Washington, July 23: Microsoft’s big day draws ever closer, with the company saying Wednesday that it has put Windows 7 and a new version of its server operating system in the hands of computer makers. In Microsoft parlance, this is known as R.T.M., or release to manufacturing, and it is the last big step before Windows 7 actually reaches users in late October.
If you can remember back to the release of Windows 95, there were stories about people without computers waiting in line to buy the software. They’d heard all the hype, and thought they needed a piece of the action -– even if they didn’t really know what Windows 95 was.
Such events are unlikely to play out this time around, as Microsoft embraces humility over hype. Windows 7 is the replacement to the much-reviled Windows Vista, the current version of Microsoft’s operating system.
“We are not trying to underpromise or overpromise -– or be early or late,” said Mike Angiulo, the general manager of Windows. “We have hit each engineering milestone and been predictable and reliable with our partners.”
So, in this case, R.T.M. seems to stand for released to modesty.
Even the excitable Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, has toned down the Windows 7 cheerleading. Speaking at a conference last week, Mr. Ballmer equivocated about Window 7’s ability to spark a much-hoped-for wave of computer upgrades.
“Hopefully, Windows 7 will be part of a catalyst,” he said. “Maybe it will. Maybe it won’t.”
This subdued talk stems from the large helping of humble pie served to Microsoft with the release of Windows Vista, a bloated software package that drove consumers and businesses mad because of its erratic support for other software and devices.
Microsoft says that Windows 7 should make up for these past mistakes while booting up 20 percent to 40 percent faster than Vista and running faster over all, even on existing, older hardware.
“This is the first time we haven’t doubled the system requirements with a new release,” Mr. Angiulo said.
Microsoft insists that it used tons of research rather than a quest for flashiness as the driving force behind picking features for Windows 7. About 10 million testers sent information back to Microsoft on how they use Windows, giving it 400 million sessions to study.
“Instead of guessing what people want, we really know what they want,” Mr. Angiulo said.
Windows 7 has a lot of work to do for Microsoft and the entire PC food chain.
According to a new study from Forrester Research, the eight-year-old predecessor to Vista, Windows XP, remains on 86 percent of corporate PCs.
PC makers like Dell and Hewlett-Packard expect that businesses will finally give in and upgrade their machines to Windows 7 next year.
–Agencies–