Mike Nash ran a post on the Windows Vista Team Blog yesterday letting the cat out of the bag and giving Microsoft’s Windows Vista successor a name. The codename Windows 7 has been used until now because, well, this will be the seventh release of the Windows OS. We saw a whole bunch of screen shots of Windows 7 and while is basically looks exactly like Vista for the time being, there is still little detail about what changes Microsoft is brewing for the guts of the OS. So now without further ado, we give you the official name of Microsoft’s upcoming OS. No it’s not Mojave, it is… Drum roll please… “Windows 7”. Huh?
The decision to use the name Windows 7 is about simplicity. Over the years, we have taken different approaches to naming Windows. We’ve used version numbers like Windows 3.11, or dates like Windows 98, or “aspirational” monikers like Windows XP or Windows Vista. And since we do not ship new versions of Windows every year, using a date did not make sense. Likewise, coming up with an all-new “aspirational” name does not do justice to what we are trying to achieve, which is to stay firmly rooted in our aspirations for Windows Vista, while evolving and refining the substantial investments in platform technology in Windows Vista into the next generation of Windows.
Simply put, this is the seventh release of Windows, so therefore “Windows 7” just makes sense.
This is the first time Microsoft’s codename for a Windows OS is going to stick straight through the release version and also the earliest point in a Windows OS life cycle that Microsoft has announced the official name. In the coming weeks, Microsoft will be showcasing the latest build of the OS at a couple of developer events in what will be the first in-depth showcase of Windows 7. What do you guys think – yay or neigh on “7”?
