14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft will launch the new Windows 8 later this month, but the company’s employees have already been using the operating system since mid-July.
Patrick O’Rourke, director within the strategy, planning and communications team in Microsoft IT, said that Microsoft has created a special program that requires employees to install the company’s latest products before they are released to the market.
This way, they can detect and fix problems just in time for the big launch.
The program is called “dogfooding” and when it comes to Windows 8, no less than 30,000 systems and 30,000 employees have been involved, both near-term and long-term, as O’Rourke said.
“We call this “dogfood” in that we’re eating our own dogfood. This program enables the IT department to help Microsoft’s product teams deliver higher quality products and services to customers, both near-term and long-term,” he explained.