A recent demonstration at the University of Illinois in the US by one of Microsoft’s senior operating system (OS) engineers Eric Traut gave a taste of what the core functionality of Windows 7 would look like.
Traut, who works over a team of around 200 engineers and is behind the virtual and kernel development, showed how virtual server technology was becoming more important as the Windows NT core is being redesigned.
Windows 7, codenamed Vienna, has been in development ever since the launch of Vista earlier this year and with an estimated timeframe for development of three years given by Microsoft, it should be available some time in 2010.
According to http://www.arstechnica.com Traut demonstrated a bare bones version of Windows 7 called ‘MinWin’ that showed only the core kernel of the OS, without the graphical user interface.
Just as Windows ME was seen as the filler between the 98 and XP operating systems, so too is Vista viewed by many as a ‘quick fix’ until Windows 7 comes out.
In an interview with Newsweek earlier this year Bill Gates hinted at what users could look forward to with Windows 7. He said that it would be more ‘user centric’ giving examples of how files, home pages and favourites would be instantly viewable and useable from any PC.
He also said that parallel computing would be an important factor in the new OS’s functionality.
Meanwhile, Microsoft is not releasing any news on the development, instead focusing on its current Vista offering.
“We are not giving official guidance to the public yet about the next version of Windows, other than that we’re working on it.
“When we are ready, we will provide updates,” said Kevin Kutz, director with Windows Client, earlier this year.
By Marie Boran
