Sharp Analysis of Windows 7 as the Final Name for Windows Vista Successor

Microsoft Corporate VP of Windows Product Management, Mike Nash, made the official announcement that "Windows 7" is going to be the final name of the successor of Windows Vista. His announcement are as follows (in an excerpt):

For me, one of the most exciting times in the release of a new product is right before we show it to the world for the first time. And that time is right now.

In a few weeks we are going to be talking about the details of this release at the PDC and at WinHEC. We will be sharing a pre-beta "developer only release" with attendees of both shows and giving them the first broad in-depth look at what we've been up to. I can't wait for them to see it.

And, as you probably know, since we began development of the next version of the Windows client operating system we have been referring to it by a codename, "Windows 7." But now is a good time to announce that we've decided to officially call the next version of Windows, "Windows 7."

The Analysis

Mike: "While I know there have been a few cases at Microsoft when the codename of a product was used for the final release, I am pretty sure that this is a first for Windows."

Techticles (Milo): For a product that is weaved in the fabric of Microsoft and the more than 1 billion PCs all over the world, why start now? Are we keeping the bolder name to the next major online operating system of Microsoft as Steve Ballmer has hinted -- Microsoft Cloud?

Mike: "The decision to use the name Windows 7 is about simplicity."

Techticles (Milo): How simple will Windows 7 be? Or is this keeping the hype from blowing out of proportion similar to what happened with Windows Vista?

Mike: "Over the years, we have taken different approaches to naming Windows. We've used version numbers like Windows 3.11, or dates like Windows 98, or "aspirational" monikers like Windows XP or Windows Vista. And since we do not ship new versions of Windows every year, using a date did not make sense."

Techticles (Milo): Date makes sense if released on that year. It would be simpler as everyone would know how long has it been since the last release of Windows. So many products of Microsoft that is not released every year use date as their name: SharePoint 2003, SharePoint 2007, Office 2007, Virtual PC 2004, Virtual PC 2007, Virtual Server 2005, SQL Server 2000, SQL Server 2008, etc. It commands simplicity and everyone knows whether you are using an outdated software.

I had this conversation with my colleague recently:

Colleague: **mn I am having problems with my VPC.
Milo: What version did you install?
Colleague: 2004
Milo: Install 2007
Colleague: Oh, I'll do that. Yeah you're right, my VPC is pretty old.

There isn't a big difference between VPC 2004 against VPC 2007, but I realized it was already year 2008, and yeah, 2004 seems old already.

Mike: "Likewise, 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."

Techticles (Milo): Why rooted in the aspiration of Windows Vista? What aspiration is that? Windows Vista was hyped to uncontrollable proportions by Microsoft (WOW Factor) and when it came out blazing, the heat quickly went ice cold. This only tells me that Microsoft isn't done with Windows Vista and most probably a lot of the features they wanted in Vista did not materialize and Windows 7 is an offspring of Vista. If that is the case why not name Windows 7 as Windows Vista Revolution? I seriously doubt Microsoft is going to do that, they would be the laughing stock of the industry and Vista owners would demand for a free upgrade and would only be willing to pay as low as 10 USD per Windows Vista Revolution upgrade. They need a new name; and by keeping the name of the successor of Vista at a low key, Vista in all its WOW is kept intact and would remain a viable option for PC users. Also, they have been talking about Windows 7 for quite some time and with all the buzz around Vista, it is best not to confuse the public anymore.

Mike: "Simply put, this is the seventh release of Windows, so therefore "Windows 7" just makes sense."

Techticles (Milo): This doesn't make sense because it's not Microsoft style for Windows. Is it because they are getting low key? Is this the result of Bill Gates stepping down? Lowering people's expectations?

Key Takeaway

Microsoft has finally decided to make things simple, at least for the marketing side of things. This reminds me of an old article comparing Americans and Germans. In that article, it says -- Americans announce about the creation of a great product, go back to the lab and build it. Germans on the other hand, lock themselves up in the laboratory, build a great product and announce it to the public.

I hope when all the dust settles down, Microsoft delivers a stunning product right out of the gate.

Just off the press, Win 7 Official Update

I just read a new blog post from the Official Windows Vista Blog about choosing the number 7. In an excerpt of the post -- Why 7?:

Anyway, the numbering we used is quite simple. 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 4.0.1998, 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.

Reports of Windows 7 from around the web

Microsoft’s Next OS To Be Called “Windows 7″. Seriously. (TechCrunch)
Microsoft Says 'Windows 7' Will Be Called 'Windows 7' (Gizmodo)

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