Windows 7 has been in the making for a good couple of years.  Basically, as soon as Vista was released, work on its successor began. In all that time, the product has been know simply as Windows 7, a codename assumed to be just temporary. But no, in a surprisingly casual announcement, Microsoft has announced the name of its next operating system: Windows 7 is to be Windows 7.

Mike Nash, product manager of Windows, announced the final name of the new product in a blog post on the Windows Vista Team Blog. This serves as a distinct reminder that Windows 7 is a revamp of Vista rather than an all new version of Windows started from scratch. Which in my mind would have been a better option.

As Nash explains, it’s very rare for Microsoft to carry a codename through to a final product, but Windows 7 is one such rarity. Nash explains the thinking behind the decision:

The decision to use the name Windows 7 is about simplicity. Over the years, we have taken different approaches to naming Windows.

We’ve used version numbers like Windows 3.11, or dates like Windows 98, or “aspirational” monikers like Windows XP or Windows Vista. And since we do not ship new versions of Windows every year, using a date did not make sense.

Likewise, coming up with an all-new “aspirational” name does not do justice to what we are trying to achieve, which is to stay firmly rooted in our aspirations for Windows Vista, while evolving and refining the substantial investments in platform technology in Windows Vista into the next generation of Windows.

Simply put, this is the seventh release of Windows, so therefore “Windows 7″ just makes sense.

It does make sense, at least to a layman such as myself. Windows 7 is a name that is already out there in the public consciousness. It’s also simple, yet effective, and sums up the back to basics approach that Microsoft seems to be taking with this next iteration of its operating system.

The timing of this announcement has also led to new speculation over the eventual release date of the final product. Everything seems to be going forward very quickly, with the name now finalized, and the OS due to be detailed at the Professional Developers Conference (PDC) on October 27 and the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) a week later.

The Engineering Windows 7 blog is giving some brilliant insights into the processes involved in bringing an OS to market, and whether it gets released in 2009, 2010, or 2011, all of which have been rumored.  The details are slowly and surely getting filled in.

Let’s just hope that the simplicity of the Windows 7 name is brought through to a simple and user-friendly operating system. Anything would be better than Vista.

Related:

Entry was posted on Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 at 2:34 pm under Microsoft, Opinion, Technology, Vista.

Read more entries by Dave Parrack.
Stumble It!