Microsoft opens up on Windows 7

Microsoft will this autumn reveal significant technical details about its new Windows 7 operating system, according to a new blog about the OS.

Engineering managers Jon DeVaan and Steven Sinofsky wrote in their blog Engineering Windows 7 that the Professional Developers Conference on October 27 and the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) the following week would "represent the first venues where we will provide in-depth technical information about Windows 7".

Pushing Windows 7 into the public eye for the first time may be the beginning of the end for Vista, which has so far garnered poor feedback from customers and seen slow uptake among enterprises.

The Engineering Windows 7 blog will feature comments and participation from various members of the engineering team and seeks to "open up a two-way discussion" about how the software is being developed.

Generally, the blog has been well received according to those leaving comments, although some have used the blog to highlight flaws in Vista.

"Less is more. Really, it is. Microsoft went completely in the wrong direction with Vista," wrote one commenter. "I personally think that, if you want a real hit on your hands, strip down the Vista OS to bare bones, optimise the heck out of the code, and tune the baby for speed."

Another argued that the new OS should rely less heavily on the registry. " For someone who provides tech support the registry is a nightmare. Applications not showing up as installed, applications not showing up as un-installed, sloppy installation programs causing system instability due to a deleted registry key, " he wrote.

Windows 7 has been slated for release in early 2010.