Ah, Windows 7. As much as the folks at Microsoft like to dangle the forthcoming OS in front of our faces, they know well enough that unless they make it seem somewhat distant, they'll never sell any copies of Vista. And as much as we might want it now, we realize that the sooner it arrives, the more likely it is to be half-baked [1]--which is how many critics have described Vista. A real double-edged sword, that Windows 7.

The latest news is that Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates recently hinted at a release for Windows 7 within the next year, stating, quite plainly, that we could expect a release "sometime in the next year or so." While that's about a year sooner than even the most optimistic estimates had it pegged, it was unclear exactly what Billy meant by "release." Alpha? Beta? Release candidate? Retail?!

Well, luckily, a Microsoft rep has stepped in to clean up the mess. "We are currently in the planning stages for Windows 7 and development is scoped to three years from Windows Vista consumer [general availability]," the rep told InformationWeek. "As is standard with the release of a new product, we will be releasing early builds of Windows 7 prior to its general availability as a means to gain tester feedback." So it looks like business as usual, as Windows 7 will arrive sometime in 2010 or 2011 as expected [2]. As for Bill? Well, we can only assume that he'll keep filling us with false hope as he continues his victory lap of the public speaking circuit. Shine on, you crazy diamond.

For more on Windows 7:
- see this InformationWeek article [3]