Windows 7 is ready, coming in October

The final version of Microsoft Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 is ready and has been released to manufacturers so that they install it in their systems in time for the worldwide launch in October.

Current Windows Volume License customers, MSDN subscribers and TechNet subscribers will get first customer access to the new operating systems in the coming weeks.

Windows 7 had been released as a beta and subsequently as a release candidate (RC) for users to test and give feedback. This approach from Microsoft seems to have borne fruit as thousands of users worldwide joined the programme and gave precious feedback to the software giant. This should make the final release to hit the stores in October more stable and less ridden with bugs like previous versions that need regular patching.

i-Tech has been testing the RC of Windows 7 for the past couple of months and the first impression is quite positive. Though at first sight it looks like Vista, the interface is sleeker and under the hood there are important improvement the current operating system. More detailed reports will be published in i-Tech in the coming weeks.

Microsoft Malta is also gearing up for this launch, which will offer users a new operating system that will eventually take the place of older versions of Windows.

"Today Microsoft has reached a significant milestone in delivering Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 to our manufacturing partners," commented Pierre Mallia, country manager for Microsoft Malta. "Together these tools will help to reduce the cost and complexity for local businesses. They make users more productive by automating everyday tasks, delivering enhanced security and streamlining manageability."

The Maltese government decided to skip Vista altogether both at server and at personal computing level. All government employees still use Windows XP, launched in 2001 but updated throughout the years.

Windows 7 could include a very important new aspect for users. Microsoft sought last Friday to end a long-running dispute with EU antitrust regulators as it offered to let users choose their own browser and to provide more interoperability information to third parties.

Last January the European Commission accused Microsoft of seeking to thwart rivals by bundling the company's web browser, Internet Explorer, with its Windows PC operating system, thereby harming innovation and reducing consumer choice. The European Commission has to date slapped fines amounting to €1.68 billion on the US software giant for infringing EU antitrust rules. While welcoming the proposals, it said it will investigate them, but gave no timeline for a decision.

A Microsoft-sponsored study on the impact of Windows 7 on European countries has concluded that the new operating system "will precipitate related and cascading economic benefits, from new employment to increased revenues and investments made in national, state, and local economies throughout the region."

For the purpose of the study, 30 European countries were defined as the European Union Economic Zone (EUEZ), including the 27 EU member states. Ten of these countries were studied in depth, but Malta was not one of them.

IDC's forecast for Windows 7 shipments shows a brisk uptake: 177 million units to be shipped worldwide by the end of 2010, and 50 million of these will be in EUEZ For Microsoft, the launch of Window 7 suggests strong growth in client operating systems again. But the impact of Windows 7 will reach far beyond Microsoft, driving revenues and growth for many of the IT companies in the EUEZ that sell hardware, write software, provide IT services, or serve as IT distribution channels. This growth will do its bit to help the region's economies climb out of the current economic crisis.

The Microsoft-sponsored study by IDC forecasts that by the end of 2010, more than 1.5 million people in the EUEZ IT industry and at IT using organizations will be working with Windows 7, equivalent to 18 percent of the EUEZ IT workforce. The 100,000-plus IT companies in the EUEZ that produce, sell, or distribute products or services running on Windows 7 will employ more than 600,000 people; another 900,000 will be employed at IT-using firms.

More information on Microsoft Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 at:

http://windowsteamblog.com
http://blogs.technet.com/windowsserver
http://readyset7.com
http://talkingaboutwindows.com/Default.aspx
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/R2.aspx