Touch point: An early look at the next Windows

Suzanne Choney • E-mail

Multi-touch computing was presented this week as part of Microsoft’s peek at its next operating system, but it’s not likely to be what determines its success.

The new operating system, called Windows 7, is being built upon the current one, Windows Vista, which has been scorned by many for its features, including its achingly slow performance and incompatibilities with existing software and hardware. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)

It’s not clear yet whether Windows 7 will mean an improvement in those areas. Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and CEO Steve Ballmer, both at The Wall Street Journal’s “D: All Things Digital” conference, where a preview of the new OS was shown, didn’t address those issues.

Ballmer, however, did say that the company is aiming to release Windows 7 late next year, earlier than the 2010 time frame that has been mentioned. And he shared that Vista’s user interface has been one of the biggest complaints, according to consumer research.

“I think Microsoft wanted to put a marker out there, not so much for multi-touch computing, but that the user interface for Windows 7 is going to be a priority,” said Rob Helm, research director for Directions on Microsoft, an independent firm that analyzes the company’s technology and strategy.

That will be crucial in casting the new operating system as truly new, and not just as a revamp of a hobbled Vista, or as a jumbo service pack to it.

Vista: 'A very solid foundation'
Since its release in January, 2007, Vista has been excoriated by Windows users, many of whom have opted to remain with Windows XP, the company’s previous operating system, which has a more familiar look to it than Vista, and runs more efficiently.

Ballmer and Gates did not get into many particulars about Microsoft’s flagship product at the conference Tuesday. But in a posting the same day on the company’s Windows Vista Team blog, Microsoft said that Windows 7 essentially will be based on Vista.

“Windows Vista established a very solid foundation, particularly on subsystems such as graphics, audio and storage,” wrote Chris Flores of Microsoft. “Contrary to some speculation, Microsoft is not creating a new kernel (core) for Windows 7.”

Instead, he wrote, the company is refining the operating system’s architecture and components. Some of those changes may be to the overzealous security controls, as well as to the appearance of the system itself, which requires a lot of computer memory.

The fact that Microsoft shared such information, both on its Web site and at the conference, at this stage of Windows 7’s development, may point to its trying to do damage control caused by Vista.

“They don’t always release much detail so early in the (development) cycle,” said Al Gillen, IDC Research vice president, system software.

Many consumers and businesses have stayed with Windows XP, released in 2001, rather than move to Vista. The operating system’s heftier computer hardware and memory requirements have meant having to purchase new equipment and software, as well as upgrade drivers for peripheral items like printers and scanners.

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