Microsoft continues to pump their PR machine in an effort to convince the world that Vista is the logical next step in their computing path. Interestingly, this latest salvo seems to be less of an effort to convince people of the value of Vista and more of an announcement that there really aren’t any other options and that the next version isn’t going to change that.
So what did Senior VP Bill Veghte have to say about the situation? Here are a few choice bits.
As our next generation PC platform, Windows Vista has many advantages that make it the best choice for people who are buying a new Windows-based PC to use at home or in a small business. However, some small business customers may have applications that aren't compatible with Windows Vista. In most cases, your software vendor should have an updated version of these applications. In the case that you still need Windows XP Professional as noted above, you can purchase Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate on a new PC and then use downgrade rights until you are ready to upgrade to Windows Vista. When you are ready, you are "future proofed" since you already have a license for Windows Vista.
You may as well buy it now, ‘cause you’re eventually not going to have a choice, and we’d like your money now rather than later. Oh, and it is the vendors’ fault that the compatible versions of the software aren’t out yet, so be mad at them, not at us.
Some of you may have heard about “Windows 7,” which is the working name for the next release of Microsoft Windows… You have told us you want a more regular, predictable Windows release schedule. To this end, our plan is to deliver Windows 7 approximately 3 years after the January 2007 general availability launch date of Windows Vista.
…[O]ur approach with Windows 7 is to build off the same core architecture as Windows Vista so the investments you and our partners have made in Windows Vista will continue to pay off with Windows 7. Our goal is to ensure the migration process from Windows Vista to Windows 7 is straightforward.
That’s right folks - Windows 7 is right on time, scheduled for January 2010. There haven’t been many public showings of any of the functionality yet, much less discussion of betas or community releases, though it is still early. I’m guessing that January 2010 will slip, but that’s mostly because Microsoft hasn’t hit a release date in a few years, not because I believe that Windows 7 is special.
Possibly more importantly is the note that Windows 7 will be using Vista as its basis. That cannot really be surprising to anyone. There is no way that Microsoft was going to scrap Vista and start over, regardless of what their critics (and fans) say. There is just too much of an investment there. So if you’re holding out for a better experience in Windows 7 than with Vista it might be a futile effort, since the base code is going to be pretty much the same. Personally I’m most frustrated by the fiasco that the UI changes have produced. I’m not talking about not liking the look – I adjusted to the new Aero interface pretty quickly. But the Aero interface is just an overlay, not a native view. So all the transparency and fancy control boxes are really the same old code underneath, with an extra layer of processing required to convert the way they look to be the “pretty” version. Sure, most new computers have plenty of processor available these days and old systems will just deny the Aero option from loading, but it still seems like a ridiculously inefficient way to get to the results that Microsoft was looking for.
Those are just two of my favorite bits from the letter. The rest of it is worth a quick read. It isn’t anything all that ground-breaking, though the fait accompli tone of the message is a bit over the top. Good luck planning that upgrade. If you’re lucky Windows 7 will be out somewhere around the time you finally get the planning completed.
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