According to Mike Nash on the Vista blog, the company went with Windows 7 because it “just makes sense” as the seventh release of Windows, and MS doesn’t want to come up with a new “aspirational” name like Vista
Balmer gets the modern OS development issue spot on
My good friend* Steve Ballmer said in a BBC interview yesterday:
“Any time you change something as fundamental as an operating system people will have issues,”
And there it is. In a single line. The reason Vista was such a disappointment for most of us. The reason it took Microsoft soooo many years to get away from XP.
If Microsoft really wanted to, they could slice up their next OS and make it the leanest, meanest, best looking, funky bit of software ever imagined. But they can’t. Because if they do users, vendors and developers would throw a fit.
I love change. I couldn’t wait to get Vista on my PC after holding onto XP for so long. Sure, I was disappointed, it wasn’t the revolution Microsoft had promised but its decent, it works, its just not worthy of an upgrade for most XP users.
Brave OS
Microsoft aren’t in a position to be brave. They can’t do what Apple did with OSX or what Nintendo did with the Wii. They aren’t a failing brand or company. Microsoft are doing very well (some say too) in the industry and have millions of people using their products. This is their fortune and their curse.
So, when Windows 7 hits the shelves don’t expect it to be drastically different from Vista or the current OS model we see on most desktops today.
*believe this and you are an idiot, I’ve never met the bloke