Windows 7 Beta In Jan 09 announced....!

It seems that Microsoft is really in a tearing hurry, to put the specter of Vista very quickly behind it. Windows 7 that was only recently announced, has already been displayed to developers and is now all set to enter a beta by sometime in January. This fact has been confirmed in this blog, by Microsoft’s Keith Combs. It seems that copies of the new OS will be available, to people who attend the Microsoft developer conference, that will take place in January, in Chicago and Minneapolis.

This marks probably the fastest turn-around time for a new OS, by Microsoft. Keeping in mind just how long Windows Vista was in development and how badly it has been panned by consumers, Microsoft is now just focusing on taking Vista, polishing it up with improved UI features and performance related tweaks and just introducing it as a new OS called Windows 7.

Gates Hints at Windows Next Coming 2009

Expect the next version of Windows (Windows 7) sometime in the next year or so -- as hinted by none other than Microsoft Boss Bill Gates.


"That'll be sometime in the next year or so that we'll have a new version," Gates is reported to have said during a Q&A session at a meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) in Miami. The audience had gathered to hear him talk about corporate philanthropy. Gates added, "I'm super-enthused about what it (the new version) will do in lots of ways." However, he didn't give details as to what changes or features the new version would have.Afterwards though, a company spokesperson reportedly said that Gates was talking about pre-release versions of Windows and not the finished product. Yet, it is true that Microsoft has started the developer program for Windows 7, with reports doing the rounds that a test version named 'Milestone 1' has been given to some of the software major's biggest customers.
Also, presently Windows Vista isn't doing too well with several incompatibility and instability issues making users and businesses reluctant to shift from Windows XP to Vista. Microsoft could be in a hurry to release the next version Windows because of this reason. All said, given Microsoft's track record, it may well be late 2009 or early 2010 by the time Windows version 7 actually starts shipping.Source