Next version of Windows: Call it 7

Windows 7:




Windows 7 (previously codenamed Blackcomb and Vienna) is scheduled to be the next major client version of Microsoft Windows, expected to be the successor of Windows Vista. Sources indicate that Windows 7 should be finished in the second half of 2009, three years after Windows Vista.The client versions of Windows 7 will ship in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, even though the server counterpart (which will succeed Windows Server 2008) will be exclusively 64-bit.
Microsoft is maintaining a policy of silence concerning discussion of plans and aspirations for Windows 7 as they focus on the release and marketing of Windows Vista,though some early details of various core operating system features have emerged. As a result, very little is known about the feature set, though public presentations from company officials have disseminated information about some features.

Circa 2000, Windows XP and its server counterpart Windows Server 2003 (codenamed Whistler) were planned to be followed-up by a major release of Windows that was codenamed Blackcomb (both codenames refer to the Whistler-Blackcomb resort) and scheduled for a 2005 release.Major features were planned for Blackcomb, including an emphasis on searching and querying data and an advanced storage system to enable such scenarios. In this context, a feature mentioned by Bill Gates for Blackcomb was "a pervasive typing line that will recognize the sentence that [the user is] typing in.
Later Blackcomb was delayed and an interim minor release, codenamed "Longhorn", was announced for a 2003 release.Even more delays later, Longhorn became a major release and accumulated many features initially planned for Blackcomb, including the advanced storage system (titled WinFS) as well as the searching system (christened Windows Search). Later Longhorn shedded a few features—including WinFS but retaining the searching capabilities despite—en route to a 2007-launch as Windows Vista.
In the mean time, Blackcomb was given a new codename—Vienna.However, following the release of Windows Vista, it was confirmed by Microsoft on July 20, 2007 that "the internal name for the next version of the Windows Client OS" is Windows 7.

The first known build of Windows 7 was identified as a "Milestone 1 (M1) code drop" according to reports sent to TG Daily and has a version number of 6.1.6519.1 according to various reports. It was sent to key Microsoft partners in January 2008 in both x86 and x64 versions.Though not yet confirmed by Microsoft, reviews and screenshots have been published by various sources.Features described include Gadgets being integrated into Windows Explorer, a Gadget for Windows Media Center, and a new XPS Viewer. An included feedback tool reportedly lists the ability to store Internet Explorer settings on a Windows Live account, Windows Presentation Foundation versions of Calculator, Paint and WordPad, and a 10 minute install process as coming features.

hmmmm interesting...ekhono vista dhorini...will have to rethink

Vista ar dHorte Hobe na.Linux dhOrO.

Shob kichu eto joldi egiya jaccha

wow.. nice.. we'll see when it comes out.

Linux use korechi....ebon korbo nijer techy room jokhon fully build kortee parbo...will have my own server and all...yes can't wait

Good.Good Mina AaPu.

What will be the basic changes/upgrades from Vista ?

rEeV,
Microsoft hasn't publicly committed to any features for Windows 7 and the company is currently still deciding what this next Windows release will look like. I do know a few things about Windows 7, however: It will include a new version of Windows Explorer that is being built by the same team that designed the Ribbon user interface in Office 2007. It will likely include some form of the "Hypervisor" (Windows Virtualization) technologies that will ship shortly after Windows Server 2008. It will also likely include the WinFS (Windows Future Storage) technologies, though they won't be packaged or branded as WinFS. Microsoft says it might also make a subscription-based version of the OS available to consumers, but that's still in flux.

But I am sure something about Windows 7.
Microsoft has created a stripped-down version of the Windows core, called MinWin, that will be at the heart of future Windows products, starting with Windows 7.Windows core means Windows Kernel.Kernel is the heart of a OS.It is a new kernel that only needs 25MB on the hard disk and has a working set of 40MB. This might just be a step further in componentizing Windows. However, it seems to me that this has something to do with the growing popularity of mobile devices. Who knows, maybe Windows Mobile 7 is just a special edition of Windows 7, that is, they might have the same kernel. Okay, that is just mere speculation. But if you look at the size of Ultra Mobile PCs (UMPC) today, you can easily predict that it won’t take too long until a full-blown Windows will run on your cell.It lacks a graphical user interface and is interfaced using a full-screen command line interface. It includes the I/O and networking subsystems.the name MinWin was also used earlier to refer to what is currently known as Server Core in Windows Server 2008. However, the two are quite different. While both efforts are to consolidate and componentize the core of Windows, with server core, the functionality of the OS is constrained according to server roles, and unneeded components (which will never be used as the role isn't supported) are removed from the binary image. However, the dependencies still exist in code, and the code cannot compile without the components. In contrast, with MinWin, the dependencies are consolidated into MinWin and what is not needed is removed at the code level itself. As a result, the code compiles even without any extraneous components and builds a stripped-down self-contained OS kernel image.

A programmer from Microsoft who worked on the Tablet PC team at there, (I forget his name, got this from a Blog) , reported that Windows 7 will have new touch features.He didnt give more details there. But, I suppose, it has something to do with Windows Mobile 7. That is, it is about dragging objects by touching them on the screen. Yeah, I already hear the Apple fans. They already have this on their iPhone.

Another feature of 7 is, You can operate multiple graphics cards from different vendors. It's called Heterogeneous graphics system or something like that. Isn’t that already possible now with XP and Vista? I suppose, I didn’t get the point about this new feature.

O One more thing, you will get a new version of Windows Media Center integrated with Windows 7.