Yeah guyz...u read it right.The next version of Windows is already been worked upon.
Well,to remember the events a few years back, this next version of Windows was announced in February 2000 to be the next in line after Windows XP (codenamed 'Whistler').The new OS was codenamed 'Blackcomb'.However the bar was set too high and Microsoft knew too well that it would be long before the concepts that formed the backbone of Blackcomb would be realised.
Soon, Blackcomb was pushed back and Vista(codenamed 'Longhorn') was announced as the release that would follow Windows XP.
Internal sources from Microsoft say Blackcomb as being not just a major revision of Windows, but a complete departure from the way users today typically think about interacting with a computer.While Windows Vista is intended to be an evolutionary release, Vienna is targeted directly at revolutionizing the way users of the product interact with their PCs.The Explorer shell will completely be replaced by new concepts based on the previous 10 years of research at Microsoft's VIBE.Projects such as GroupBar and LayoutBar will make their way in which would allow users to handle tasks,documents and windows much more easily.
Blackcomb was renamed 'Vienna' in January 2006 and in February 2007 again as 'Windows 7', as official sources say.This accompanied the naming of the successor of Office 2007 as Office 14
Vienna will feature the Sandbox feature partially implemented in Vista as with the Internet Explorer 7 which increases the security of the computer by running in a restricted environment.Also present in Vista,the 'complete as you type' search (ala Google Predict) will be present in Vienna,or now,Windows 7.
Vienna will, supposedly be able to handle tasks as complex as receiving speech commands from the user.
According to Microsoft, Vienna will be available in both 32-bit and 64-bit Client editions but Vienna Server will be available only as a 64-bit version.However,32-bit compatibility will be retained and 16-bit Windows and MS-DOS applications will not be supported any longer.
The Server and the Client versions have a current release estimate of 2009 to 2012 although Microsoft has said nothing about it.
The Fun behind Codenames
Here is some trivia that would make things interesting.
Both Windows XP and Vienna are codenamed Whistler and Blackcomb respectively after the Whistler-Blackcomb ski resort located in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada.
And the codename for the intermediate release ,Vista, was taken from a bar in the resort ,Longhorn.
External Links
A July 2006 update on Windows Vienna by Gerard Boyers on VistaSector.
Mr. Bill Gates speaks about Blackcomb...archive July 12,2006
