Microsoft is preparing for the 2010 (or earlier) launch of Windows Vista's successor, touted as a faster, stripped-down refresh of the much-maligned OS.


As users continue to grouse about Windows Vista nearly two years after its introduction, Microsoft appears relieved to turn its public focus on the next release of its flagship operating system. Pre-beta code (as Microsoft calls it) for Windows 7 is reportedly already in developers' hands, and reviewers are slated to have their first peek on the eve of the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles during the last week of October. Officially, the OS itself is slated to appear in early 2010--although some industry insiders say it may arrive before the end of 2009.

Last spring, Microsoft's lead Windows spokesperson Chris Flores wrote a blog post saying Windows 7 would refine (but not abandon) the Vista kernel. However, additional details about the new OS have been scant--and Flores and others have basically said this is because they don't want to create expectations that might not be fulfilled. (Remember when Vista was going to include the database-like WinFS file system?) Consequently Microsoft says it will talk only about features that will definitely be in the OS.

The company declined interview requests for this story, pointing to various internal blogs that include Windows 7-related posts--most notably the Engineering Windows 7 blog hosted by senior Windows engineering managers Jon DeVaan and Steven Sinofsky on the Microsoft Software Developers Network. Here's what we've gleaned from the blogs and from assorted published reports:


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