Brian Yee in Moscow
Brian Yee, a Senior Product Manager on the Windows team, travels around the world to show people what they can do with Windows 7. I've been writing a lot about using Windows 7 on the go. So I was curious to know which features Brian uses a lot. Here's quick a summary of our chat.
Robbin: Brian, you know Windows 7 inside and out. So I'm curious—which features do you use the most when you travel?
Brian: That's an interesting question. Because I demo the features all the time, I pretty much take them for granted. The beauty of a lot of features is I don't even think about them—they just work. It's amazing how much I can do now that would have been hard just a couple of years ago.
Robbin: Can you give some examples?
Brian: The best way to explain what I mean is to describe how I used Windows 7 on a recent business trip to Moscow. I used several Windows 7 and Windows Live features as I went.
It started when I printed my boarding pass from my work laptop on my home printer. When I hit Print, it just printed. With location-aware printing in Windows 7, my PC keeps track of the printers I set up on every network I use. So when I move from network to network, it automatically uses the printer I want.
Robbin: That does make working at home a little easier. What about on the road?
Brian: Well, first of all, it's a long flight from Seattle to Moscow. So I really appreciated how much longer my battery lasted.
Then, when I got to my hotel in Moscow, I just set up to connect to the Marriott network automatically. As I came and went, my laptop connected to the Marriott network, and I didn't have to think about it again. That's what's cool. Just like the automatic printer connection at home, this takes the guesswork out if it, because Windows 7 remembers all your important network and printer connections.
Robbin: So what took you to Moscow? Were you demonstrating Windows 7?
Brian: No, I was actually visiting a research facility on this trip. But I usually do give a lot of presentations and Windows 7 makes it much easier. I can just connect my laptop to a projector and press Windows logo key+X to open Windows Mobility Center. It's one quick spot to set up my display and turn off incoming email and IM notifications. Having messages pop up on my screen while I'm doing a demo is pretty distracting.
Robbin: You don't speak Russian, do you? So how you'd do with the language barrier?
Brian: Right, I don't speak Russian. Most of the people I worked with spoke English and it wasn't too hard getting around Moscow. But web information was more challenging. A few times, I used an Accelerator in Internet Explorer 8 to translate text on a website from Russian to English.
Robbin: Were you able to have any fun at all?
Brian: Sure, I ate out—and found out that in Moscow, some places charge $10 for a 7-ounce Coke!
That reminds me… Here's another thing that's nice for traveling. When I was done for the day and relaxing in my hotel, I streamed music and my recorded TV shows from my home PC. I'm a sports junkie, so I made sure that I recorded SportsCenter using Windows Media Center on my desktop at home. When I got to Moscow, the stuff on my home PC showed up when I launched Windows Media Player on my laptop. Once I set up my PCs, as long as they're both connected to the Internet, I can watch my favorite shows anywhere.
Robbin: You've got two little kids at home. Did Windows 7 help you keep in touch?
Brian: Yes, actually. With Windows 7, I have access to Windows Live. I used Messenger to video chat with my kids. So even with the 11-hour time difference, I was able to talk to them when they got up in the morning and when they went to bed.
And, to show them where I'd been, I used Windows Live Photo Gallery to make this panorama of Red Square.
Robbin: Brian, thank you for sharing your story. Every time we talk, I learn something new.
