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Development of Windows 7

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Development of Windows 7 began when Windows Vista was released. Milestone 1, Milestone 2, and Milestone 3 were sent to Microsoft's partners in 2008. In October 2008, Microsoft gave build 6801 to PDC attendees and a public beta was released in January 2009.

The release candidate was available from April 30, 2009 for MSDN and Technet subscribers, and was released to the public on May 5, 2009. The final build of Windows 7 was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009;[1] Technet and MSDN subscribers were able to download it on August 6. On October 22, the operating system was made generally available for public purchase.

History

In 2000, Microsoft was planning to follow up Windows XP, and its server counterpart, Windows Server 2003 (both codenamed Whistler), with a major new release of Windows, codenamed Blackcomb (both codenames refer to the Whistler-Blackcomb resort). This new version was, at that time, scheduled for a 2005 release.[2][3]

Major features were planned for Blackcomb, including an emphasis on searching and querying data, and an advanced storage system named WinFS to enable such scenarios. In this context, a feature mentioned by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates for Blackcomb was "a pervasive typing line that will recognize the sentence that [the user is] typing in."[4]

Later, Blackcomb was delayed, and an interim, minor release, codenamed "Longhorn" (named for the Longhorn Tavern between the resorts), was announced for a 2003 release.[5] By the middle of 2003, however, Longhorn had acquired some of the features originally intended for Blackcomb, including WinFS, the Desktop Window Manager, and new versions of system components built on the .NET Framework. After the 2003 "Summer of Worms", where three major viruses − Blaster, Sobig, and Welchia − exploited flaws in Windows operating systems within a short time period, Microsoft changed its development priorities, putting some of Longhorn's major development work on hold in order to develop new service packs for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Development of Longhorn was also "reset" in September 2004.

Naming

As major feature work on Windows Vista wound down in early 2006, Blackcomb was renamed Vienna.[6] However, following the release of Windows Vista, it was confirmed by Microsoft on July 20, 2007 that "the internal name for the next version of the Windows Client OS"[7] was Windows 7, a name that had been reported by some sources months before.[6] On October 13, 2008, it was announced that Windows 7 would also be the official name of the operating system.[8][9] Mike Nash, Microsoft's vice-president of Windows product management said:

The decision to use the name Windows 7 is about simplicity. Simply put, this is the seventh release of Windows, so therefore Windows 7 just makes sense. 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.[9][10]

Numbering this version of Windows as "7" has confused many users, so on October 14, 2008, Nash clarified his earlier remarks, saying:[11][12]

The very first release of Windows was Windows 1.0, the second was Windows 2.0, the third Windows 3.0. Here's where things get a little more complicated. Following Windows 3.0 was Windows NT which was code versioned as Windows 3.1. Then came Windows 95, which was code versioned as Windows 4.0. Then, Windows 98, 98 SE and Windows Millennium each shipped as 4.10.1998, 4.10.2222, and 4.90.3000, respectively. So we're counting all 9x versions as being 4.0. Windows 2000 code was 5.0 and then we shipped Windows XP as 5.1, even though it was a major release we didn't want to change code version numbers to maximize application compatibility. That brings us to Windows Vista, which is 6.0. So we see Windows 7 as our next logical significant release and 7th in the family of Windows releases...There's been some fodder about whether using 6.1 in the code is an indicator of the relevance of Windows 7. It is not. Windows 7 is a significant and evolutionary advancement of the client operating system. It is in every way a major effort in design, engineering and innovation. The only thing to read into the code versioning is that we are absolutely committed to making sure application compatibility is optimized for our customers.[12]

See also

References

  1. ^ Protalinski, Emil (2009-07-22). "Microsoft: Windows 7 is done, on its way to manufacturers". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  2. ^ Microsoft pushes back Blackcomb to 2005
  3. ^ .Net Server: Three delays a charm?
  4. ^ Gates, Bill (2000-07-12). "Professional Developers Conference Remarks". microsoft.com. Retrieved 2008-03-05.
  5. ^ Lettice, John (2001-10-24). "Gates confirms Windows Longhorn for 2003". The Register. Retrieved 2008-03-05.
  6. ^ a b Thurrott, Paul (14 February 2007). "Windows "7" FAQ". Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
  7. ^ Foley, Mary J (2007-07-20). "Windows Seven: Think 2010". ZDNet. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
  8. ^ Fried, Ina (2008-10-13). "Microsoft makes Windows 7 name final". CNET. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
  9. ^ a b Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (2008). "For Microsoft's Windows, 7th time's a charm". CBC News. Retrieved 2008-10-27. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  10. ^ Collins, Barry (14 October 2008). "Windows 7 to be called... Windows 7". PC Pro. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
  11. ^ Protalinski, Emil (2008). "Final release of Windows 7 to have kernel version 6.1". Retrieved 2008-11-24. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  12. ^ a b Nash, Mike. (2008). "Windows Vista Team Blog - Why 7?". Retrieved 2008-11-24. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
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