Microsoft aims Windows 7 for 2009 holiday season
LOS ANGELES--In a technical session on Thursday afternoon, Microsoft provided the clearest public indication that it is planning on getting Windows 7 completed in time to run on PCs that ship for next year's holiday buying season.
In a presentation on its somewhat secretive Velocity program to improve PC quality, Microsoft director Doug Howe showed a slide saying that the Vista Velocity program would continue through next spring as Microsoft worked to improve Vista machines that ship in next year's back-to-school time frame. He went on to say that Microsoft would continue the Velocity effort with Windows 7.
Windows 7 running on an Asus laptop (with bamboo paneling) at WinHEC.
(Credit: Ina Fried/CNET News)The slides and Howe's presentation appeared to confirm what has been widely speculated--but something Microsoft has not outright said--namely that Windows 7 is aimed to ship around mid-year, in time to be on machines that ship for the 2009 holiday buying season. After the session, Howe essentially confirmed that Microsoft is aiming Windows 7 for the holidays.
"Definitely the holiday focus is going to be on 7," Howe told me.
Although hardly shocking, Microsoft has worked hard not to publicly commit to shipping Windows 7 for next year's PCs. While partners have been told privately when to expect Windows 7, the company is trying to avoid the PR hit that would come with missing another deadline. Officially, the party line is that Windows will ship within three years of the January 2007 consumer release of Windows Vista.
Microsoft hasn't said more about that timing at either this week's WinHEC or last week's Professional Developer Conference. It has said that it will ship a beta version early next year and also hinted that only one release candidate is planned.
The session also shed a little more light on the Velocity program itself. Initially open only to selected computer makers, Microsoft is trying to open up the program somewhat to other hardware and software makers, though it still has yet to publicly say what its criteria are or how it will promote the computers that pass its testing.
Howe said increased marketing is a benefit for computer makers, and a slide said computer makers get promotion in Microsoft's advertising, but Howe would not offer any further details.
As far as criteria, Microsoft didn't offer a list at the session, though Howe confirmed that one of the current benchmarks is having a system that boots up and is ready to run within 50 seconds. Many machines that have gone through the velocity testing can boot up faster, he said, but because there are so many factors that can influence boot times, Microsoft wanted a goal that was broadly achievable.
Microsoft started Velocity in July 2007 as a three-month effort to see what were the main causes of sluggish system performance. It quickly realized a broader effort was needed and has kept the program going as an effort for computer makers to create "best-in-class" machines. The program focuses on improving start-up and shut-down times as well as tasks like going to sleep and waking. Other criteria include making sure that systems ship with stable drivers and software that has been proved to be Vista-compatible.
The specific testing itself is done at Microsoft's labs in Redmond, Wash., Howe said.
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
CPU: 4.0
RAM: 4.0
GPU: 4.0 (both)
Starts in 50 seconds from POST to Desktop showing, NO VARIANCE FOR CRAPWARE LIKE NORTON SLOWING IT DOWN.
It acts just like a virus does.
Can you change your name to 'The_Clueless' please. it would be far more representative and would help people to avoid reading your posts?
Well spoken. Although I haven't heard much about WinFS lately. I hope that we're not going to see that fall through yet another iteration of windows
Good summary. They kept the core of Vista which is what has caused my problems for 7. They are fixing the eye candy for 7. The only saving grace for 7 is if they also fix the problems with the underpinnings. They aren't saying they are, but we can hope. Alas I will not jump on the 7 bandwagon like I did the Vista Bandwagon. Much as I enjoy the Vista interface it's been a PITA.
Right now the Vista Fanboys just don't seem to get that there have been real and ongoing problems with Vista for more than a few people. Worse they don't seem to question why MS spends all it's time on 7 and not fixing Vista. Will we get the same service with 7. "Ok we fumbled 7, but 8 will be worth it.
Of course they are releasing SP2 to improve it though which I guess their engineers must have coded for free because MS spent all the money on advertising, right?
Here's a suggestion: Tell me what current issues Vista has for the average user and then we'll discuss how much of an issue they are, how we can resolve them and if they really are that much of a problem to begin with. That way we can be clear as to what MS needs to fix.
How about it?
MS is years behind the leaders.
As for "The_Decider," MS is the leader with 95% marketshare. Eat it.
Answer = Microsoft
I have used Vista and have not been impressed. Between the speed (which isn't quite as bad as some say but still doesn't match XP) and issues that the system has due to things like an overabundance of DRM, it just doesn't cut it. From what I have been hearing I have some hope that Windows 7 might fix at least some of the issues. Maybe by the time it is released there will also be a better selection of hardware with well written 64-bit drivers.
Until then, I am happy to keep using Mac OS X and Windows XP with the occasional dash of Linux.
If you OSX/Linux fanboys are so happy in your Unix based worlds then what the hell are you doing in a blog topic about Windows?
Apart from trolling obviously.
Comparing OS Releases Cycles:
Windows XP to Windows 7 ----> 8 years
OS X ----> roughly one new release every year
Ubuntu ----> a new release every 6 months
I had it dual boot so I can keep my old Windows 2000 partition just in case. Boots up to the logon screen 3 seconds slower than W2000 but it probably saved me quite a bit of time looking for drivers - thankyou.
Aero does not work on the old video card but the response is not noticeable using Office 2003 - Word, Powerpoint, Access and Excel.
I might get the newer NVIDIA video card that supports aero for $100 or perhaps buy a barebone system with2 gig of ram, AMD 64 X2 2.2 GHZ 250G HD, Nvidia GEFORCE 6100 wit hcase and powersupply for $285 CDN.
Time to contribute to recycling.
- by vettexl November 8, 2008 10:38 AM PST
- Windows 7 is a very good operating system.
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