More Indications Windows 7 Is Coming In 2009

An anonymous reader writes "Following on the news that Microsoft was going straight to a RC for Windows 7, the One Microsoft Way blog has put together some dates on the upcoming roadmap for Vista's successor. Microsoft has always said 'three years after the general availability of Windows Vista,' which was released on January 30, 2007, and that the release date was also dependent on quality. Internally though, Microsoft is saying other things. It looks like we'll see the RC coming in April, and a final RTM version before October 3. Yes, that means Redmond is currently hoping to get Windows 7 out the door in 2009."

Comments

And as the fanbois over the internet

[rolfwind]

are celebrating their Vista SP 2-3, er, Mohave, um, I mean Windows 7 as the greatest thing since sliced bread, and lining up to pay for it; I will still be getting my Ubuntu for free and with an (often) significant upgrade every 6 months.

Re:And as the fanbois over the internet

[onion2k]

For all the Linux and open source community says about embracing freedom there are always a few "evangelists" who completely miss the point. While people such as yourself continue to "promote" Linux by rubbishing the opposition (both product and people) millions of Windows users will continue to think of Linux as a geek toy used by nerds and children.

Anyone and everyone should be free to use whichever OS they fancy. If someone asks why Linux is great then explain, but please don't refer to Windows users as 'fanbois'. It just makes you, and the rest of the OS community, look stupid.

Windows 7 = Vista Service's version of XP SP2

[Vandil X]

Many people I know agree that Windows XP SP2 was more than just a service pack for XP, it made XP feel like a whole new OS. All the newly added features, much needed tweaks, and even the usual program incompatabilities that come with having a "new" OS.

For those who loved Windows 2000, Windows XP SP2 was the version of Windows XP that finally got holdouts to switch.

Windows 7 is built on Vista. Like XPSP2, Windows 7 fixes almost all the bad aspects of Vista and adds new features and tweaks. With such a promising, upcoming OS, it's no wonder why MS is having a hard time finishing Vista SP2. It must be like coding for a dead fork.

Curious

[ShakaUVM]

I'm curious why all these people who hated Vista are showering love on Windows 7. Is it some sort of mass psychology type thing?

I'm a UNIX guy, and I don't consider myself a Microsoft hater per se, the visual changes in Windows 7 just look hideous. I try and keep my screen as clean as possible to cut down on the distractions (meaning my windows machine looks about the same now as it did in 1995), and by this benchmark, Windows 7 is even worse than Vista with all its worthless gizmos and gadgets and stuff like that.

Is it really so hard to understand that I don't want shit moving around on my screen when I'm trying to think? Or that I don't want to see icons for anything except stuff I'm actually working on? The new Windows 7 taskbar looks -- crap, I already used "hideous" -- uh, distracting.

Combine with all sorts of stupid decisions in Vista like to replace the up-arrow button with a refresh button that does nothing in all common cases, and, yeah... I'm mystified why people are so positive about Win7,

Re:Curious

[gzipped_tar]

It's natural that people would lower their expectations after the dissatisfaction of Vista. Once the expectations are lowered, they are in turn easier to satisfy. Especially when most of the customers have few other choices.

Yes I know they do have choices. But MS now is still a monopoly.

Re:Curious

[GF678]

You are not the target audience. You'd prefer to remain in a stoneage of GUI (no offence, but it's true), and people have gotten use to a pretty interface for their operating systems.

Plus, those gadgets aren't worthless. I have gadgets to show me the weather, CPU and network activity, etc. They appear when I want them to appear, and they aren't distracting because you get used to them. Why can't you evolve like everyone else has? That's my question.

Re:Surprise to Anyone?

[jeevesbond]

There have been large amounts of astroturf around this latest release, Slashdot has certainly played its part in posting many articles fawning over the new operating system.

Personally, I installed the beta on a VM, it's certainly slower than XP (in terms of time to start up and resources used when booted). Once the feeling of wow, this really does look like KDE4! was gone, I was left feeling rather deflated and eventually just went back to my Ubuntu desktop. It looks, feels, and even the feature list reveals, that this is just another minor release of Vista. A Vista SE, if you will. :)

Having said this, it's is just my opinion and I'm not representative of the great computer-using public. Here are my predictions for the release of Windows 7:

• sites like ZDnet and Slashdot will continue to hype the release -- Microsoft's PR dollars at work;
• GNU/Linux users may try the release, acknowledge it's a minor improvement and go back to their GNOME/KDE desktops;
• 'power users' will get excited about the release, because sites like ZDnet tell them to (and it is an incremental improvement);
• people who like Microsoft stuff, and have been silent during the Vista debacle, will loudly crow about Windows 7 as their sense of shame in Vista diminishes with the promise of a new release;
• the general public won't care, but will receive seven when they get a new computer, or because their 'power user' friend gets them a cracked copy;

One more thing: incremental releases, like Windows 7 are a good idea. Ubuntu, Apple, etc. do this themseleves. However, if Microsoft charge the same amount for seven as they did for Vista, they deserve to be mocked.

Re:Problems in Vista still unresolved in Windows 7

[gnud]

The userland API is pretty stable -- and changes are pretty trivial to work around. It's the in-kernel linux API that is constantly getting slammed for not being set in stone.

Btw, the linux analog to graphics is X11. X11R7 is from 2005, and is backwards-compatible with X11R6, from 1994.

Re:Windows 7 == Financial Calamity

[AvitarX]

Most of their software including games will NOT continue to work.

Please don't spread such ridiculousness, it gives people who make the change the wrong impression, and sends them running back.

Saying that there are "good enough" Free replacements for most software (excluding games) and a few games that will still work is much more honest, and in the long run a better strategy.