This week is the grand reveal for Windows 7 to developers at PDC. Up to this point, Microsoft hasn’t said much about the release, in large part it says to avoid the mistakes it made with Vista. Well, all of this will come to an end this week and we’ll finally get a good idea as to what Windows 7 is going to be like.
Joe Wilcox gives his thoughts on what Microsoft needs to do to deliver on Windows 7. Here’s my abridged list (in terms of what I’ll be looking for as a developer):
1. We know that there’s going to be multi-touch support, but what we don’t know is how extensive it is and how open a platform it is. Developers like me want to know.
2. Lower cost PCs are all the rage–particularly in education. Unfortunately many of these devices are resource constrained and run XP better than Vista. Is Windows 7 destined to the same fate as Vista? I hope not.
3. How will the user experience continue to evolve and improve? Will the shell change much? Will management of Windows get easier?
4. What about better support for wireless broadband and ways of getting connected?
Of course, I’m open for surprises. Anything outside of these areas is welcome. Some of my favorites: better webcam support, improved boot times, improved multiple display support, and so on. But by no means is this my whole list :-).