Mike Nash, Corporate Vice President, Windows Product Management at Microsoft, has announced the name of the next version of Windows client operating system: Windows 7.
After taking different approaches to naming Windows, using the version number for Windows 3.11, the release year for Windows 98 or Windows 2000, or aspirational names like XP and Vista, Microsoft has decided to use for the next version of its client operating system a plain number, 7. Mike explains the decision:
The decision to use the name Windows 7 is about simplicity. ... Simply put, this is the seventh release of Windows, so therefore "Windows 7" just makes sense.
Windows 7 will be a continuation of Vista, as Mike mentions that their plan 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.
Microsoft will disclose more details about Windows 7 during PDC 2008 and WinHEC 2008. The attendees of those two conferences will have the opportunity to see pre-beta builds of Windows 7. A large number of sessions are dedicated to planned improvements brought by the future Windows 7.