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Developers to get Windows 7 pre beta next month

Vista in full frontal shocker

Microsoft will be showboating Windows Vista, mark two 7 at its forthcoming Professional Developer Conference (PDC) event next month, where developers will be able to get their mitts on a pre-beta build of the operating system.

Meanwhile, the yawnfest surrounding speculation about what the OS will (or won’t) come loaded with continues to mount in the blogosphere. Yep, MS is stripping Windows 7 down to its pants, vest and a Ribbon.

So, the upcoming operating system, some early code of which has already been probed by a US anti-trust committee sniffing around Redmond to see if its latest interoperability claims come up smelling of roses or onions, will not include email, photo-editing and movie-making apps that were part of Vista.

Instead those features will be packed into Windows Live as downloadable applications. The only problem for Microsoft is in convincing world+dog to find the enthusiasm to flick Google the finger and use its products online.

Windows senior veep Steven Sinofsky will be bigging up Windows 7 at PDC2008 in Los Angeles on 28 October. Microsoft wants everyone to get incredibly excited about “the next major version of the Windows client operating system.”

Indeed over the past few months the company has mounted a strategic marketing campaign to gently steer customers away from the unloved Vista OS. It’s also started a corporate blog about Windows 7, which is perhaps the best indication that Microsoft wants to draw a line under the Vista mess.

But, as we have noted several times since rumours began swimming around the interweb that hinted at the possibility that Windows 7 could in fact be parachuted in early by Redmond, the next OS is based on the same kernel as Vista.

What does this mean in Microsoft speak?

“With Windows 7 at PDC2008 you will see advances across the full range of Windows – including the kernel, networking, hardware and devices, and user-interface,” said MS wonk Denise Begley yesterday.

“Learn more about opportunities to build on the platform’s commitment to OS fundamentals, while also enabling you to enhance your existing applications and create new applications that use the new technologies and APIs in Windows 7.”

So there you have it: expect “advances”, “enhancement” and even some new tech built into the next platform, and, given that many features in Vista will be absent, it might even come with less bloat. ®

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