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To save everyone the trouble, the official answer to when will Windows 7 be released is almost certainly, "Microsoft will release Windows 7 when our customers tell us it's ready."

:-)

I agree with you Paul, if it does launch in June of 2009 it will further strengthen many perceptions already like....

Windows 7 is really a SP that MS will charge for.  Windows 7 is Vista SE/Vista R2.  Vista was a big time failure lets add some features and change the name as fast as we can.

Do I dare suggest they "lied" about the release?  I know you and Mike love to throw that word around.

Will Jerry and Bill announce it in their next add?:)

Mid 2009 seems as unlikely to me as it ever did.  

If MS manages it, I'll be (pleasantly) surprised, but will expect excessive flooding around here (Western Washington) later in 2009, since Mr. Sinofsky will have proven not only that he really can walk on water, but also that he can teach the team to do so.

I really don't know how comes this story of "Vista failure" is still so repeated. It looks like that if you repeat it yourself obsessively you make it more true. I'm really getting tired of these considerations made mostly for ignorance or feeling of grudge. And I'm really tired and pissed off by people continuously and obsessively repeating absolute nonsenses about an OS they don't know anything about. Sorry but this is what I see. Got you mac? Fine! Is it the best in the universe? Perfect! Now go play with iChat or iMovie and let us talk about our stuff, thanks. Otherwise you will figure as complete jerks. Period.

However, if MS ships Windows 7 for that time it really will be a blockbuster. I can't tell anything more by now, but I know it will rock.

Wow Lindy,

Let's see

Windows 1->2 - 2 years

Windows 2->3 - 2 1/2 years

Windows 3->3.1 - 2 years

Windows 3.1->95 - 2 years

Windows 95->98 - 3 years

Windows 98->SE - 1 year

Windows SE->ME - 1 year

Windows ME->XP - 1 year

Windows XP-> Vista - 6 years

Windows Vista->7 - 3 years

Aside from the long delay for the "Longhorn Reset" that happend during the Vista dev cycle, it sure looks like about a 2 1/2 year cycle's about normal.

So, did you actually have a point?

(Aside from preemptively defending Apple's annual $129 service pack/point release)

So soon after Vista? And not called Vista? Wonder why. Good idea to get rid of a tarnished brand. Really, it's Vista with the service packs. Nothing much there. Of course it's the same codebase, as if they could re-work that hairball in three years. And I bet it doesn't come out in time for June 2009. Nothing to see there. Lots more fodder for Apple's awesome ads.

johnbaxter

Please, no more Winters like the one we had in 2006/7. Please!!!

(For those not from Seattle, we had record highs, record lows, two record blizzards, a record windstorm with category 3 hurricane winds and a blackout that lasted for a week all in 4 months)

@robertsjoe

The name after "Windows" has changed with every release since the dawn of Windows. I doubt that removing the Vista name is a sign of Vista failure.

robertsjoe

You mean like Leopard?

So soon after Tiger? And not called Tiger? Wonder why. Good idea to get rid of a tarnished brand. Really, it's Tiger with the service packs. Nothing much there. Of course it's the same codebase, as if they could re-work that hairball in two and a half years.

"So soon after Vista? And not called Vista? Wonder why. Good idea to get rid of a tarnished brand. Really, it's Vista with the service packs. Nothing much there. "

Is robertsjoe just trying to be a grade-A idiot on purpose?

With all due respect, it almost seems like being an Apple fanatic is some sort of mental disorder, where you say stupid stuff as a matter of normal behavior.

Mike, you forgot XP SP2, which was so big many consider it a new OS; MS almost released it as one... but they aren't Apple (OS X 10.0 --> 10.1 iirc).

yert

To be fair,

OS X 10.0 -> 10.1

was really

OS X 10.0 beta 1 -> OS X 10.0

Apple had very good reason for eating the cost of that upgrade for the few users who actually bought 10.0

@Mike

Yes I think you made a good point. a 2.5 year cycle for new OS releases is back to normal. The Longhorn reset and ridiculously long Vista release made a lot of us forget the historical norm.

That said if 7 is released in June of 09 I'll eat my Thinkpad.

Bon Appetit

whiplash

Adding to it is Apple's schizophrenic OS release cycle. On one hand each OS X release is supposed to be a whole new major OS release that's worth paying $130 for (about the price of a Windows consumer major version upgrade), on the other hand each one is just a point release so "it's still OS X 10 so don't worry about things changing".

If you look at them as OS Version releases (and count 10.0 really as a beta), then Apple's been on a release cycle that's about every 1.5 years:

10.1->10.2 - 1 year

10.2->10.3 - 1 year

10.3->10.4 - 1.5 years

10.4->10.5 - 2.5 year

If you count them as point releases then Apple's going at least 8 years without a major release - even longer than Windows XP lasted with the Longhorn Reset disaster.

It's no wonder people get confused about how long an OS version cycle has traditionally been.

As opposed to what? Be left waiting 6 years for an upgrade to an OS. And all you got from XP to Vista was an awful UI that looked like make-up on a 100 year old hooker? Yet the tasteless Microsofties wouldn't know a 100 years old hooker from a good UI.

Ahh Microsoft, of course the saints never do anything wrong in their ads.. misleading, misleading, yep!

software.silicon.com/.../0,39024655,10003421,00.htm

news.bbc.co.uk/.../3600724.stm

Yet Apple never does anything of the sort in their ads. Shame, Microsoft, shame.

Remember the funny "I'm a PC" lame-duck ads? Made on Macs. Clearly shows how useless Windows truly is.

@Robertsjoe

Are you ok man? I don’t think you are. You comment with a lot of anger against the company. I have never really felt the need to comment but you have outdone yourself. Every company lies, Money is usually the interest for a company, and if you hate windows so much why do you bother viewing Windows sites? Doesn’t that just increase your anger? I only visit this site because it usually tells me of updates that I don’t always see other tech sites talk about for windows like updates etc.(and that’s because my primary computer is a PC (i do have a Mac laptop as well so I visit Mac sites for that info.)) if you don’t want to hear windows in a lighter tone visit Mac specific blogs or tech sites instead. It should get you the info you want in the proper bias of your angle.

@xtreem0: I'm fine, thanks man. Just foolin'. Some of the stuff is just fun and games. Some of it is FUD and I like to FUD back.

"Microsoft will release Windows 7 when our customers tell us it's ready."

Sure...like y'all did with *cough* Vista *cough*.

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Did the Switcher ads ever air on TV in the UK? I've seen them in print in major cities, but I've never seen them on the television.

gorath

According to that bastion of occasional accuracy, Wikipedia, Apple does a separate set of ads for the UK with different actors and sometimes different scripts. See en.wikipedia.org/.../I%27m_a_Mac

If Windows 7 really does hit in June (and I doubt it will), then I don't think there'll be much doubt that it's a Hail Mary play to wipe out negative perceptions of Vista from home users and get businesses onboard.

Speculation aside, Microsoft has so far officially targeted early 2010 as its goal; even if June is just the RTM date, that would still put the release about six months ahead of the public schedule -- and conveniently in time for companies to preload W7 on their holiday 2009 systems.

While I think Vista is better than it's made out to be, it wouldn't take much of a logical leap between a $300m ad campaign and an early W7 release (if true) to guess that Microsoft would be in full-on damage control mode.