Windows 7 details coming in October
By John Lister
Microsoft has launched an official blog for the engineering side of Windows 7. And it has promised to reveal more details about the operating system at two conferences in October.
The first official technical details about the system will come out at the Professional Developers Conference on October 27, with more details at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference a week later. Both events take place in Los Angeles.
In the meantime, Jon DeVaan (pictured left) and Steven Sinofsky, the men heading up the engineering program for Windows 7, will be blogging “regularly”, concentrating more on the process of making the system than on the content itself.
The blog reiterates previous statements that Microsoft is deliberately keeping its cards close to its chest about Windows 7 content. The writers say this is partly to avoid disappointing people by hyping new features which don’t materialise, and partly to avoid causing confusion among software and hardware manufacturers by giving only partial details about the system.
What they don’t mention is whether, as many suspect, Microsoft is also trying to avoid putting too much emphasis on promoting Windows 7 to the point that it detracts from Vista sales by making people on the fence decide Windows 7 will be worth the wait.
It’ll be interesting to see exactly how much new info comes out at the conferences, particularly as they’d seem to be occasions where the emphasis would be the fundamental workings of Windows 7 rather than the look and feel. It’s already known the system will use the same kernel (which controls the underlying operation of an operating system) as Vista, and that Microsoft intends for all Vista-compatible hardware to work with Windows 7.
Perhaps bravely, the blog is open to reader comments (though you must be registered to post). At the moment, the most consistent theme is people asking that Windows 7 be as bare-bones as possible, with an emphasis on speed and performance rather than a wide range of features.
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August 16th, 2008
I will wait for Windows 7 release out around in 2009 to 2010. I need know make sure old program - MS Office 2003, Aol Instant Messenger 5.5 or 5.9, all older/newer PC games, all older/newer programs must work on Windows 7. Put Windows XP and Vista Compitable together. Also compitable with Windows 95 to XP to bring back on Windows 7 to keep running stable than Vista have problems. DirectX 11 will be compitable with older DirectX to 9.0c. I must add this rule for Windows 7. We want old games and programs back on Windows 7 to make us very happy. I have hard time to read all NEWS on Google and make me headache really bad. Please bring all old programs and games back for our favorite memories on Windows 7. Don’t make people complaint! Period!
August 16th, 2008
I add more.
If Microsoft don’t do it. People will sue them without warning! People now keep watching on Microsoft what they discuss about Windows 7 info. People can make rules against Microsoft, if Microsoft made any mistake and Microsoft will get fired by a lot of people! Example: If Microsoft get fired, we can stay on Windows XP, Vista and maybe Windows 7 operating system forever(many years)!
August 16th, 2008
I think its time Microsoft made a bold move and abandoned its old products to create a new operating system. Yes people would be annoyed at first. Yes people would curse and say its a mistake. But the fact is that Microsoft need to start from the base up, like with the rumoured Midori operating system, and release it new.
A fresh start could be what they need. Apple Macs are gaining ground rapidly (the facts speak for themselves), and the huge overhaul worked for Apple. Maybe its time for Microsoft?
That said, if Windows 7 works relatively well with everything, they might buy a bit of time to rethink how they could replace the guts of the system while retaining a certain element of backwards compatibility.
August 19th, 2008
Quote one: “It’s already known [that] the system will use the same kernel … as Vista”
Quote two: “At the moment, the most consistent theme is people asking that Windows 7 be as bare-bones as possible, with an emphasis on speed and performance rather than a wide range of features.”
Well I can see a problem here - if Windows 7 uses the same kernel as Vista, it’s hard to see how it will be “bare bones” with an “emphasis on speed”. What I would like to know is this: are Microsoft going to ditch the obnoxious, intrusive and performance-sapping DRM, or are they going to persist with their corporate death-wish?
In any case, for those discerning folk who continue to eschew “Vista hell”, there is no need to wait and see what Windows 7 will bring - Linux is a perfectly viable operating system for use at home or in the workplace, it is continuing to improve (at an even greater rate than Windows is going backwards), it is lean, efficient, fast, and secure, and it is free.