Windows 7 may (or may not) be in the wild

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft

Windows 7 may (or may not) be in the wild

by Brad Linder Jan 22nd 2008

Last week we started to hear a rumor that Windows 7, the successor to Vista could be on schedule for a 2009 release. And it's also rumored that early builds of Windows 7 are making the rounds to early testers and developers. So it should come as no surprise that someone claiming to have access to Windows 7 surfaced this weekend and posted his initial thoughts on the web.

A member of the Neowin forums says that he installed Windows 7 this weekend and was less than impressed (which wouldn't be surprising for such an early build). But that member has not presented any screenshots and has since deleted his post, so we're going to take anything he says with a grain of salt. Of course, it's possible that his post was legit but that he was contacted by a team of lawyers.

In a nutshell, he said that installation was difficult and the driver support was lacking. The GUI, he says looks a lot like Vista, but Gadgets are integrated into Explorer, rather than hosted in a separate sidebar. In other words, you can add, or hide gadgets by right clicking on the desktop. There are also reportedly some changes in the start menu and search box.

The most interesting bit is that Windows 7 aims to streamline the integration between the operating system and Microsoft's online services. For example, you should be able to sync your Internet Explorer settings with your Windows Live account so you can use them on any PC. This is and other online features are on a list of goals though, and aren't currently integrated into Windows 7. If in fact, Windows 7 is even out there right now.

OK, time to put your salt shakers down. What we do know is that Microsoft is already working on the next version of Windows. We also know that Microsoft has been playing up its Windows Live online services. It's not much of a stretch to imagine that Windows 7 will bridge the gap between desktop and online software. But whether the Neowin report is a leak or a pretty decent guess of what Windows 7 will look like, it's too early to say.

[via istartedsomething]

Tags: leak, neowin, rumor, windows-7

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

brian said 12:35PM on 1-22-2008

I'm Pretty annoyed at Micro$oft. Just because vista hasn't done good they are not giving it a chance and releasing a new OS. Where is the love for vista, i have no money to upgrade to windows 7. Will they support vista?....how long for?!

michael said 6:49PM on 1-22-2008

Oh, so Microsoft should wait a couple more years, and then have people complain and whine how Microsoft takes forever to release a new OS?

And with the previous OS being there for a long time, and becoming more solid and working with more applications, wouldn't it be difficult to persuade users to change to a whole new OS?

I don't think Vista's bad as some people like to cry out about it. I think there's several great elements to it, but didn't come out as a more polished OS than it should have been. I hope all the good stuff in Vista gets fixed up some more and be in Win7.

Neil said 12:41PM on 1-22-2008

Brian what are you talking about, MS has been coming out with a new OS every 3-4 years for quite some time now, Vista would have followed that tread if Microsoft hadn't had so many problems getting it out the door.....there's nothing new hear.

And seeing as how they still have support for Windows 2000 I doubt there's much to worry about as far as Vista support goes.

Todd said 12:44PM on 1-22-2008

If this isn't absolute empirical evidence that Vista is the biggest software failure of all time, I don't know what is.

Can we start a Download Squad pool to guess the name?

Windows Capitulate?
Windows Capitulate 2009?
Windows Capitulate Ultra Premium Edition Professional 2009 with Plus Pack?

ian said 12:53PM on 1-22-2008

Microsoft: Solving problems you don't have, now or in the future.

emmzee said 2:09PM on 1-22-2008

"If this isn't absolute empirical evidence that Vista is the biggest software failure of all time, I don't know what is."

I'm not a big fan of Vista (I still use XP and don't see a big need to upgrade atm) but how is this "absolute empirical evidence" of Vista's supposed failure? Did anyone think MS wouldn't start immediately working on their next OS? They're a for-profit company, they need to keep releasing new OS's to make money, so of course they're going to be working on a new one. AFAIK, sales of Vista haven't been slow, and that's really the most important metric for MS (not for customers, of course).

agelgamer said 2:26PM on 1-22-2008

Does anyone not remember the huge flop that was Windows ME? It was crap compared to Windows 98. Not long after XP was released.

I'm not surprised Microsoft is going to release another OS. Hell, MacOS goes through revisions as well.

I wish they'd release OS X for Intel already.

Mark said 11:19PM on 1-22-2008

OS X does run on Intel, though I'm sure you meant to say generic PCs. I think it would give Windows a run for it's money, but Steve Jobs is far too arrogant to ever let his precious run on peasant hardware.

DagMX said 8:48AM on 1-23-2008

@Mark
It's not so much about being arrogant as the following:
1)It's easier to develop OS X and provide support since the hardware is limited exactly to what apple puts in there. You won't suddenly have to support a mllion different graphics cards, sound cards etc... and all their inherent problems

2)It keeps things in an internal loop. Microsoft dont sell the hardware that windows runs on. They just sell windows. Apple is also a hardware company and by keeping things running on their system it makes sure that if people want their OS, they will need an Apple system or if they want to upgrade, that it's keeping the cashflow exactly to apple

Johnnyg0 said 1:53PM on 1-23-2008

You don't need to buy an apple computer to use OSX, you can always build yourself an Hackint0sh box. Look it up! :)

Mark said 11:19PM on 1-22-2008

Probably 'shopped/made-up. I can't see Microsoft bundling Live services with Windows: they tried with Windows Messenger, got screwed over by just about very antitrust commission out there and removed it.

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