MS Windows 7 assessed

By Candice Jones for Microsoft

Johannesburg, 20 Mar 2008

Microsoft has submitted its Windows Vista successor, Windows 7, to the committee that oversees its US anti-trust compliance. This suggests the company may be moving into the second build of the operating system (OS).

According to the status report on the anti-trust case, the technical committee (TC) and Microsoft are discussing a "middleware issue", which the TC has asked the software giant to include in Windows 7.

"In addition, the TC has begun to review Windows 7 itself. Microsoft recently supplied the TC with a build of Windows 7, and is discussing TC testing going forward. The TC will conduct middleware-related tests on future builds of Windows 7."

Microsoft SA business group executive for the Windows client Colin Erasmus has restated the company's stance, saying: "We are currently in the planning stages for Windows 7 and expect it will take approximately three years to develop. The specific release date will be determined once the company meets its quality bar for release."

However, he could not confirm whether the assessment by the TC meant the company had completed the first milestone of the OS. "At this point, we can't confirm or guarantee the timelines on the release of the OS. As a company, Microsoft has committed to a new quality strategy, meaning we will only release a product once we are happy with it."

He says the development of Windows 7 is still primarily in the research phase and the company is in discussions with partners and customers. "Unfortunately, I can't share additional information at this time; instead, we're focused on helping customers today get the most value from their PCs using Windows Vista."

Erasmus says the adoption of Windows Vista has been encouraging, with licence sales now over 100 million worldwide. "The OS is being adopted by businesses at a rate that is similar to past releases. We are seeing positive indicators that we're already starting to move from the early adoption phase into the mainstream, and that more and more businesses are beginning their planning and deployment of Windows Vista. "