First Looks at Next-Gen Windows 7

Though we're not yet a year out from Vista, developers and academics are starting to get sneak peeks at the next version of Windows, known as Windows 7 for the time being. Last week Microsoft's Eric Traut demonstrated the super-early-alpha version Windows 7 as part of a presentation on virtualization technology. While you should draw no conclusions about how Windows 7 might actually run or what it will look like when it arrives in 2010 or so, this does make for an interesting few minutes of video to get you inside the mindset of Microsoft developers in the post-Vista age... plus you get to see a little peek of Microsoft Bob.

The 8-minute, embedded video on this page takes you on a little tour of the past (all the way back to Windows 1.0) before launching into the future with an early peek at Windows 7. How early are we talking? It takes up 25MB of storage space and has no graphics system (don't miss the ASCII art Windows flag at boot), but it does include a rudimentary web server on its streamlined core. Boot time for the OS is just about 20 seconds. Traut talks at length about streamlining and bloat. His comments are a clear response to the criticisms that Microsoft has faced in recent years over its overly large products, and a possible indication that with the next version of Windows, simplicity and speed might be a real goal.

Alas, the version of Windows 7 (called MinWin) you'll see in the video will likely not be part of the shipping version of whatever Windows ultimately becomes. It will, however, show up in locations where a super-streamlined version of the OS is required, such as set-top boxes or other embedded devices.

The video is just an excerpt of a longer presentation on virtualization, which you can see in full here (WMV link).

More info: Core of "Windows 7" taking shape