It's official: Microsoft's next Windows version, currently being developed under the codename Windows 7 will use that moniker as its official final name when it hits the market in early 2010. The news, delivered as is so often the case these days via a blog, was widely anticipated.
"Since we began development of the next version of the Windows client operating system we have been referring to it by a codename, 'Windows 7,'" Microsoft corporate vice president Mike Nash said. "But now is a good time to announce that we've decided to officially call the next version of Windows, 'Windows 7.'"
As Nash notes in the post, Microsoft has used a variety of naming conventions for its Windows products over the years, including years (Windows 95, 98), version numbers (Windows 3.1), and so-called "aspirational" monikers like Windows XP and Vista. With Windows 7, however, the company felt that the Windows 7 name was simple and appropriate, since this will be the seventh major version of the OS.
Microsoft is promising to show off numerous end user features in Windows 7 for the first time at its Professional Developers Conference (PDC) 2008 event in Los Angeles the week of October 27. I'll be covering that event on a live and continuous basis from the SuperSite for Windows.
http://www.winsupersite.com