The official stance from Microsoft has always been that Windows 7 would be released three years after Vista, which would put its release date somewhere in January 2010. However, various rumours already indicated a release ahead of that schedule, and if the beta and RC are anything to go by, they could release it today and get away with it. Microsoft seems to have realised this, as it has now said it will release Windows 7 in time for the 2009 holiday season.
It was Bill Veghte, senior vice president of the Windows Business at Microsoft, who was the one to break the news during Microsoft TechEd North America 2009. Both Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 will be released onto the world in time for the 2009 holiday season, which puts its release in December at the latest. Microsoft did not mention a specific date of release.
Apart from moving the release date forward about a month, this also means that Windows Server 2008 R2 will arrive alongside Windows 7, while the company previously stated that Server 2008 R2 would arrive some time after Windows 7.
The release candidates for both Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 are available for testing, so if you plan to upgrade to Windows 7/2008 R2 in the future, now is a good time to test it.
I think it’s crtical to MS to get Windows 7 out for the holiday season. Compeition from snowleopard aside, Vista’s negative perception and windows xp are two big obsticles for microsoft to get around. They need to herald in Windows 7 in a big way, to ensure maximum pentration, they have an excellent product, i just hope the marketing team can live up to the product and don’t mess up the launch.
I don’t think so…. Vista’s got bad rap but win7 has had brilliant reception in its beta builds itself. The other thing is that — while I like vista and I think leopard is overrated — Leopard vs Vista was like Chocolate vs Shit (hope atleast one other guy reading this watches Initial D); but all Snow Leopard seems to be getting is developer technologies. If you ask me the “laptop hunters” ads are doing the job right.. So marketting is handled to some extent if you ask me…
If I remember correctly, Vista Business was launched in 2006 and other editions in Jan 2007. If Win7 sees launch before holidays; then that’s the same as Vista right??? Anyway, to everyone else — stop the “Vista is ME” campaign already cuz it’s not -___-
//Vista’s negative perception and windows xp are two big obsticles for microsoft to get around//
How do you figure that? Are you faintly aware of microsoft’s desktop marketshare? What a tard thing to say.
OK, I’ll “un-tard” if for you. If Windows want to keep owning the desktop world, and making money on new releases (like Windows 7), they have a couple of obstacles:
Vista – despite not really being that bad of a product (imho), many people have the _perception_ that Vista blows. I know many people who stuck with older computers rather than buy a new computer with Vista (or pay for a downgrade!)
XP – it is still a very good OS, very lean compared to Vista – see netbooks. Microsoft must convince people to leave XP if this whole upgrade your OS (or Office Suite!) cycle every few years is going to continue.
Does that help?
It might be true if Windows 7 wasn’t so much of a compelling upgrade. The reality is that Windows 7 not only beats Windows Vista in all areas including performance, it in some cases beats Windows XP on the same machine when it comes to performance, lower memory usage, better security and so forth (even with new features being added when compared to Windows XP). Those IT/IS staff who keep up on the news will know what improvements there have been (it is part of their job to keep abreast of the latest stuff in the IT world btw) will know that Windows 7 is an entirely different beast (in terms of quality etc) when compared to Windows Vista.
There area already companies who are looking at Windows 7 and are getting ready to deploy it – so customers are excited that there is an operating system that can step up and replace Windows XP. What I would like to see is heavy discounts for Windows Vista users and for Microsoft to disable that stupid ‘upgrade checker’ when you try to install Windows onto a computer that had an old Windows operating system but you want to do a clean install instead. That is the one of the most stupid things they introduced. If Microsoft need to verify that there was an ‘old version’ then they should simply just request the old serial number just like Macromedia Dreamweaver used to do when upgrading from an old version; it used to ask for the old serial number from the product they’re upgrading from then the new serial number from the product they’re upgrading to.
That’s after Christmas if you didn’t know American speak.
Edited 2009-05-11 18:34 UTC
Downloading the RC now… very slowly. Damn Java downloader >:|
People are tight enough on money anyway. Christmas is the only thing that is going to force people to buy new computers. There is no way any consumer is going to buy a new computer in December, and then pay £120 for a Windows 7 upgrade the month afterwards.
Simply put, Microsoft have no option but to release in 2009.
I think you will like it (RC that is). I will be going back to Mac OS X as my primary by the end of the summer, running windows 7 and Ubuntu as an alternative boots… but I really have enjoyed this version of windows, more than any version of the past (except perhaps the initial release of NT way back when, that was fun to me).
I think this basic “version” will hang around for the next 5 years or so.
I finally got around to installing Win7 on a spare laptop, and I am actually very impressed. It reminds me some of the beta version of Win2k that was 100x more stable than any Windows 9x. Been a week now and I find it really is better performing. Side by side comparison with XP, the deletion of a folder with 5,000+ files, the Win7 removed the directory in less than half the time it took XP. Copying a 2GB file was also faster, albeit by just a couple of seconds. Both laptops are the same HP with same CPU/Memory.
Too bad the ATI mobility 9000 is too old too be fully supported, so I don’t get Aero.
Run wget on the downloader’s URL. The server is doing some sort of user-agent detection to decide whether to serve the actual ISO or the java downloader.
Finally, no more sweaters and spindles… but Windows 7 under the christmas tree.
I can’t wait. Really.
That means it’s almost the same length of time as between Windows 98 and Windows XP!