Windows exec tackles CNET readers' questions

LOS ANGELES--Over the past few days, readers have been diligently sending me their Windows 7 questions and on Wednesday I had a chance to put some of them to Jon DeVaan, the head of the Windows core operating system division.

Microsoft's Jon DeVaan, talking Windows 7 at the WinHEC 2008 conference in Los Angeles.

(Credit: Ina Fried/CNET News)

Microsoft has talked about the ability of Windows 7 to run on a Netbook, adding today that it can fit on a solid-state drive as small as 16GB. But just how much space does that leave?
Devaan said Microsoft has done a lot of work to ensure that Windows 7 occupies a smaller amount of both memory and storage, allowing it to run comfortably on a 16GB drive.

So how much space is left on that drive?
It's over half by quite a bit.

Windows 7 is supporting multitouch. Is there a way that I can tell whether a touch screen Vista PC will support the touch features of Windows 7.
DeVaan said there will be a logo program by the time Windows 7 rolls around, but the company is still working on the facets of that, so there isn't a program today.

"I'm not sure we quite know," DeVaan said. That said, Microsoft has shown Windows 7 running on HP's TouchSmart PCs as well as on Dell Lattitude XT laptops, so those two lines are probably a safe bet.

Is there anything new on the professional audio side, as compared to Vista?
DeVaan said that Microsoft isn't making major changes to the audio system in Windows 7, though it is adding support for a bunch of new audio and video formats, such as DivX, H.264, and unprotected AAC files.

Anyway, I'm here until Friday, so if you have more Windows 7 questions, send them my way.

Click here for more news on Windows 7.

[rajeshpr]

Windows should have a built in PDF reader, java and flash updates should come from MS. Reason
PDF reader : majority of users download Adobe ( it send a tool bar)
Java: if selected all defaults it puts google tool bar.
Unfortunately companies like Sun, Apple, Adobe try to send junk to PC users most of the people unknowingly install the unnecessary crap

[lukepuplett]

I understand your sentiments, there's a lot of bundled crap out there and most of it is on my mum's computer. I beleive PDF editing is coming to Windows (can't find a link, sorry), although it may be in Office - certainly, Office 2007 supports creation via an add-in. Java ha! I guess you're not old enough to remember that court case.

What I'd like to see is an improved adoption path for 64-bit. It's still an option for the more patient among us.

[timber2005]

PDF was built into early Vista, Adobe requested (with threat of suit) that it be removed, even though Mac and Linux has it built in >_<.

[zarrik]

Due to the settlement of a lawsuit by Sun Microsystems, Microsoft is not allowed to redistribute Java. Thus they would not be able to deliver product updates.

[zarrik]

Microsoft can't redistribute Acrobat Reader unless Adobe gives them permission. It sounds like they have been some licensing disagreements between the two companies. There are numerous 3rd party PDF readers, and Microsoft could certainly license one of these or make their own. On the Mac, for example, PDFs open by default in an application created by Apple and not Acrobat Reader.

[maverick_nick]

I don't understand why a company that's giving their software away for free, like Adobe and Sun Microsystems would have a problem with Microsoft distributing the software. What's the difference if it comes bundled with the OS vs. being downloaded afterwards? Anyway it doesn't matter if you're buying a new PC, because OEMs usually bundle them anyway.

[Save_Me_from_my_Govt]

Dear Microsoft: I don't LIKE all of your "features-in-search-of-an-application." I don't LIKE your new interfaces. I don't LIKE the fact that all of the configurable features are buried in new and confusing places and require a tutorial-book to find. You want to sell me a new O.S.?--Give ME the ability to click on something and get rid of the lousy interface and return to some flavor of "Classic XP"... THEN I'll have a look at your operating system. Otherwise, I'm just going to stock up on extra copies of XP for future hardware purchases.

[catch23]

If XP is what you want, then by all means stock up.
I have no desire to live in the past, and find many (not all) of the UI improvements welcome.
Not sure what you mean by "features-in-search-of-an-application."

[inachu]

HEAR HEAR! I second this!
If we are allowed to skin Vista then why can't we skin Office 2007 to make it appear like as if it was Office 97 even though the engine is 2007? This would be great for people who are slow to adopt office 2007 and need to be hand held when adopting new technologies.
Using a Windows 2000 skin for Vista would be awsome although to do that without skinning just need to diable themes alltogether.
ENABLE TRUE SKINNING IN WINDOWS 7 PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[zarrik]

If you truly dislike the Windows UI so much then you should run Linux where the UI is much more flexible. Personally I like the Windows UI, and I think Windows 7 looks great.

[inachu]

HAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!

These new touch screens will have lots of people punching them and breaking them.
There might be a market for punchable screens for boxers?

[wolivere]

I noticed last night when I installed Windows 7 on my main system soon as I connected to my NAS and added my video collection. It fired up the DIVX movies with no issue.

I am still in awe at the small footprint. I kept booting back and forth between it Vista 64 and XP. And it has the smallest foot print of all 3.

I was equally impressed that I was able to load up all my third party vista drivers with no issue. I did try Live one care, Kaspersky and a few others and they all bomb which is not a surprise.

I like the authentication for the local network.

I did notice that from Windows 7 I can not see any disks that have another OS installed on them. IE I can not browse my XP drive or Vista drive.

The UAC not popping up as much is nice, and I really like how easy the interface is to work with. Good work.

[chadsvb]

You have a copy Windows 7, how?

[zarrik]

Microsoft's "MinWin" initiative is no secret -- they reduced the raw Windows kernel to under 32 MB. It's long been rumored that Windows 7 was going to use elements of MinWin to reduce the OS footprint, and that seems to be the case.

[thelemurking]

@chadsvb

It's all over the internet... check your favorite Bit Torrent site, you should find both the 32 and 64bit versions with ease.

[kcblack]

I'm just flabbergasted that we have to wait till Windows 7 to get a built-in H.264 codec for Windows Media Center. I just can't see this as being that much of a burden to Microsoft to put it into Vista so that people could finally use the Media Center PCs for something useful (like using it as your TV/Media Device). I was also one those people waiting for Directv integration (which relied on the H.264) I keep waiting and waiting and waiting and hoping that this might actually be a reality someday and I bought hardware just so I could have a Vista Media Center PC....guess the jokes on me.

What were they thinking? I have to use a klugy cyberlink interface just to play a Blue-Ray DVD within MC.

Kevin

[Mark_Anderson]

You do realise you can install the codec, right?

[kcblack]

Mark:

I have done that by installing the cyberlink vista (NOT MEDIA CENTER) software and it installs the codec but there is no integration with the media center...you are having to rely on a thrid party codec for what should arguably be part of the OS and Media Center.

Also, because the codec is not part of the OS, it doesn't work with the MC TV interface and the "TV pack" that MS leaked that is only really available through OEMs if they choose to release it, which still doesn't give us the MC interface to the Directv USB tuner that's ready to go, but because MS decided to go back on their promise to include that with the "TV Pack" won't be available for at least another year when Windows 7 comes out. (maybe).

MS wants to rebuild trust. They could do alot by keeping their word. It would take little resources from a company as big as MS to make this a reality now.....in Vista, not a year or more from now, maybe, in Windows 7....

[bama3]

You do realize that before MS adds something natively in the OS, they have to get agreement and buy-in from the other vendors as well. Does DirectTV benefit from allowing this integration? i do not know if they have spoken to MS but I do know these things work both ways. The days of adding anything into the OS are over for MS. They must get approval from everyone on most things.

[kcblack]

Directv was directly working with MS directly to get this going and was showing off hardware at CES last year They were only waiting for MS to include the H.264 and the DRM stuff in the MCE environment to launch this and were supposed to do that just after CES.

It was a MS decision to not include the H.264 codec and others in the TV pack and to only release a damaged TV pack it through OEMS making MC PCs..then they unofficially "leaked" the pack with broken functionality and again didn't include many needed codecs for the TV pack. If you want to see all the sordid details and wailing and gnashing of teeth go over to www.thegreenbutton.com (which MS just bought recently) and see the history. It was purely a "we don't want to fix Vista, we'll just fix it in the next OS release". There were also other people waiting worldwide for other codecs so that they could get OTA broadcasts and other Sat system broadcasts as well.

I can't fault those Mac commercials with the PC guy sorting out all the money on the table, one small pile to fix Vista, the big pile to advertise it and tell us how good it is. It's exactly how it is. The reason that these commercials are so effective is that they tell it like it is....and I'm not a Mac lover by any stretch of the imagination. I don't have one, won't buy one....

Again, Directv has the hardware ready to go and I don't know the complete details but was working directly with MS to get this out the door and MS pretty well blew them off in Vista waiting for the magical Windows 7.

Kevin

[DrtyDogg]

patience, the tuner is undergoing beta testing already.

[medezark]

As to the Media Center / Vista comedy of errors, the biggest problem is that Media Center is under the e-home group (XBox), and not the Windows group.

[kcblack]

The tuner has been undergoing "testing" since 2007. What it lacks to move into production is the MC codec and DRM integration which was promised in the Tuner pack that was supposed to be released in Sept 2007 and was blown off to be added in Windows 7 out sometime late next year (late 2009).

My patience with MS is gone.

Kevin

[Canberra-photographer]

"DeVaan said there will be a logo program by the time Windows 7 rolls around, but the company is still working on the facets of that, so there isn't a program today."

Oh yes, that will be great for consumers. It worked so well with Vista afterall.
I can see it now: "Windows 7 Ready" "Windows 7 Premium Ready" and so on

[bama3]

i would argue that Logo and certification programs do work. When MS and Apple have signed off on a third party application then the application generally works according to the requirements in the program. We need a forum to push vendors to comply with them.

[thelemurking]

Don't blame Microsoft for that one... Intel was the one who put tons of pressure to lower those Vista requirements because the Intel graphics chipset sucks and they knew it. Intel was painfully aware that their graphics on many laptops and lowend desktops would barely be able to run Vista Basic, much less the Aero interface. So with enough lobbying power, Microsoft eventually caved in. Not sure how much money was involved, but it shows you that Intel doesn't care about the consumer.

[i_made_this]

Ina, if you speak to DeVaan again, I have a question for him:

"How many product versions of Windows 7 do you expect to ship? Will it be closer to 2 or 3 like XP or 8 or 9 like Vista?"

I'm guessing the latter. That spoken, we can run the stripped Vista Basic on a Netbook today without waiting for Win7. I'm thinking it'd be helpful to press them to start to more clearly define their terms about which edition of Win7 will run on a Netbook and other such inquiries.

[SlurmSlurper]

Windows 7 is still going to come in 32-bit and 64-bit flavours. I have Vista 64-bit and I have great problems with numerous hardware companies not releasing 64-bit versions of their drivers. How are Microsoft planning to address this problem with Windows 7? (note: MacOSX gets around this problem by supporting both 32-bit and 64-bit drivers).

Will companies be able to get a certified for Windows 7 for their hardware if it only ships with only a 32-bit or only a 64-bit driver?

[rapier1]

There isn't much MS can do if hardware vendors refuse to release 64 bit drivers.

[zarrik]

I have Vista x64 also, and all my hardware has 64-bit drivers available. Vista x64 is now pretty much the defacto standard if you purchase a new computer today. Microsoft can't force the hardware makers to produce 64-bit drivers. Ask your hardware manufacturer for a 64-bit version, and if they don't have one, you should find out why... 64-bit isn't going away.

[Mark_Anderson]

Agree, I run x64 and all the drivers are fine for me.

[i_made_this]

WoW64 (Windows-on-Windows 64-bit) is a subsystem of the Windows operating system that automatically runs 32-bit applications when necessary and is included on all 64-bit versions of Windows, including the 64-bit versions of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. WoW64 takes care of all the differences between 32-bit Windows and 64-bit Windows. This is a reason why people being introduced to 64-bit computing with Vista have enjoyed a relatively easy transition, even in cases where programs only offer 32-bit versions. Apple's 64-bit OS X has a similar type of backwards capability and support. Since January 2007, most manufacturers who actively support the Windows and the OS X operating systems have made 64-bit device drivers available; there are a small number who haven't but they'll have to do sooner or later if they wish to be considered by users. I don't know when 128-bit architecture for pc's and laptops will make its retail debut, but I'm looking forward to it. It's been argued that the only major added cost to the user of 64 or 128-bit computing is the requirement for significantly larger RAM, but I'm not really sure that's true across all user types.

[Penguinisto]

* I want to know what steps Microsoft has taken in Windows 7 to eliminate the barriers that they've traditionally raised against open standards (no, not proprietary ones that are claimed to be open, and not ones with specs that read "WorksLikeWord95" - paraphrasing from OOXML).

* What specifically has been done to slim down the bloat and kludge-fest of code that Vista displays - or is Windows 7 counting on Moore's Law instead of on refactoring and house-cleaning?

* what has been done to reduce the seemingly endless spawning of new confusion that resides in .NET programming, and what steps have been taken to insure that .NET code can be made multi-platform (no, Mono doesn't count, since it is being done mostly by Novell and usually lags a few version increments behind).

* when will MSFT publish and open (to all comers) the Silverlight specs and standards? (I know, way off topic, but I am curious).

* what has been done so far to increase hardware manufacturers' cooperation?

* If Windows 7 truly is an improvement, then why not stop strong-arming OEMs into upgrading this time, when they (and their customers) clearly did not want to with Vista? Why not let Windows 7 sell on its own merits?

/P

[CrashPad63]

Penguin, how many times do you have to be told to shutup. Go about your business in Linux and let the big boys get things done with Vista and Windows 7.

[freshideas]

I was thinking, windows 7 seems to be vista that works. Therefore should it not be a free upgrade for existing vista customers?

I know MS do not like to miss out on the cash from an upgrade round, but as a vista user I would be miffed paying a large upgrade fee for something I should have got in the first place.

[zarrik]

Obviously you haven't used Vista, because it works perfectly fine... It is however bloated, and Windows 7 seems to address this.

[Breezy1601]

Will I ever have actual file control anymore? The biggest things I HATE about Vista are that NT/XP file locations are all butchered up and that Vista protects every meaningful directory. I cannot stress how badly I HATE this.

Maybe you could have some type of folder structure option so we that have been weened on pre Vista can actually understand where real files are kept. Case in point .. just try to copy/paste bookmarks from XP to Vista. That shouldn't require reading 3 articles and some kind of stupid utility. It's my damn computer and I have to have some control for myself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[inachu]

I would like to see Microsoft build a totally new Windows OS from scratch.
One that has everything already auto intergrated.
This way we never have to defrag or run scandisk/chkdsk.

[zarrik]

Having to defrag your drive has little to do with Windows -- It has to do with the file system on your hard drive. FAT and FAT32 get fragmented pretty easily because of the way it writes data. NTFS is a huge improvement and really doesn't require defragging. Even though NTFS is available and fully supported in 2000, XP and Vista, most consumer Windows systems are using FAT32. To determine the file system, look at the drive properties in My Computer. There are ways to convert FAT32 to NTFS, including tools provided by Microsoft.

[Magallanes]

@zarrik "...NTFS is a huge improvement and really doesn't require defragging..." is just a euphemism to say the opposite, ntfs can (and is) fragmented and this fact affect the performance.

[Penguinisto]

@zarrik:

ROTFLMAO! Dude... you're killing me here! NTFS doesn't really require defrags!?

Dude... you soooo owe me a new keyboard...

[ramsey987]

It's one thing to use a touch screen on a cell phone or other small device, where you can wipe it clean with a rub on your shirt sleeve. Keeping a computer monitor clean of fingerprints will render this touch sceen move into Zune level failure. Does anyone really want this crappy idea in their home?

[jscott418]

I would be interested to know what versions of Windows 7 will be offered? I am hoping for less versions rather then more.

[zarrik]

I have a legit question for Mr. DeVaan. Will WinFS ever make it into Windows?

[brian.lee]

Another Logo program remember the Vista one and how much trouble they got in??? How many flavors of Windows 7 will there be?

[cohaver]

All Codecs support should be in Windows 7 for audio and video much as DIRECT X update a Codec update service should be added to windows 7. Better IMAPI to firmware Management
And Large number of Skins on Windows 7 should be added or a PLUS service for Skins. Better personal entrainment services and management in windows media Player . Such as image drive support

[JayWes]

I bought a computer from DELL, and it could not be upgraded to XP operating system which came out 3 months after the computer was bought. [Planned Obsolescence]. Of course Windows 98 is no longer supported. I just bought a computer with Vista installed, will this problem arouse again. I hope not. I plan to keep this computer for a while.

[cpfort]

Will Vista adopters get steep discounts for Win7? I think it's only fair.

[Mark_Anderson]

Why? Vista works.