Windows 7 coming June 3rd, 2009?

As you may recall, Bill Gates himself mentioned a little ways back that Windows 7 could possibly be arriving as soon as next year, which prompted some quick backtracking on Microsoft's part, but that earlier-than-expected date has now cropped up yet again, this time supposedly in Microsoft's internal calendar. According to InternetNews.com, that calendar pegs the planned release date as June 3rd, 2009, which is a good deal sooner than the "early 2010" date we've been hearing all along, and quite a significant cut into Vista's planned three-year lifespan. What's more, the site also says that Microsoft will take advantage of its Professional Developer's Conference on October 27th to launch the first public beta of Windows 7, although that doesn't quite match up with earlier word that it'd only be revealing some "in-depth technical information" about the OS.

[Via The Earth Times]

[pe3ko @ Sep 15th 2008 12:42PM]

who is this zhou?!1!

[xcrunk @ Sep 15th 2008 1:13PM]

But, but, but.....Vista.
But, but, but.....Mojave.
But, but, but....Seinfeld.

Shareholders ought to bail, and fast. Redmond just doesn't seem to have direction.

[Brad @ Sep 15th 2008 3:02PM]

Zhou is the same guy who showed us Vista, remember?

[thatrotierkid @ Sep 15th 2008 3:14PM]

my Mech E advisors name is zhou... his teeth are so messed up

[orky @ Sep 15th 2008 4:04PM]

Mojave is to show that Vista isn't as bad as what people are hearing. If people can accept that, Seinfeld is to show that Windows is still a cool OS and that Gates is hip. If those things work out, people will be excited when Windows 7 comes out.

[OneLove @ Sep 15th 2008 5:15PM]

Windows 7 is just going to be vista recycled with a new look and hopefully the proper features vista should have had in the first place. Microsoft is not going to start from the beginning when they haven't fully reaped the profits they expected form vista sales.

[harley @ Sep 15th 2008 12:43PM]

i really hope they decide to drop the 32-bit versions and make this 64-bit only.

[Jeremy K. @ Sep 15th 2008 12:52PM]

I'd be willing to bet that the next version of Windows won't come in a 32-bit version.

[Kris @ Sep 15th 2008 12:56PM]

Microsoft has already said that the next Windows OS (after Vista) will, I believe, be both 32-bit and 64-bit BUT the 64-bit will be more available than the 32-bit (basically swap the current situation). The the OS after that will be only 64-bit.

[maveric101 @ Sep 15th 2008 2:43PM]

definitely need to start forcing developers to work in 64 bit. i thought about 64 bit for my new laptop, but after looking around found that very few programs are coded in 64 bit, and i didn't want to have to worry about compatibility.

[Jason @ Sep 15th 2008 2:47PM]

You wouldn't have to worry about it if you used Ubuntu!

[Jeremy K. @ Sep 15th 2008 3:03PM]

I may have been wrong above, but doesn't it not make much sense to have a 32bit version of the next Windows since all of the desktop processors released in the past few years are 64bit?

[OneLove @ Sep 15th 2008 5:23PM]

Those poor Microsoft developers, developers, developers!

[Dave Chappelle @ Sep 16th 2008 3:20AM]

Windows 7 "ULTIMATE"

ohhhh not this shit again!

what is wrong with them, drop the 10 different packages, give us a 64/32 bit Ultimate and sell NOTHING ELSE.

[Lucas @ Sep 16th 2008 11:33PM]

Making the OS and Drivers 64-bit is much harder than making software 64 bit. Where applications can be recompiled to 64 bit because the hardware difference is abstracted from it. the OS and the Drivers do the abstraction. An analogy is telling drivers to switch from a SUV to a full efficient vehicle vs telling a Department of Transportation to switch from a two lane rode from a 4 lane road. They cant just say lets do it because the OS and Driver are what abstracts the difficult parts of changing from 32 to 64 bit to applications.

[Maestro @ Sep 15th 2008 12:44PM]

Internetnews.com ....what a trustworthy name for a news site.

[suvayanr @ Sep 15th 2008 12:45PM]

This is total BS. It's obviously a fake screenshot.

[suvayanr @ Sep 15th 2008 12:46PM]

look the build numbers and copyright date. TOTALLY FAKE

[Thi mam(kris120890) @ Sep 15th 2008 1:02PM]

You're an idiot.

[HighTeckRedNeck @ Sep 15th 2008 12:55PM]

It might actually be real. Zhou was the name on the early Windows 7 screenshots that, though everyone (including me) thought were fake, turned out to be real. Let's wait and see.

[dave lemke @ Sep 15th 2008 12:46PM]

"...quick backtracking on Microsoft's part, but hat earlier-than-expected date..."

Who is this magically Hat I ask you?

[Joe H @ Sep 15th 2008 12:55PM]

Free Hat!

[Paul @ Sep 15th 2008 12:48PM]

Now are they going to give discounted upgrades to vista owners or what?

[Ekauq @ Sep 15th 2008 1:03PM]

we'll probably just end up with some $100 rebate off of the os if we have vista

[tbone @ Sep 15th 2008 1:04PM]

i donno, but i think they should definitely give discounted upgrades to xp owners

[Zeus.:God @ Sep 15th 2008 1:34PM]

Ekauq... I love you.

[tpadekar @ Sep 15th 2008 2:59PM]

Oh No!!!

People would then say that MS is copying Apple! :-O

[PeterF @ Sep 15th 2008 3:37PM]

Like an upgrade edition? Yeah they will have that.

[Zeus.:God @ Sep 15th 2008 4:44PM]

WTF? How did I get low ranked for that?

You guys are a bunch of noobs.

[bob @ Sep 15th 2008 12:50PM]

So, you say in 2009 we can expect a new, refreshed windows?

It took 5 years for Vista to be release so what makes anyone think 2 or 3 years later they have something that will re-vitalize microsoft's appeal to consumers?

I like Vista. However I don't see any foreseeable leaps and bounds in an operating systems like XP had.

[schmitty338 @ Sep 15th 2008 1:45PM]

My guess is they want to move away from the name 'vista' and all it's negative connotations. Even if the new OS is just a more refined version of vista essentially, it will give consumers a new name not related to vista's bad reputation thus giving microsoft a new shot at wooing consumers.

[Echo1 @ Sep 15th 2008 2:30PM]

but who's to say that if the negatives about vista carry over to windows 7, people will still refer to both of them as Vista? hopefully though Microsoft learned their lesson with vista

[jorvay @ Sep 15th 2008 4:10PM]

most of the negative issues with vista seem to be gone already. I'm mainly a linux user, but i do have vista as a second boot on my laptop, and it seems perfectly fine these days. Of course, it came on the laptop, so I never had to worry about driver issues...but those are mostly in the past, are they not?

[William @ Sep 15th 2008 4:56PM]

Vista will essentially become like Windows ME (Millenium Edition) and act like a bridge between XP and Seven as ME acted as a bridge between 98 and XP.

They threw a buch of stuff into Vista to see how we would react to it, and the stuff that we didn't like, is out in Seven, the stuff we liked... Well that stuff is in.

[MioTheGreat @ Sep 15th 2008 8:45PM]

William, the ME/Vista situations are absolutely nothing alike from an architectural standpoint.

ME basically ended an entire design philosophy for Windows. 9x and DOS died with ME.

Vista, on the other hand, actually cements a lot of things about NT, and gutted a large number of old and questionable systems from it.

Seven shouldn't actually be a big architectural jump from Vista. Vista was a MASSIVE architectural jump from XP. XP was a completely different OS design from ME/9x/etc.

Vista is actually a lot more like Windows 2000: New driver models, designs, etc.

[killermojo @ Sep 15th 2008 12:51PM]

Keep diluting your brand Microsoft..

[konshuss @ Sep 15th 2008 12:53PM]

hmm a vista skin. i hope i can get rid of that... i want nothing that reminds me of vista when using a new OS... in fact, why isn't there a windows 7 theme or look?

skeptical...

[thatrotierkid @ Sep 15th 2008 3:18PM]

GUI is one of the last things developed in an OS, at is the easiest to create. All of the R&D goes into the programming.

[konshuss @ Sep 15th 2008 5:00PM]

for something that is due out in 9 months, as was the case with windows 95, you got an indication of the environment through the builds. i'm sure your generalized statement is true in many cases, but part of testing the environment of your new operating system is using it with the GUI it comes with.

this late in the game i'm going to safely assume it uses the vista GUI.... which again I hope can be heavily customized or changed altogether.

[TheWakeUpCall @ Sep 15th 2008 7:25PM]

I really like the Vista theme. I hope they keep it in, they have no need to change it. It's something everyone seems to like.

[kurt.tappe @ Sep 15th 2008 12:54PM]

XP was late. Vista was late. Assuming this isn't a prank, is there any reason to think Microsoft will get Windows 7 out on time?

[Joe H @ Sep 15th 2008 12:56PM]

Knowing Microsoft, Windows 7 will probably be the long-awaited 'Mojave'.

(I actually like Vista, for the record, but I'm just kidding around with that).

[roach @ Sep 15th 2008 12:57PM]

Pretty much Vista with touch screen capabilities. You're better off with Vista with a more mature drivers.

[MadMike @ Sep 15th 2008 12:57PM]

So we should expect it by Mid-December of 2011 then?

[Richard @ Sep 15th 2008 1:50PM]

Yes, and with some of their initially announced features stripped in order to get it out *that* soon.

*Remembers the promise of Longhorn*

[Schnapple @ Sep 15th 2008 12:57PM]

I get that Microsoft has the problem of convincing people to use Vista because Vista has such a bad rap and therefore they're touting "Windows 7" a lot.

But seriously, this is a bad idea.

First, it cuts the legs out from under their recent Vista campaigns (Seinfeld, Mojave)

Second, it pisses off the people who did upgrade to Vista - it now says their investment is null and void.

Third, it makes supporting apps a nightmare - remember when boxes used to say "Supports Windows 95OSR/98/98SE/ME/XP"?

I have a prediction - they'll get everyone all stoked about Windows 7 and then announce that, as it turns out, they plan to make Windows 7's new stuff into a service pack for Vista. People who run Vista will be happy. People who have not bought Vista yet will probably do so. They get all the good PR and sales and no one gets hurt.

[bob @ Sep 15th 2008 1:14PM]

Interesting prediction!

Even a minimal upgrade cost .. say $50 .. would be reasonable if they have some handy updates.

[inno8sky @ Sep 15th 2008 2:12PM]

I don't see Microsoft advertising or promoting Windows 7 , I don't think they need to, Vista is doing quite well.. From the stats, Vista's usage has gone up from 4.5% to 12.5% from Sept/07 to August/08, that's a pretty healthy adoption rate. Especially when there's so much negative bullshit floating around out there.. In the same give time, apple have seen a 1% gain and Linux have seen a .5% gain.. Microsoft aren't losing any market share, and apple's gains aren't nearly as astounding as many on this rag hope it to be..

in 03, XP's adoption rate grew by similar numbers.. 42.6 to 59.1 from November to Sept/04.

[michas_pi @ Sep 15th 2008 8:09PM]

If you're right, that's going to be one hell of a service pack.

[Zeus.:God @ Sep 15th 2008 12:59PM]

Hopefully this will be better accepted than Windows Vista and not have as many complaints.