Microsoft finalizes Windows 7
Microsoft announced Wednesday that it has finalized the code for Windows 7.
That is our final engineering milestone in what has been a three-year journey,” said Mike Angiulo, general manager for planning in the Windows unit.
Windows 7 relies on the same underpinnings as Windows Vista, but adds a lot of features aimed at making the operating system both look and perform better.
Visually, it does a better job of managing open windows through an improved taskbar and a feature that lets users peek at one particular window or see the desktop that is hidden below all of the windows. On the performance side, it boots up and shuts down faster, and can run better on Netbooks and low-end machines.
Whereas Vista suffered several delays and saw its feature set change significantly in the years it was being developed and tested, Windows 7 looks very similar to the early developer preview version first shown at last October’s professional developer conference.
“It feels great to be here on time,” said Tami Reller, the Windows unit’s chief financial officer.
The actual build that Microsoft is using as the final one–build 7600.16385–has already leaked to the Web–several days ahead of Microsoft’s confirmation that it was, in fact, the final version.
Windows 7 is scheduled to be realeased on October 22nd. It will be offered in Mutliple Flavors, like with Vista.
Above is footage from the signoff for the final build of Windows 7.
