> "I simply wish to direct your attention at how utterly different the two companies are."
>"Me? I’d be appalled if Apple were to unveil something in the half- (if that) finished state of Windows 8 for tablets. I enjoy writing about what’s real"
What Gruber claims to understand, but actually doesn't, is that the Microsoft ecosystem is a very different beast than the Apple ecosystem. Microsoft, unlike Apple, does not control the entire vertical stack. They don't really have direct control over hardware or retail distribution (some notable exceptions - Xbox, Microsoft stores etc., but you know what I mean - it's nothing like Apple's top-down approach)
There are OEM's, partners, developers that need to get their hands on this technology - to test it, to ensure compatibility with existing platforms. There are IT admins that need to figure out how to start deploying this to their orgs.
Windows can't just launch a new OS 'when its done'. Secrecy is a very Apple approach, and it doesn't work for other companies that are reliant on many 3rd parties to complete their ecosystem. Yes, Apple is reliant on devs to write apps, but its not the same as needing hardware partners ot manufacture devices. Not saying that either approach is better, you just need to acknowledge in some cases, secrecy will work against you. Just look at the fallout over the whole Silverlight / HTML5 issue after All Things D
There's a reason that Windows initially won the application development battle with Mac OS, its because the company's commitment to backward compat, partners & developers is solid. Windows is built on a legacy of backward compatibility - Joel Spolsky has a fascinating article about this that explains things more eloquently than I can - http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/APIWar.html
>"Show me something real, I say. Look at Amazon. Everyone knows they’re building a tablet. What have they said, though? Nothing. What have they shown? Nothing. When will they say something? When it’s done. What will they show? Something real."
Amazon can afford to launch a new Kindle tablet in secrecy, because the 3rd party ecosystem is not a main part of the kindle. How many authors need to upgrade their books to support the new Kindle? Zero. Amazon will make sure of that. Content creators & publishers need to do nothing to support the new kindle. Amazon can afford to be secret, and is better off being secretive until it launches. It works for them in this case.
[Disclaimer: MSFT employee]