The IT Nerd

InfoWorld is reporting that Microsoft sent out an edict that all ordered computer and other hardware makers to begin testing their devices on the forthcoming Windows 7 OS as soon as the first beta version becomes available. Those don’t comply with the edict won’t qualify for Microsoft’s Windows Logo certified compatibility program.

Well…. I wonder if it has anything to do with the Vista Capable lawsuit? Or perhaps Vista sucks so much that Microsoft is going with plan “B” which would be Windows 7 (which means it might be coming “real soon now”)? Perhaps both.

Before you get excited about Windows 7, a recent CNet interview with the guy who heads Windows development indicates that Windows 7 is likely to be an evolution of Windows Vista:

“We’re very clear that drivers and software that work on Windows Vista are going to work really well on Windows 7; in fact, they’ll work the same. We’re going to not introduce additional compatibilities, particularly in the driver model. Windows Vista was about improving those things. We are going to build on the success and the strength of the Windows Server 2008 kernel, and that has all of this work that you’ve been talking about. The key there is that the kernel in Windows Server 08 is an evolution of the kernel in Windows Vista, and then Windows 7 will be a further evolution of that kernel as well.”

Wait a second! Read this part again:

“We’re very clear that drivers and software that work on Windows Vista are going to work really well on Windows 7; in fact, they’ll work the same.”

How in the world is that possible? Doesn’t that statement contradict itself? What I think they’re trying to say is that the drivers and software that run on vista are going to run on Windows 7, only everything will actually work. Clearly, all they’re going to do is fix and re-brand Vista, change some eye candy (Aero II perhaps?), and pray it sells this time around. They’d come out with it now, but they need to wait long enough that people will believe it’s a new OS rather than a refreshed OS that may actually work. Plus if they did it now, they’d all but admit that Vista was half baked from day one.

This entry was posted on June 2, 2008 at 3:43 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Microsoft, Windows 7. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.