That Happened!

New York - On January 31, Microsoft announced that it will not be releasing a Beta 2 for Windows 7. Instead, the company plans to release only one public beta (called Windows 7 Build 2000).

Microsoft is not giving a timeframe for a release of Windows 7. It is only promising to release the next version of Windows by the end of January next year, on the 2nd year anniversary of its release of Windows Vista.

However, based on speculations from Microsoft employees, version 7 is expected to release sometime this year, probably in time for the holidays. It is widely recognized that the first beta version was the most stable first version ever to be released by Microsoft.

Steven Sinofsky, senior vice president for the Windows and Windows Live Engineering Group, wrote in a blog post Friday that “The next milestone for the development of Windows 7 is the Release Candidate or ‘RC’.” The team is currently focusing on fixing bugs evident from beta testing. Sinofsky wrote, “We want to fix bugs experienced by customers in real usage as well as our broad base of test suites and automation.” Currently, there is no release date for the Release Candidate.

The Release Candidate will first be released to a select group of “hardcore” testers. Then, if no significant bugs are found, the candidate will go public. Multiple candidates will be released until a “final” product hits the market, probably later this year.

The company first unveiled its beta test to the public three weeks ago. The download was initially limited to 25,000 users, but due to higher demand, the company made the beta test more widely available.

Microsoft announced two weeks ago that the beta version will only be available for download until Feb. 10. The code is set to stop working on August 1. This has fueled speculation that Microsoft may release Windows 7 as early as August, in time for back to school. This would coincide with the normal jump in new system sales which takes place at this time of year. Most consumers obtain new operating systems when they purchase a new computer.

In another move which signals Microsoft’s intention to move forward with upgrading, the company last week posted a warning on a blog aimed at enterprise IT professionals that the optional tools set to block automatic upgrades to XP SP3 and Vista SP1 would expire in the coming months. Users of automatic updates would then be forced to upgrade to the latest service packs.