Microsoft announced that if everything goes according to plan (like that ever happens in the world of software) then Windows 7 will be available sometime in 2010. That gives Microsoft more than three years to round up all of their new features, plan them out, develop them, and test them. I would be thoroughly impressed if Microsoft can get another version of Windows out by 2010.
The fact that Microsoft even announced the general timeframe is nothing short of shocking though, especially with how secretive they have been regarding Vista SP1. The announcement of the Windows 7 release date came at the MGX 2008 conference, where Bill Gates gave his last MGX keynote.
The good news is that Windows 7 will ship in both 32-bit and 64-bit flavors, so the upgrade to 64-bit compatible processors isn’t needed quite yet. There was no mention whether there would be another 25 different editions of Windows, but I’m sure that is something we can count on. After all, it wouldn’t be any fun if you didn’t have to look at a huge table to figure out which version of Windows is right for you. 
At any rate, Microsoft even confirmed that they have been sharing some information regarding Windows 7, but they made sure to thrown in the "it might not be ready" clause (I put it in bold):
As part of our ongoing outreach to enterprise customers and partners, Microsoft has begun sharing plans for how they will continue to deliver value to businesses in the future, including Software Assurance customers in particular. As part of this, we are sharing some preliminary information on Windows ‘7’ — the internal name for the next version of the Windows Client OS — as well as updates on other future Windows-related releases such as the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack. 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. 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.
As long as Windows 7 hits the "quality bar," we should be seeing it sometime in 2010. This also led me to think of something else that I thought might be fun. Why not make a game out of this so that we can look back in 3-years to see where we thought we would be. Here’s what we’re gonna do:
–Enter your Prediction–
I’ve got four things below that you can make a prediction on regarding Windows 7:
- Name – Go on…take a stab in the dark what you think the next version of Windows is going to be called when it ships.
- Release Date – What day (by that I mean day, month, and year) do you think Windows 7 will ship for consumers)?
- Number of Versions – How many different versions of Windows do you think will be available? Vista currently has 6 different editions in case you were wondering.
- Pricing – What do you think the least expensive and most expensive versions will cost (and I mean the retail cost)?
So that’s all you gotta do! This isn’t any official contest, but maybe in 3-years we’ll turn it into one. So have some fun, and here are my guesses:
Name: Windows Serene
Release Date: February 15, 2011
Number of Versions: 3
Pricing: $125 to $500
Source: All About Microsoft [via Richard in the CyberNet Forum]
Name: Windows Shades
Release Date: Jan 1, 2020
Number of Versions: 37
Pricing: $299 to $2999
Name: iWindows (they realize the secret to Apple’s success)
Release Date: December 14, 2011
Number of Versions: 4
Pricing: $200.00 – $800.00
Name: Windows Bill
Release date: November 2, 2012
Number of Versions: 5
Pricing: $150-$450
Name: Windows (needs more) R.A.M.
Release Date: January 1, 2017
Number of Versions: 10
Pricing: $999-$5999
Typo: “Release Date – What day (by that I mean day, month, and year) do you think Vista will ship for consumers)?” (Win7 won’t be called Vista)
Name: Windows Infinity
Release Date: October 29, 2010
Number of Versions: 27
Pricing: $357 to $1298.99
Whatever may be the final name and the pricing, i am sure it will go through at least 12 revisions before anything is finalised.
Name: Windows Mii
RD: April 20, 2010
NoV: 1
P: $199
Name: Windows Cheshire (no BSOD, everything just vanishes and you are left with a giant grin.)
RD: 10-10-10
NoV: no less than 10
Price: $0 (ad-ware supported) to $35000 (’pentagon’ edition)
Name: Windows Vienna
Date: 30 /10/ 2011
Number of Versions: 3
Price: 100-400
Name: Leopard
Date: October 2007
Number of Versions: 1
Price $169
Note:not a Apple fanboy
Ahh…I love everyone’s submissions! Especially Al’s $35,000 pentagon edition of Windows.
Oops…guess my fingers are used to typing “Vista”
Oh, and Fill, I think Leopard is going to be $129…not $169.
maybe they will have vista working right by then?
Come on, what’s wrong w/ Vista?
I better get my prediction in here too!
Name: Windows Edge
Date: November, 2010
Number of version: 3
Price: $300-$800
Windows X10
Date: October, 2010
Number of version: 7
Price: $250-$1000
Windows X10…I like it! That was a good one XR.
Not sure what the name or date will be, but with the way it’s going, there will be 1 initial cost then as you run more apps you will get billed for the ones you actually use. So if you want to use the calculator, there is a 1 time fee of $5.00. Then if you want e-mail that will be $32.99… one time only. And by the way, you can’t run a third party program IF Microsoft produces one which does the same thing in the aggregate. Essentially you will only pay for what you want to use but the average price will probably top out at around $750.
I doubt it will be so A la carte. If MS didn’t provide an included calculator or desktop mail client, users would get free third party versions. There is no way MS would ever block out running 3rd party apps; this often correctly regarded as the biggest advantage of running windows.
That is definitely an interesting view Mike. I have seen polls by Microsoft regarding how much you would pay for a subscription based service for Windows and Office. I’m guessing it would be an annual cost, but it would give you access to the latest stable and pre-release versions of Windows and Office. I think it is a cool idea, but you would want to know how often Microsoft will be making releases.
I’m not sure if they would charge for using each app individually. That is just something that would be a huge pain…what if you were on a plain and realized you needed a calculator. You would have no way to pay for it there and it would cause a lot of frustration for the user.
DRM, TCPA, Virus, spyware, troyans, adware, intruders, built-in backdoors, etc.
Also M$ will be able to block non-M$ apps in the next version of windoze b/c they´re the ones that own the windoze source code and as such they have the advantage over every other guy who develops windoze apps.
Now for my prediction:
Name: Windoze Vienna
Date: 31/12/2011
NoV: 20+
Price: 2000-20000
dude is that ur birth day october 29 mine is 2 sweet!!
DRM isn’t really an OS issue, though. It’s a problem on Macs or PC’s. The only solution I see is to just pirate your media. No DRM, no problem
. As far as the malware, it’s really up to you to keep yourself protected. Vista comes with antispy, right? You can get your own excellent antivirus free (Active Virus Shield). On top of that just try and avoid bad sites/programs and you should be safe. I don’t see any reason MS would block out 3rd party apps, as this is a major selling point for PC’s!
As far as cost, the price of OS’s have steadily gone up, but when getting a PC from a manufacturer w/ the OS installed, the price really doesn’t seem to jump much.
Name: Windows Sphere
Date: October 1, 2011
Number of version: 3 + (Home, Small Business, Enterprise and all the different server edition(Data center, Compute Cluster Server, etc)
Price: $200 – $1000
I don’t think there will be much difference between Small Business and Enterprise only the EULA. Enterprise will allow virtualization.
I agree with you Cory on the different versions. I think that Microsoft will finally realize that they need just one version for home users.
My prediction isn’t very funny (who could top “pentagon edition”) but I think that it’s totally possible.
Features Wanted in Vista [SEVEN]
1.Auto BIOS updater
2.32-bit BOOT Options
1.Disk Partition/Join/Extent/check/autofix tools
2.Device Manager install/uninstall/update drivers device at kernel level
3.ICON based OS/Selector/boot fix tools
4.Defragment/integrity check/tuner tools
3.32-bit interactive OS loader
4.User defined Video logon UI with atleast little AI/biometrics
5.4D CUBE type Desktop [like HTC Touch but with more innovation]
1D-Media
2D-System
3D-Internet
4D-Disk Explorer
5D-Games and VR
6D-USER assembled
6.Multi-point touch screen UI [Derived from Microsoft Surface technology]
[hopefully by 2010 we might have atleast 50% touchscreen desktops]
7.Ultimate QUAD-KERNEL design
Kernel 1-[Lowlevel] access denied to all except OS
[Memory module]
Kernel 2-[Midlevel] Ultimate audio/video/graphics platform
[Memory module]
Kernel 3-[Applevel] .net/winfs platform
[Memory module]
Kernel 4-[Memlevel] turbo memory management and disk access
8.Wirefree configuration [all devices 1GHZ wi-fi enabled]
Keyboard/Mouse/game controllers/Mobiles etc
9.3d-Goggles support for immersive visual experience
10.Built-in micro projector support for desktop monitors/laptops
11.PLEASE DON’T DESTROY DOS OPTION FOREVER
12.improved NLP idle time learning system
[When the computer is running unattended, it should automatically start listening to peoples
conversation with AI and train itself wrt the profile defined]
13.Windows download/resume/ftp manager not IE download manager
14.Habbit analyzer
[how you use the system/whats your preference online/offline etc]
15.Windows community software [share anything online/invite friends to your Desktop/watch movie clip as a group]
Motherboard:
start implementing 64bit
No more dual/quad core
Go for Dual/quad/raid/cluster processors on single board
add dedicated cooling unit just like SMPS for power
wireless enabled DVD/HD players
start dumping DVD/HD media and encourage FLASH memory with 1GBPS transfer rate.
add wifi component to all future flash devices
add powerfull GPS component [so that we can launch our robo car on mars to hold nextgen MMORPG]
Thanks a lot if my petition is accepted
Vote for me friends…
we can meet in MARS and play QUAKE V there
-David [[tomakali.com]]
Name: Windows Irrelevant
Price: More than Linux
Windows Everywhere
Date: October, 2010
Number of version: A Dozen
Price: Free Trial with Limited Functionality – More than half your monthly paycheck
Re: David
Half of those issues aren’t even windows issues but rather hardware problems. And then there’s the other half. Although it would be nice to get some more control over the OS, Window’s primary concern is with accessibility for non-computer literate people. Many of the points mentioned can or could however be managed/overridden/hacked/patched by 3rd party software. It would be very nice however, to see some sort of Windows ‘Professional’ but made for professional windows users, rather than people who have a profession or whatever pro xp was supposed to be implying that would give us a lot more control over windows.
Windows Silverlight ( since the already have the copyright -_- and would otherwise be wasted and it’s not like anyone would even know the difference )
Probably right on time: January 8th of 2010
With the flexibility to only need 1 version (although, would act as a wrapper for all of the current windows versions allowing you to optionally add the upgrades)
But a bit more pricey this time around: $575 + $10 a month for upgrade policy. (optional)
I’m being optimistic Windows; don’t let me down!!
I couldn’t predict when…
I don’t care how much…
The one thing that I’m certain of is that by 2010 I won’t be using Windows!
It will be interesting to see if thats true. I know four or five years ago I know I said that I wouldn’t be using Windows in 5 years, but that hasn’t turned out to be true.
lol Ryan.. yea, it will be interesting
I’ve been moving away from the Windows-only based software for years now and much of the software I use now have Linux versions. I believe in and fully support open source and it has improved greatly over the last 10 years. In three years (end of 2010) I’m hoping that with even more advanced CPUs and better emulation software that I can make that final leap. I could probably do it now but to completely switch over the home network to Linux would no-doubt t-off my MIS mgr wife.
There are only a few pcs of software that I just couldn’t live without that are Windows-only.. would have to emulate to get to them.
I hope I don’t have to eat my words in three yrs! heeh
Name: Octopus
Release Date: October 31, 2010
Number of Versions: 5
Pricing: $200 to $1,000
I doubt they will listen to me, but if they could get the next version out in time and not break too many things like they did with Vista it would be good for the company. If they could set a set price like apple does for OS X, say $130 for the desktop version I am sure they would sell more than enough to make up for lost revenue and head off Linux at the same time. But hey, this is Microsoft we are talking about and they never do anything the easy way.
Name: Broken Window
Release date: January 15, 2013
Number of Versions: 5
Pricing: $250-$650
Name: Winbuntu
Release date: Probably 2011 or 2012
Number of versions: 4-8
Pricing: monthly, quarterly, or yearly based subscription.
I think MS is loosing their grip on the market. By 2010, though I’m sure they’ll still have a major market share, they’ll be facing drastically increased competition from Macs and from “user-friedly” linux distros like Ubuntu. If they were smart, they’d start pricing more aggressively and focusing on what user’s actually want, instead of what they decide to hand down to us.
More likely, they’ll try to E-E-E (embrace, extend and eliminate) Linux: adopt a bastardized version of the kernel, mess it up beyond all repair, and try to pass it off as the new de-facto Unix-like OS. But I don’t think that’ll be for 2010, probably more like 2020. Whenever they try it, it’s not going to work.
Name : Win OS 7
Date : Jan 17 2010
VNum : 2
Price : $199 – $399
Name: Microshite Doors,
Date: When they can be arsed,
No V: 1
Price:£500+
i think prices fo software are stupid, it is becasue the prices of software these days that so many people are forced to resort to finding ways of patching or cracking software and the companies complain about piracy?!?!?!
if the prices were reasonable then more people wouldnt mind buyin them, like windows XP home edition, is still like £60 just for a key,and you have basically nothing physical to show for it, or if bought form a shop you are lucky enough to get it in a box with a CD which probably cost about £1 to make
-Windows 7
-next year, so almost everybody stops hating vista
-as many as they can imagine
-i dont care, im sure i can not afford it.
Name : Windows 7
Date : Aug 21 2009
VNum : 3
Price : £80 crappy version – £400 full version
Name : Windows Storm
Date : june 16, 2010
Vnum : 3 1 for home 1 for small business and 1 for everybody
Price: 200-500$
If you take a look at vista when it came out it not only came out way to eary but the prices never exceeded 500$ unless you bought a multi pack system builders copy. And considering you only get one copy with the retail copy the best version should not exceed 500$ not even win xp went very high. Use reality people dont be retards.
Windows OMG
Release Jan, 2010
Free!!!!
I think it will be released Sep 2009…. I find it excellent,
100% better than vista …
Gil..S…
Name: Windows Windex
Date: Same time OSX Lion comes out
Versions: 8
Price: 7 Dollars or 2 for 5 Dollars
Window Pain
2O10
$3 a fix— + $2 an update or $3,000
Name: Windows 7
Date: 23rd October 2009
Versions: 3
Price: Same as Vista
Name: Windows 7
Date: June or July 15 of 2010
Number of Versions: 6 to 8
Price: 200 to 600
The beta ends on june of 2010. so that would most likely mean that it will not come out until late or after spring of 2010.