An explicit admission by MS themselves that Windows 7 is actually just a Vista Service Pack and NOT a genuine "major release."

BUT they sure charged their sucke -- sorry, CUSTOMERS like it was a major release, didn't they?

Now they've got barely two years to "enjoy" Win7 before it will be time to feed the monkey AGAIN.

No one gives a rats *ss about that shi*t you keep polluting the world with.

Interesting. Hopefully, Windows 8 will RTM in May/June 2012 and be early enough to catch the back-to-school season. It should be noted that this is really a server roadmap, and Windows 7 is thrown into the mix simply because Microsoft can't ignore it's launch (it was less than a month ago). If Windows Server 2012 (or Windows 8) really is a "major update" it stands that it'll be released a year or so after the consumer version is done, since that's what happened with Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008.

Am I the only one to notice that their four years is really five years, and that two years is either one or two years? I know, they used the tilde (~) to denote approximate, but it looks like an attempt to set the enterprise crowd up for a purchasing cycle, that has not actually been as rhythmic or predictable as they want them to believe.

Also, the inclusion of Windows 7, but the complete absence of Vista tocking right before their major tick of Windows Server 2008. I take this as a method to re-write their history, to make them look much more reliable in delivering releases than they are.

-- Len

Yeah, you know...the guys who programmed maya.

Had to be said.

trust me.

LOLOLOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!

Good one!!

Which is when this will actually be released. Although I really don't know how they can improve on 7. Already a progress dialog that contains one line of text and progress bar takes up half the screen. Is it possible that, in 8, they will actually be bigger than the screen itself? That will be truly impressive and worthy of shelling out another $200 or so.

It's a huge pain to upgrade from WinXP to Win7. If I can put off that expense, I will.

Since Win8 will be released before XP is dead, I'll wait. Some of my XP boxes are less than a year old - they don't need to be updated any time soon. I'll upgrade only when I have to.

@ chas_m - nowhere in there did Microsoft explicitly say anything about Windows 7 being a Service Pack to vista. This post comes from someone not even affiliated with MSFT who is trying to pull meaning out of a roadmap image - the only information it gives concerning 7 is the release date which happens to be two years after Vista RTM. Coincidentally they are making the connection to typical software processes and their respective time frames.

Anyone who has had hands-on play-testing with 7 can tell you it is FAR from a Service Pack.

Did you expect them to toss Vista out the window? It was a good first try and a good kick in the right direction...but surely you would expect 7 to build on top of Vista - just as Leopard extended TIger and Snow Leopard cleaned up Leopard by making that sweet 64bit transition. (still waiting for a 64bit kernel by DEFAULT on the desktop side /me wonders if apple is listening)

It's too bad so many bag on 7 so much - you are truly missing out. I dual boot 7 with Snow Leopard and both are fantastic in their own respect. Neither is perfect, but I use each differently so it works itself out. I do get chuckles when individuals see me with my MBP coding in 7 :)