Microsoft Windows 7 to hit market end-October

[Sonny]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31068292/wid/11915829

SEATTLE - Microsoft said on Tuesday its new Windows 7 operating system will be generally available on October 22, well ahead of its original schedule and in time for the holiday shopping season.

The new operating system, which will replace the unpopular Vista, was originally planned for roll-out at the beginning of next year, but Microsoft confirmed last month that it would hit the market in time for the year's busiest shopping period.

The world's largest software company said it will send Windows 7 code to PC makers to load onto new machines ’ known in the industry as "'release to manufacturing"' — around the end of July.

[mjdmike]

It's a great OS, very stable. No driver issues either.

[Cajungaltx]

I was just talking with my DH last night about this... he said that when Windows releases 'new' OS's - they are basically 'building onto the old one'. Instead of starting 'fresh' (like Apple). But that the new Windows 7 will be the first OS that they didn't just 'disable' any of the other programing, but started with a clean slate...

Now - he's been known to screw with my head from time to time, so this could be total bs... lol...

[darktiger]

awesome, i cannot wait...

[Crashoran]

Finally. I've been using XP for how many years now...? 8 or 9 years?

[photonewb]

this is awesome news, my desktop is limping along as it is, and I was planning to hold out until W7 hit so I didn't buy a new machine with Vista on it.

I know what I'm getting this fall!

[KKapple]

Good thing they never bothered to fix any of the numerous Vista issues before moving on.

[Joe_Lorenzini]

If I'm not mistaken, Windows 7 is built off the Vista core. Microsoft spent years working on Vista from the ground up as it's a complete rewrite of Windows. They did a great deal of stuff right with Vista. Unfortunately they blew it when it came to driver support and the user experience which is where you'll find the bulk of the complaints.

Windows 7 works with almost all Vista drivers and the turnaround in Beta-RC-Final is unprecedented.

So basically what's going on is that 3rd party manufacturers have caught up with driver deployment and the user experience has been drastically streamlined and given the attention it always deserved. That bundled with XP mode for corporate clients equal a stunning new OS that everyone can use and have confidence in.

So damn Microsoft for making us all suffer and kudos to them for fixing it and getting it right.

Next up are all the apps that will need to be upgraded to 64 bit as the Windows 7 64 bit version is just too good to ignore.

Joe

[deep_creek]

Originally Posted by ilikelegs

Good thing they never bothered to fix any of the numerous Vista issues before moving on.

Windows 7 is merely an incremental upgrade to Vista (it is just a major service pack). Vista is being repackaged and "fixed"... instead of a service pack to a unpopular name as "Vista", they are essentially renaming/rebranding it.

That said, and taking nothing away from Windows 7, I hope the rebranding and corrections to their last mistake is successful.

[Charles Putnam]

I'm still trying to figure out what exactly is "wrong" with Vista. It includes added security, enhanced features over WinXP. I've been running Vista Ultimate since it came out and haven't had any issues with applications not working correctly (ok...I'll admit it - I got two copies for free 'cuz I attend so many Microsoft siminars)

The biggest downside has been compatability issues with proprietary applications for corporations. 'course, this has always been an issue. Some corporations just won't keep their proprietary stuff up to date.

BTW, I ran the release candidate for about two weeks to test it out. I did notice a slight speed increase in the boot-up and shut down, and it included almost all of the drivers for my notebook. PS CS4 ran just fine on it, as well as just about anything else I could toss at it. Windows 7's WinXP Mode is actually a great feature, and should go a long way to addressing any "real" compatibility issues.

[janetg]

can anyone share their latest release of this RC? i have my own key, but they are not doing downloads anymore and i just got my new pc up and running...i have no email yet, but i will check the forum if anyone is feeling generous this evening, i can set up an ftp for you.

thanks!

[Rson]

pm me....

I have both the RC and the Professional Upgrade RTM version

[janetg]

i did...