IMO, in these days of increasing efficiency and consumers looking to make their dollars stretch, can we even begin to hope that Microsoft might actually give us less for the new version? Less bloat, less system resource intensive, less useless bells and whistles? probably not...
IMO I would sincerely invest in a total rewrite of "windows" from the ground up.. instead of heaping tens of thousands of lines of code overtop sloppily written code, lets see a total rewrite, done right. you dont need 10,000 lines of code to do what 5000 lines can do just as well.
I can already see the trolls coming out of the woodwork, telling me to do it. to these trolls I say, "why bother?" I could write the leanest, safest, most secure and user friendly os ever imagined, but why bother when it wont take off without the MS logo on it? so lets see some REAL innovation from MS and re-invent the desktop pc.

Hmmm... I love how MS just released the Vista crap and already they are working on the next one. I mean you gotta hate yourself... Good lord.

Yea except that the next windows wont come out for another 2 years while youre still in here being a troll like the rest of these clowns

They have to drive sales somehow...Office can't carry it all.
And crap churns the market just as well as quality.

If there is indeed only a 2 year interim period, there is little reason for users, especially enterprise users, to upgrade to Vista - instead waiting and hoping for a more stable and compatible version of the OS relative to applications and drivers. But why do I suspect merely a continuing (neverending) story with these issues...as a 2 year lifecycle is prohibitively short and not worth the extensive testing necessary.

I've got a worst feeling by that time XP will still be used for another 10 more years!

Windows 7 = Windows ME 3
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Windows 20 = Windows ME 20 LOL!!!

Even though I personally have no issues with Windows Vista, and only within recent months have started using it exclusively at home, I also saw no need for Microsoft to release it.

At least it brought exponentially more to the table than Windows Me did.

It's like a stable ME.
not too bad, but fancy enough.

Although on a business point of view, no need for MUIs is VERY, VERY big on a international company.

It's very difficult to install computers when you got everyone speaking at least 3 or 4 languages, and require you to install a different MUI for every install.

with Vista, all you have to do is get the English version installed, and the rest all can come in updates.

Now that it's blatantly obvious that Vista is a failure, MS is gonna need something in the pipe a LOT sooner than 2010.

Expect to see it moved up.

How do you know a OS is a failure?
1) The only sales you get are from new systems and fanboi's
2) You have to lower the price of it just to get people to buy it.
3) When you add things that were already there by 3-parties, and even ran(in most cases) better then the ones you added.

Also consider that if you go out and buy a full retail version of Windows XP Pro you will pay $299 the exact same price you did when it first came out.

Microsoft dropped the ball big time with Windows Vista if like I have said before, If Steve Jobs were to release OS X to everyone and not just Apple Hardware users they could have 30% market share before Microsoft could put out Windows 7.

Some people don't get that all that fluff that Microsoft puts in there application they call Windows Vista, just takes resources away from the real applications you want to run.
All these applications that Microsoft just adds on to Vista are like hitching a trailer to a race car, its going to slow you down and require more horse-power just to do the same as before. Windows Vista is supposed to be a OS and it is not its a application. All I can say is that Windows 7 had better be a frickin slam dunk or it will be just one more nail in the Microsoft coffin.
I am not a fanboi of any OS I use them all at home and work, and I think competition is a good thing and really Microsoft doesn't have any. If Microsoft did you wouldn't see them putting out junk like Vista and ME. I think its time that Microsoft license out the Windows kernel and let others make the new OSes, could almost do a Linux type of thing but make sure that all the basic version's are the same.

Linux is to spread out with to many destros to be a real contender for taking out Microsoft. If the Linux community would settle on one destro and run with that they could give Microsoft a run for its money. I can see a time where Microsoft is not the dominate player in the desktop OS. Corporate arrogance leads to corporate blindness and like GM, IBM and AT&T before them, Microsoft will trip and fall and it will be fatal. Unless Microsoft wants to go the way of IBM, AT&T then they need to get back to making a OS and stop making this fluff application they are trying to pass off as one.

Just a small list of companies that in the past 30 years were the leader or monopoly in their indistry.
IBM
AT&T - in 1984 was broken up by the government
GM - was the #1 auto maker for decades until toyoda just recently took the #1 spot. i think gm retook the #1 spot but it shows that they can lose it.
WordStar
WordPerfect
Borland - dBase and Turbo programming languages
Netscape
Yahoo/Excite - they battled it out and for a little while would switch back and forth as #1 and #2 search engines.
Atari - there video game system was #1 for years, they even had the option to buy nintendo at one time but didn't.

This is by no means a complete list and I am sure if we all think about it can add a few more to the list. But what did all these companies have in common with Microsoft. Again they were at one time the defacto standard of their industry, and because of their arrogance and corporate blindness and belief they could do no wrong slipped and fell.

"If Steve Jobs were to release OS X to everyone and not just Apple Hardware users they could have 30% market share before Microsoft could put out Windows 7."

This view is overly simplistic. There is no way OS X can work well on so many 3rd party hardware combinations in such short period of time.

Hypothetically speaking, if this really happened, OS X would be far less stable that it is today. There is no guarantee it would not be another Vista.

"This view is overly simplistic. There is no way OS X can work well on so many 3rd party hardware combinations in such short period of time."

Well I am sure you know that OS X is just Apples custom version of freeBSD. So allot of the drivers have already been made. So Apple wouldn't have to do much to get 3rd party hardware to work.

And the fanboys line up and whine

And the article is simply nonsensical speculation about the speculation based on the speculation. What a bunch of fluff.

Without doing any investigation I, or anyone with 8 functioning brain cells for that matter, could guess that it will be 3-4-5 years before the release of a new version.

"Thus Microsoft's refusal to be more specific than this"....

Gee, and they refuse to be pinned down to Tuesday or Friday? ROFLMAO!!!!!

Not only does MS have their hands full trying to get folks to upgrade to Vista, but if their ability to count is any indication, insofar as Vista should have been 'Windows 7', the numbering system in itself gives one reason to pause.

Or maybe they will finally give people a reason to move to "Windows 7"

insofar as Vista should have been 'Windows 7'[/i]

Huh?

Windows 2000, while being NT-based, was a fairly major departure from Windows NT 4.0, hence the major version advancement (5.0).

Sure it looks different, but Windows XP simply built upon Windows 2000, and incorporated no drastically major changes under the hood... hence its minor version update (5.1).

Windows Vista, being a radical departure from Windows XP, warranted another major version update (6.0).

[i]or anyone with 8 functioning brain cells for that matter, could guess that it will be 3-4-5 years before the release of a new version[/i]

Windows XP released in Oct 2001.
Windows Vista released in Jan 2007.

I'm seeing a pattern here. I know this will be somewhat of a blow to your elitist ego, but are you sure that [i]you know how to count?

3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16...

And so your argument is that it may be 17 years? And that invalidates what?

ROFLMAO!!!

But then, I would expect a fanboy to debate this.

Yeah, only fanboys disagree with The foxfyre...

What a load of BS...

Poor Tool...

The entire point of this story is that MS is working on a new version of Windows and that they will not set any firm release date.

Duh! My cat assumed as much!

So...where is the story here? That MS has not stopped developing Windows?
Or that there is no firm release date - as if someone couldn't guess that it would be several years away?

Or is it completely devoid of any significance other than the speculation about the speculation based on the speculation of still more speculation?....

"Thus Microsoft's refusal to be more specific than this to BetaNews' inquiry, which asked about 2010, is an indication that, like Vista, Windows 7's "track" remains somewhat flexible."

Duh!

Are we going to fast?

And how the pro-Windows people or the anti-Windows people an make anything out of this is amazing.

But then, this form has little to do about actually discussing pros and cons of various technical and business issues. Instead, any mention of a brand name is simply the whistle signaling the fanboys to proselytize for their own favorite or to denigrate the competition like little kids on the playground.

But then one day the folks whose entire world view is built around the world of computing as comprised simply of the puny PC and entertainment as an iPod or Zune or whatever low-fi toy they prefer, may open their eyes to seeing a larger more interesting world within which these products exist, with factors at play other than my Zune beats your iPod.

Yeah, right. Anyone care to guess how many years, decades, millennium ... that will take?

*yawn*

If you don't like this forum, go somewhere else?

You've done nothing but b**** and whine in this and the Zune thread.

Talk about useless posts and off-topic drivel... You are just as guilty as those you are condemning for fanboy/troll behavior.

"But then, this form has little to do about actually discussing pros and cons of various technical and business issues. Instead, any mention of a brand name is simply the whistle signaling the fanboys to proselytize for their own favorite or to denigrate the competition like little kids on the playground."[/i]

...and here you are, right on queue, belly-aching about the same old tired BS about 'fanboy this and that'.

You constructively participate on this forum [i]how exactly? Whine all you want, but you're the only one I see consistently posting page-long hypocritical rants in the threads regarding topics you claim to have no interest in.

Go ahead... I'll wait while you grab your thesaurus again.

I have heard the code name for Windows 7 is going to be Windows "Crap". I hear it is being developed in India and they are aiming to "flush it out" some time in 2009. It will be something like XP but will require a computer running eight quad core CPU's running at 40Ghz to copy a 8Mb file in just under three hours. You will also be able to install it up to 1 time using a 1500 digit activation code.

Seriously, if you are going to troll at least try and be funny and have some originality.

Absolutely no need to bash India. Your wording indicates racism and gives a peek into your character.

You're an idiot, how dare do you compare Microsoft's windows with India.

What is this article really telling us? Microsoft's been on a 3 year lifecycle on most of their products for a long time now. They also work on the next version, plus a version or two past that.

Its 2008. Next version likely should be 2010 if all goes well. Is it any surprise Microsoft isn't being more specific?

Windows 7, will it be better than Vista, lets hope so. As usual MS are concentrating on Visata, sell the dead turkey and bring the next one please

Microsoft has all the credibility of a used car salesman. I'm waiting for them to fire Steve Ballmer and replace him with a dead chicken. They'd be a much better company.

OK. So the news is - ther is no news.

Next

No news, no spoon...always the same with you guys.

I don't give a crap when windows 7 comes out. I just want it be ready for mass adoptedtion when it hits the streets. something that microsoft failed to do with vista.

www.talkprice.net

Give me one OS that the street adopt in the first year or two? None.

XP was pretty buggy too before the service packs..

Ive got a few vista problems.. so hoping that atleast most things will be corrected with SP1.

As for non-news on Windows v7 that does not feel all that interessting right now.

Buy a Mac. HAR!

[runs away]

Pixelsmack,
I did, an Airbook and what a treat it is. Never used Apple in my life, figured 'twas bout time to learn. 15 days I've had it. Did a reinstall after 2 days got rid of the regional stuff I'll never use, then purchased a wonderful little app called xlimmer, which reduced the install size even further.
Now, after all these years, can comprehend the term "Out of Box Experience"!!!

roflmao!

OOBE is the experience upon first removing it from the box, you twit.

...not the experience after re-installing and running a runtime reduction utility.

*shakes head*

Kids these days...

By sjc001 said:

"That is a myth. Linux proves otherwise. Vista is nothing but bloatware. Microsoft may just make the same mistakes with 7 as well."
--------------------------------------------
We'll just have to wait and see then, won't we? In the meantime, I'm always suspicious of messages that say that anything is "nothing but bloatware." without facts to back up the assertion.

Rushing software is never a good idea except for critical patches. Microsoft should take as much time as they need to get Win7 where they want it. Any modern OS is invariably complex and will take more time with each new version. Vista will cover ably multi-core processors until then.

That is a myth. Linux proves otherwise. Vista is nothing but bloatware. Microsoft may just make the same mistakes with 7 as well.

But there have always been major kernel changes in all Windows (NT) versions...there were several major changes between 2000 and XP too, though not as large as XP to Vista. Bob Muglia said in his interview that R2 of Windows Server 2008 will come in 2010. And MS typically releases the next major server OS a year after the client (so for a period of 1 year the kernel is always out of sync).

I feel MS is lying because if they're still in planning stages, what's the use of shipping a Milestone 1. It has to contain at least 1 major feature right, not just small service pack like improvements. They may not have decided the final feature set.

Probably mid-2010 will be it. With Server 7 releasing end of 2011.

For me, Vista works but with some issues which "are by design". XP works better than ever with zero issues. Hope they loosen the security just a 'lil bit in Windows 7 (not like the way Vista is too locked down-I say this because I've an issue with my internet connectivity and MS says that its due to a host security model change in Vista from weak host model to a strong host model) and hopefully add the these (http://en.wikipedia.org/...oved_from_Windows_Vista)

I have vista x64 on my main comp. and xp on my laptop, and i wish i had the money to buy vista also for my laptop but that will have to wait till summer.

I love vista, it is better then xp, the only problem is that older things do not work with vista, which is okay because thats not microsoft's issue thats the manufacturers and vendors.

If you have a good computer dual core and up, mine happens to be a quad core, then vista is awesome otherwise you will have to upgrade, and thats how it always have been, create software for the Future, not for the past, you cant use vista? well thats why xp exists.

Buy it OEM is a good option and will save you a lot of money.

I love the 64 bits vista too, only probably there isn't much 64 bits driver out there. Even big software company like Sun wouldn't release a working version of the 64 bits software. Out of the two good Java programs out there, they couldn't detect Java, if the Java 64 bits is install. If the 32 bits Java is installed, both programs installed fine.

Here is what I don't understand, people complain if MS (or any company in that fact) doesn't make a specific deadline, but if they do and what they come out with is crap those same people complain. I would rather MS not make a deadline and come out with the next Windows in 5-6 years than make a deadline for 3 and make a product that is less than they want it to be. Look at all the things that were taken out of Vista because they had to meet a deadline and now people are complaining that Vista isn't even close to what they said it would be. Companies shouldn't be rushed to put out a product, we should be ok with them taking their time to make the product the best it can be.

We'll wait it out. XP works great. Vista still doesn't.

Yea, XP is awesome. You'd think they'd make Vista better ey? Wrong.

I don't know who you mean by "we" because 100 million people disagree with you. No complaints here. I wouldn't go back to XP.

XP works great....until you install/uninstall apps and crap gets left behind that screws with the OS rendering it crashable, unstable and glitchy. If you don't mind reinstalling XP every few months, XP is great, yep.

MY time's precious. I don't wanna reinstall my OS every couple of months.

Wow, 100 million bought a new PC and realized it had vista on it. /me twirls finger for the plebian masses of sheeple.

I have a medium sized business running 99% XP and disagree with you completely. You argument for going to Vista is because it somehow cleans up after apps are uninstalled?

Please. I have a 5 year XP Pro box with 230 apps installed over its lifetime, acted as a small server doing snmp scans, jetdirect scans, spiceworks, fax services, etc, and it's still running strong and no issues!

ive managed 2 years, but performance was not why, mainly that it is good to clean house once in a while. ps, i hate the registery.

How very true. I rarely even restart my XP Pro machine that I use daily.

XP is stable & reliable maybe 99% of the time. It's not perfect but no desktop OS is perfect anyway.

Now, Vista. Vista is the least perfect of all.

in other news, it may rain today ... or it may not ... and i made my point in 7 less paragraphs too!

Agreed.

Yep. At this point we are speculating upon speculation. Then again, I'm only speculating about this :D

by 2010 civilization may have ended.

You're wrong. Civilization is more likely to end in 2012.

............Not very likely.

Heh...

I see what you did there. December 12th or eleventh? Can't remember which...

Ahh, but MS does release kernel changes via Service packs (like they did with Vista SP1 to sync with Win2k8). So, it wouldn't be unexpected to see a Win Server 2008 SP[1-2?] release at that time.

I can answer this

"may not"

"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." - Douglas Adams

Apparently so does Microsoft.

Haven't they stated that they now intend to stick to a cycle that limits their kernel changes to something like only making "major, compatibility-affecting" changes every 4(?) releases?

If I am recalling this correctly, that would imply Kernel parity for at least a few more releases.

But again, how important is that, Realistically? Many businesses are using Windows 2000 server, some are using 2003, many may soon switch to 2008.... It doesn't seem to me that kernel parity is a major sticking point for most folks, so long as the two work together decently.

There are some advantages in terms of patches and updates. A lot of the advantages seem to be in Microsoft's corner where they have less versions of a patch to test. But it's also less to test and manage for the I.T. staff.

Hopefully, this savings for MS will be translated into more developer hours on making the OS better.

On s'en calisse

Use Crap Cleaner to clean up your system of left over crap :) It's free and it works awesome, Google it and you will be happy!

Cheers

All right, all right ... I DO pardon your French ... :P