As I said earlier, I worked on the Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack.  The main focus of this Service Pack was to make Windows XP more secure and it did.  There's no question that the installation of this release went a long way in helping to make computers safer from attacks.  I urge anyone with Windows XP to install the Service Pack 3 to get all the Security upgrades.

I worked on Vista as a Microsoft beta tester from November of 2005 to September of 2006.   I have yet to find one
 reason to spend the money to buy Vista.  As a matter of fact, I intend to buy my first Apple Mac this fall.  It will be the first time 64 bit is integrated with the operating system, the hardware and the software.  By the way, I received a free copy of Vista from Microsoft for beta testing the product.  I have never installed it.
December 16, 2008. 

The next generation of Windows beta began in 2008.   
Microsoft sent to a select group of testers on December 16 invitations to participate in Windows 7 Beta 1. Individuals who received the invites are considered “tech beta testers.”  I am pleased that I was invited to participate in the Windows 7 beta as it gave me the opportunity to help shape the next version of windows.  I have been using Windows 7 since January of 2009 and find it to be the best version of Windows since Windows XP.