05/27/2008, 1:10pm, EDT
Tuesday, May 27thMS: Windows 7 to be an evolution, hold compatibility
Windows 7 will represent a gradual change over Vista, rather than a dramatic one, according to Microsoft's head of Windows engineering. "We're very clear that drivers and software that work on Windows Vista are going to work really well on Windows 7; in fact, they'll work the same," says Steven Sinofsky. "We're going to not introduce additional compatibilities, particularly in the driver model," he adds. "Windows Vista was about improving those things. We are going to build on the success and the strength of the Windows Server 2008 kernel, and that has all of this work that you've been talking about. The key there is that the kernel in Windows Server '08 is an evolution of the kernel in Windows Vista, and then Windows 7 will be a further evolution of that kernel as well."
Sinofsky elaborates by commenting that both 32- and 64-bit versions of the OS will remain available, even as quad-core processors and 4GB of RAM become normal. There should however be "a lot" of new features in the software, and possibly a greater number that are useful at launch, instead of requiring developer support. With Vista for example, most game developers do not take advantage of its proprietary DirectX 10 rendering options.
Regarding the launch of Windows 7, Sinofsky reiterates that it will be available "three years after the general availability of Windows Vista," and not towards the end of 2009 as Microsoft chief Bill Gates once implied. This should schedule the launch for the end of January 2010.
Filed under: software, developer
Other story tags: Microsoft, Windows, Windows 7
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which is it?
He says "We're very clear that drivers and software that work on Windows Vista are going to work really well on Windows 7; in fact, they'll work the same" - either they'll work really well, or they'll work the same as Vista (not so well)... can't be both.
M$ driving more Mac sales
The fact that Windows 7 will not dramatically change is telling customers..."You can't really expect much more innovation out of Microsoft. We're keeping things pretty much the same. We know Apple's OS X will probably be at version 10.6 and have even more advanced innovations but we're sure the majority of our customers don't care about innovation, stability or ease of use. We're going to continue to support the 20 year legacy code application our customers need. Let's not throw caution to the wind. Let stick to what works and not stir up the hornets nest by advancing any further than we have to."Hopefully, more consumers and general businesses will "wise-up" to the fact that Window's is, pretty much, dead-in-the-water. They cannot innovate much further than they have until they start from scratch (at least in their philosophy).I, for one, would be glad to see Windows drift into the pages of history and only become a niche player in the business compatibility realm. That would be quite satisfactory!
whatever..
MS says about Windows 7 you can bet it ain't gonna' be that way. Look at their track record with Vista. Plan on a continuation of their negative innovation trajectory. They will never recapture what they have lost. Why innovate when you can buy, coerce, and intimidate? Gamestop and the Zune is just a sign of the beginning.
Windows 7 AKA
Vista Service Pack 3.
release date
Sinofsky reiterates that it will be available "three years after the general availability of Windows Vista," and not towards the end of 2009 as Microsoft chief Bill Gates once implied. This should schedule the launch for the end of January 2010.
Which really means late 2012... at the earliest.
Windows 7 evolution
It's got to be evolution, it sure isn't intelligent design.
Cut MS some slack
They have to see what Apple does with the next iteration of OS X before they know what Windows 7 will look like.
in other words...
Windows 7 won't represent a "dramatic" change because making it work would be dramatic, and that just ain't gonna happen.
In other words....
In other words,
"We heard from customers loud and clear how much we screwed them in Vista. We can't take that kind of heat again. We're just going to do a primarily cosmetic release while we let the wounds from Vista heal.
Fixed Vista
Take Vista, clean it up, fix obvious interface design errors, make it sleeker and faster - you'll end up with the hit. Too bad it means Vista has been declared dead already, but at least Microsoft will look into the quality of the features. Who cares about an innovative feature when it's almost unusable.
Microsoft would never held its place on the market if it didn't learn from own mistakes. So Microsoft learns from Vista.