Windows 7 details to come in October

Microsoft is launching its Windows 7 blog, but it still doesn't have much to say.

On the plus side, Windows engineering boss Steven Sinofsky did at least put a date to when he would share some more details.

"The Professional Developers Conference (PDC) on October 27 and the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) the following week both represent the first venues where we will provide in-depth technical information about Windows 7," Sinofsky and Windows Core operating system head Jon Devaan wrote in a posting on Thursday. "This blog will provide context over the next 2+ months with regular posts about the behind the scenes development of the release and continue through the release of the product."

Microsoft had already said that Windows 7 would be on the PDC docket in some manner.

Sinofsky acknowledged that Microsoft continues to say less than many people would like, but repeated his standard line that the company doesn't want to share details until they have reached a certain level of concreteness.

In an interview with CNET News in May, Sinofsky did disclose a few details--namely that it would use the same driver model and basic kernel approach as Windows Vista and that the company wanted the whole thing on the market by January 2010, three years after the mainstream release of Windows Vista. Microsoft also showed in May a glimpse at a new multi-touch interface that will be part of Windows 7.

Sinofsky did suggest that the company wants to be more open at some point as it tries to create a product that serves the needs of a customer base as broad as Windows does.

"We strongly believe that success for Windows 7 includes an open and honest, and two-way, discussion about how we balance all of these interests and deliver software on the scale of Windows," he wrote. "We promise and will deliver such a dialogue with this blog."

One thing that should be pointed out, Microsoft has said that it is engaging much earlier and deeper with computer makers as part of the Windows 7 design process. From what I've heard from PC manufacturers, this has been true so far. "It's like night and day," one PC company executive told me.

[yacahuma]

it really does not matter how good or bad this new OS is. It will just be shovel in new PC, the same way Vista was.

[puma]

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Microsoft-Patch-Tuesday-Targets-26-Vulnerabilities/?kc=EWKNLNAV08142008STR1

[digiguy23]

More money for Microsoft

[ginswizzle]

yawn...

[The_happy_switcher]

Windows 7? aka gold plated-turd? son of chrome-plated turd, Vista.

[Penguinisto]

Just out of curiousity, was there any discussion at all (or will there be) concerning an increase of the abysmal efficiency/performance that plagues Vista today? Or will users be forced to buy multiple GB of RAM, a faster processor and a beefier video card just to boot the thing?

/P

[gp2792]

one cannot disagree that vista uses more resources than xp...that is fact. My hope for windows 7 is that it uses those resources for greater productivity and starts by developing drivers WITH hardware manufacturers... driver support is critical for optimal usage. Many vendors, like toshiba, put very little effort into developing solid drivers for vista. Msft shares a lot of the blame for not working closely with these vendors from the beginning.

Personally, I don't care if windows 7 needs 4gb of ram to run well...if it runs well. I am too far removed from the days where I derived pride from running netware 4.11 on a Pentium Pro. Just because you can get linux to crawl on 10 year old hardware doesn't make it a good product... Productivity does. If msft continues to try to drive productivity, I think they will build successful products. If they try to "out-cool" apple, they will lose. simple view, but I think it is the right one.

[Penguinisto]

Funny thing is, it has nothing to do with vastly outdated equipment. Performance-sensitive apps (and users) can easily tell the diff between an app or game crawling on Vista w/ new specs, and the same app (ported) running much faster on OSX w/ older specs (say, a dual G5 box).

If Linux/OSX/Whatever can outperform Vista on the same hardware (or do so on older hardware than the reference Vista happens to be running on), then Apple and Canonical will continue to see new users in ever-larger numbers, and Microsoft will be stuck with wonder *** happened as their marketshare continues to dwindle.

[Vegaman_Dan]

You'll have to wait and see, won't you? Speculating now without any shred of evidence or fact is simply irresponsible at this time. We could just as well talk about the 50Gb minimum memory requirements for OS X 10.9. You can make up whatever you want. Time will tell.

[compudoc318]

oh no, will you have to replace that 10 year old computer or actually upgrade it??? are you still dressing like its 1980, driving a pinto, and watching laverne and shirley??? get with the times and buy a real computer and quit crying.

[Get_Bent]

Windows 7 -- Now with new-and-improved drag anchors, to make your perfectly good PC run even more like a turtle on an iceberg....

[DMBoricua]

Windows 7, even more revamped than Vista. Thats not gonna be good. Srsly, if Microsoft releases a new OS that is just XP but with a bit of added features such as security and at least some new themes and same functionality as XP Pro, take out resources n such, and have DX10 on it the sales would go through the roof. Instead Microsoft will keep pushing people to get Vista which is really just for looks, NOT functionality. I have Vista and XP Pro on my tower, and I have been using Vista ever since it came out. I'm trying very hard to like Vista but I just cant, I choose XP for a lot of reasons.

[rkinne01]

Its funny you're all calling something thats trash that you've never seen or used. The blind anti-Microsoft banter is astounding.

[The_happy_switcher]

Really? I think Microsoft's track record makes the previous comments and predictions likely to be true.

[danielgrant612]

I couldn't agree more...

[The_Decider]

What is funny is your assertion that people who tried Vista can't possible dislike or hate it.

People have tried, they hate it. Now if you don't understand how your machine is being throttled when it would be much faster under XP, then that is your problem.

[Vegaman_Dan]

Unfortunately there are people like The_Decider who absolutely refuse to use Vista, take pleaure and pride in saying they have never used it, and yet seem to be complete experts on how bad it performs. It just makes you want to shake your head at the hypocrisy.

[onlyauser]

Well I have not run Vista but many of the applications are not Vista ready according to the software makers I rely upon. Many 3D applications. Sorry, but I need to wait until the software companies give the green light. MS OS are still way overweight. Who could argue that all MS OS are overweight?

[digiguy23]

Microsoft is trash. It's another $400 upgrade on people's wallet.

[stalexone]

I started out disliking Vista a lot but it has begun to really grow on me. I have 64-bit Ultimate running on a Dual Quad Core CPU Xeon workstation and it is fabulous. Mind you, I do have a lot of horses here, but RAM is actually cheap. Regardless, it is also running on two of my lower-end laptops and is, for every purpose, preferred over XP. Vista installs work without the need for hunting down all of the drivers like XP does, saving me hours at initial install. Had Microsoft gottn the driver issues solved out of the box 2 years ago, Vista would be considered a win (regardless of need to add RAM). I think that at this point everyone needs to be moving toward a 64-bit OS and if you want to stay with 32-bit XP, then you will just have to keep suffering and complaining. Seriously, it is truly time to move into the future people. Get off of 32-bit crack-pipe and get a modern Windows OS w/64-bit procs. Look at all of the major manufacturers...they are now selling 64-bit Vista with tons of RAM on new machines. So for those who like to complain about Vista performance, your days are numbered. My day came a month ago and I have made the switch and gotten past the pain and whining. Now I realize that it was the best medicine for me.

BTW: I also run Linux Mint on my desktop and love it too. ..so I'm not a MS fanboy. But Vista does "just work" and 64-bit actually runs all of my 32-bit applications better, faster, and with greater stability.

[Vegaman_Dan]

Bah. What do you know? Just because you actually use the product doesn't mean you know anything about it. Be like the rest of the trolls here who don't use it. Those are the real experts. They know everytyhing about a product they don't use.

[AndrewRich]

People still use Windows?

[The_Decider]

Oddly they do.

People still listen to crappy corporate music, shop at walmart, and still think that Iraq had WMD's.

Never underestimate the stupidity of people.

[gp2792]

Only those that have jobs...

[jk3yboi]

...so, where do you live? Cause here on earth we use Windows

[whizkid454]

People still read AppleRocks1963's comments?

[ncalishome]

Haha, just google "applerocks1963 site:cnet.com". Did Bill run over his dog or something? ;)

[stalexone]

Yes. But people who want to work under Big Brother Steve Jobs use Macs. Ironic isn't it that Windows is still more of an open architecture than Mac. As a hobbyist, I would never like to buy a Mac. Linux and Windows are much better for people like me.

[Vegaman_Dan]

I find it ironic that businesses didn't even want to consider the iPhone for use until Apple started offering Exchange support- a Microsoft product. It goes to show that there's room for everyone out there. You don't have to be a self centered OS zealot. You can use whatever works for you. Unfortunately we have too many closed mined people here who know more than you do about what you want to do and will shout long and loud about why you are wrong for having the audacity to have your own opinion.

[imacpwr]

to stalexone: Did you actually read that article..??? Who cares if you would never like to buy a Mac..! The article has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with Steve Jobs or Macs..!! To avoid further embarrassment in a public forum you should take a course in Reading Comprehension before posting next time.

[random truth]

also in addition to the two well said comments above, 1/3 of Mac os X is open source. If it was not for apple you would not have the linux print driver and many important things in the core. While 0% of windows is open source and they killed a project that was working to bring Windows Longhorn back to life from an alpha version. Also most of Unix is open source and where would Linux be with out Unix. I just do not agree with that sentence. I am going to list the operating systems I have used personally. Windows 95, 99, 2000, ME, XP Home Edition, XP Media Center Edition, XP Professional Edition, Vista Home premium, Vista ultimate, Vista Home Premium 64 bit, Vista Ultimate 64 bit, Mac os 8, Mac os 10.4, Mac os 10.5, Linux mint, Ubuntu Linux, Sabayon Linux, Fedora 7, Fedora 8, Fedora 9, Ubuntu Studio, Mythbuntu, gento linux, redhat, and am currently developing my own distro of linux. So I can say rightfully I Know.

[ParellelSpider]

I'm really getting sick and tired of all these mac fanboys trash talking microsoft and their products all the time. You guys need to get a grip on reality, Windows is here to stay and there is nothing apple or anyone else can do about it. Windows is used because it is the best option out there for almost anything you can think of. I don't know many places that run their network completely on macs. Why? Because Windows works just fine and you don't have to buy proprietary hardware just to use the OS. You can install windows on any pc with the hardware specs that can handle it. Windows is remarkably easy to use and isn't that hard to manage in any situation. Vista is way more stable and preforms much better then you people give it credit for.

I'm running Vista Ultimate 32 bit on a 1.67 GHZ computer with two gigs of RAM and it handles it fine. Maybe your problem is that your still expecting your crappy old pentium 3 to run it. Maybe you should go out and buy a modern pc and try vista again, I'm sorry life's not perfect and that you have to upgrade technology once in a while (but being apple fanboys you know that because you guys feel the need to run out and get the newest mac book or iphone as soon as Mr. Jobs tells you to).

If you still have problems with vista after buying a modern PC you have a real problem. My 70 year old grandfather can use vista just fine and has no troubles at all, so thats not saying much for you guys is it? If you have a problem with microsoft then maybe you shouldn't be on this site, maybe you should be off blogging to your friends who actually give a s*** about what you have to say.

[dadsgravy]

It's not trash talk, it's the truth.

[compudoc318]

its not the truth dadsgravy, im in i.t. and own a cpu repair company, and ive used vista from day one, so do half the people i know, even an 83 year old customer of mine, with no issues. If you are still having trouble with vista, you dont know what youre doing on a computer.......

[whizkid454]

Agreed completely. Running Vista with absolutely ZERO problems here and am having a great time using it. Intuitive, fast, and easy to use in everyday applications. AppleRocks1963 has no basis for his "crap" calling.

[The_happy_switcher]

No basis right. Go to google and type vista sucks and see how many hits you get. I'll save you the effort: 230000 hits. The only people who have no complaints about vista are the uber nerds who own maxxed systems and want to tinker with every nuance of that computer because they have no life.

[DrtyDogg]

@applerocks, I get 529,000 for vista sucks and 2,280,000 for osx sucks and only 391,000 for linux sucks. Remember though an OS is not a religion, it is a tool. I have a Vista laptop that isn't a "maxxed out system," paid $750 for it, and it has performed flawlessly.

[The_happy_switcher]

Drtydogg: Put those search terms in quotes. You will see far different results.
"vista sucks"=230,000 hits. "OS X sucks"=2,360 hits. In other words, about 100 times more hits for vista sucks.

[compudoc318]

so what apple rocks, there are alot of idiots out there just like you who bash a product they havent used just to look cool bashing the big guy on the block. like i said before if apple is so great, why have boot camp...duh cause apple wont do everything a pc will do!

[ParellelSpider]

You know what I find really funny is that just the other day I was reading an article about how the hackers and virus writers are turning their attention towards apple products. I wonder how long it will be until the useless apple guy at best buy starts trying to sell you and apple brand anti-virus. Can you imagine the price? It'll be like $300 for a one year subscription knowing apple.

[Penguinisto]

Answer: Only the suckers will buy it.

All the bugaboo about "oooh! H4x0rz are targeting teh Apple!" is mere vapor until someone somewhere can show us something in the wild that does more damage than just onesies-twosies, or requires the user to be basically brain-dead and willing to self-infect.

As it stands, nobody's managed to do it. Meanwhile tens of thousands of MSSQL admins are getting owned through no action of theirs...

[joarchbr]

it's just Vista service pack 4.....

[digiguy23]

Exactly, but will cost the consumer $$MONEY$$

[flipicaneze]

The only way I would buy is if it was tested to run fantastic on a 900mhz PIII. Then it would be a phenomenal piece on today's hardware. But no, MS is going to add on more and more crap, complicating the code so the machine runs hotter then Jessica Alba in a japanese school uniform. MS....stop being such power ******.

[compudoc318]

get a new computer, how cheap are you, do you still listen to 80s music, wear members only jackets, and watch laverne and shirley???? wow, get with the times, i throw out p3 computers....lol

[flipicaneze]

Reply to compudoc318

I just want to see an improvement in performance when buying the latest and greatest of processors. P3 was only a benchmark. I loved switching over to XP SP3 on my Vista machine. It runs fast as hell. On vista it seems so bogged down, I couldn't stand it.

And BTW, 80's music pwnes todays crap.

[vtchuck2000]

I don't know why some of you guys hate anything MS so much. I own both a Macbook OS 10.4 and a Gateway laptop with Vista. They each do different things better: Apple with its iLife; Windows with bigger software library and better gaming support.

One thing is for sure though, Vista is most definitely better than XP now that the software and hardware support have finally caught up. More security features, and in a year and a half of using, I have not had a single blue screen of death.

[compudoc318]

exactly, someone with a brain, they are both great for what they both do well!

[Maccess]

"Microsoft also showed in May a glimpse at a new multi-touch interface that will be part of Windows 7. " That's most of the problem with all versions of Windows since 98: All of this these things that "will be a part of" first it was IE, then Outlook Express, then Windows Media Player, then Windows Media Player, all of which may be good standalone products, but instead are shoehorned into the operating system. Why should touch be part of the operating system? What percentage of Windows installs will actually need it? Why not just make a basic bulletproof Windows and let users download the bits they actually need.

[Joe A Flores]

is funny how vista is a piece of crap, and they are talking about the next piece of crap.

[digiguy23]

More CRAP more MONEY

[peterphat]

LOL. Vista hasnt crashed on me ever once. I had it since Feb 2008. On the other hand...it runs World of Warcraft like complete poo (frame rate renders game practically pointless). BUT you blind hippies have no idea about the monopolistic history of apple and how money closed to the community they are. Apple is the epitome of evil...just you wait and see if you keep falling for their marketing agenda. In the meantime... go change the battery in your ipod ;)

[MicrosoftRocks1963]

It's funny how Joe A Flores is a piece of crap.

[The_happy_switcher]

I see another un-original thought from a Windoze user who can't come up with his own screen name. I guess I shouldn't expect anything better from an un-creative Balmer-pit-sniffing Windows user sycophant.

[compudoc318]

hey apple, were u born in 63, you probally cant even turn a computer on then can you idiot...lol.

[The_happy_switcher]

Ha! I was a windows user for 20 years, built my own computers then realized what a complete time sinkhole windows had become and decided it wasn't worth the hassle anymore.

[One-Eared Gundark]

AppleRocks1963,

The original story had nothing to do with Macs, yet you feel compelled to post personal attacks on Windows users and extol the virtues of all that is Mac.

Somebody needs to get you off the boards. Of course, I know you'll be back with a different user name belittling people just because they choose to use something other than a Mac.

An operating system is a TOOL, and people will use whatever tool works best for them. If you have nothing to post regarding the story, then please do not post.

By the way, I checked your posting history on cNet before reporting you, and I can honestly say I've never come across another person with so many negative things to say.

[The_happy_switcher]

I wasn't aware that being positive about a story was a requirement before posting. Report all you want, nazi boy. Who appointed you board monitor anyway?
I could care less if Cnet bans me. So what?

[One-Eared Gundark]

See what I mean? I'm a "nazi boy" already according to AR1963. cNet provides the "report offensive content" buttons for a reason. Using them does not make one a nazi. I'm sure I'm not the only one who tires of your juvenile posts and insults.

The problem is that all your negative comments add absolutely nothing. Disagreement is fine, but instead of just shooting off and calling people names, try to provide some useful comments. Ever heard of constructive criticism? How sad it must be to be so darn bitter all the time. I truly feel sorry for you.

I will no longer waste my time with replies to you or mention your name on this board again, AR1963. Have a nice life, you no longer exist to me.