Introducing Windows 7, Codename Translucency, Milestone Sinofsky

Written by IT News on 2:21 AM

After leaked details, screenshots and videos, Microsoft finally talks Windows 7
By: Marius Oiaga, Technology News Editor

Introducing... Windows 7, codename Translucency, Milestone Sinofsky... After a diluvian leak of Windows 7 information, from intimate details to screenshots and videos, Microsoft has finally managed to talk Windows 7. The Redmond company has been hard at work on the next version of the Windows Operating system, as soon as it was done with Windows Vista. Throughout 2007, Microsoft has given details about the next Windows iteration. Windows 7 will be delivered in both 32-bit and 64-bit flavors, with a new core, the MinWin kernel stripped down of all dependencies with the remaining components of the operating system. And there was even talk of an official timetable, initially interpreted as pointing to 2010 for the delivery of Windows 7.

The debut of 2008 brought with it Windows 7 Milestone 1 Build 6.1.6519.1, shifting the focus away from the imminent releases of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows XP Service Pack 3. And once the Windows 7 genie was out of the bottle, details came pouring in about Windows 7 M1. From the new Windows Media Center to the official timetable featuring M2 in April/May 2007, M3 in the third quarter and the Betas, Release Candidates and the RTM date apparently all squeezed into 2009. Apparently, because Microsoft keeps completely mum on Windows 7.

And then there were the leaked screenshots of Windows 7. The images were taken with a grain of salt, and the high level of skepticism survived even the availability of a low-quality video of Windows 7. But outside of leaked information, the muzzle put on Windows 7 is functioning to perfection, gagging all details. Steven Sinofsky, Senior Vice President, Windows and Windows Live Engineering Group, is responsible for erecting a wall of silence around the successor of Windows Vista. The official policy over at Microsoft, concerning the Windows 7 project, is a new translucent strategy, as opposed to transparency. Essentially, Sinofsky will not promise and underdeliver, but instead will say nothing in the hope that users will take all that Microsoft will eventually has to give with both arms.

On the heels of leaked details, screenshots and videos, Microsoft finally talked Windows 7, but of course that the Redmond company has nothing to say. "We are currently in the planning stages for Windows 7 and expect the development to take approximately 3 years since the release of Windows Vista. The specific release date will be determined once the company meets its quality bar for release," said a Microsoft representative to CRN.

"We are currently in the planning stages for Windows 7 and expect it will take approximately 3 years to develop. The specific release date will be determined once the company meets its quality bar for release," a Microsoft spokesperson revealed to The WinVista Club. "We’re continuing to work with our partners on the development of Windows 7, and are not sharing any additional information at this time."

Sure enough, doing the math on the potential dates for the final release of Windows 7 is rather easy. Taking into consideration the consumer launch of Vista in January 2007, Windows 7 will come in 2010. But judging from the release to manufacturing to businesses dates of the latest Windows client, Windows 7 is indeed aimed at a time before the 2009 holiday season. But predicting what Microsoft will actually do is an entirely different matter altogether.