Microsoft Windows 7 OS slated to release in Next Three Years

Apparently Microsoft intends shipping its next major version of Windows, which is tentatively titled as ‘Version 7’ in the company’s close circles; in next three years’ time.

Speaking about this, a Microsoft official stated, “Microsoft is scoping Windows 7 development to a three-year time frame.” What’s more, a subscription model is also being thought of for the future Windows.

This news follows last week’s conference of the Redmond, Washington, USA-based company’ s humungous sales force, Microsoft’s Global Exchange, held in Orlando to outline the company’s post-Vista future.

“Microsoft is scoping Windows ‘7′ development to a three-year timeframe, and then the specific release date will ultimately be determined by meeting the quality bar,” the representative said.

Adding, “In the meantime, Microsoft is dedicated to helping customers deploy and get the most business value from their PCs using Windows Vista and related technologies like the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack, and we’re encouraged by the response and adoption of these products so far.”

At present very few details a regarding the plans for the new operating system are known. What’s known is that it will have 32- and 64-bit versions and will ship in consumer and business editions like Vista.

The main targets of the details of the forthcoming Windows 7, according to the software giant were the corporate clients who are part of Microsoft’s Software Assurance, which is the licensing programme under which several business customers pay for Microsoft’s software.

Software Assurance is the Microsoft program that makes it possible for customers with volume licenses for Windows to automatically get upgrades when new versions are released.

In fact, according to a new Gartner report, Microsoft is making several business tools available only via Software Assurance, and Gartner expects this trend to continue.

In February, just a few days after the long-awaited Vista launch, Microsoft had announced that ‘Vienna’ was the name given to the upcoming Windows 7, slated for a 2009 release.

Microsoft has been more or less synonymous to delays. Even the Windows Vista OS, took over five years to arrive. In fact the software giant had also been criticized by business for the Vista delay until it was finally released in November 2006 for businesses and January 2007 for consumers.


source:techshout.com