gate1975mlm Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 During the development of Windows Server 2008, I was told by project manager Alex Hinrichs that Microsoft had completely changed the way it developed Windows. Thanks to the componentization of the underlying OS, it was no longer necessary to "fork" the Windows build tree so that different parts of the product team could develop their own parts of the OS in isolation. These teams would utilize "virtual build labs" where they checked in their code, tested it, and ensured that it was ready before pushing it into the main build, or winmain. Forking is bad because changes made on all branches have to be folded back into the main "trunk" build at some point, and that can be time consuming and error-prone. But apparently, the Windows client team has gone back to the old way of doing things. While no one outside of the company can really say why they've done so, we can guess--and yes, it's just a guess--that it has to do with timing: Microsoft is barreling towards a late 2009 release for its next OS, Windows 7, and it needs to ensure that it hits its ship targets. So recently, the team forked its build tree to accommodate separate RC (release candidate) and RTM (release to manufacturing) branches. The RC branch follows the existing 70xx build numbers, while the RTM branch has jumped to 71xx. These builds are kept in lockstep, so that build 7106, shown here, corresponds to RC build 7076. There are rumors, too, that a new UI is coming and it may make sense for Microsoft to hold on to that UI for the RTM builds, so that it has one last surprise to offer up to its eager fans. Indeed, the smartest thing Microsoft has done with Windows 7, in many ways, is keep the drama high by playing things close to the vest. That said, our first RTM-level build, build 7106, doesn't really offer anything in the way of revelation. (A newer build, 7107, has also leaked recently, and we can expect more to come in the days ahead.) http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/win7_7106.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarkhy Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Thanks god for a new interface or a new theme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
»X« Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Most interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
segobi Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 wtf is paul writing ? 7107 has not leaked... Sometimes i wonder why people trust him... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-T- Member Posted April 14, 2009 Member Share Posted April 14, 2009 I doubt there will be a new UI, they've spent a lot of time tweaking the current one in the beta builds, I just can't see them abandoning it once it goes RTM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dapen Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 A new UI would make sense if MS want Windows 7 to appear less connected to Vista. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denis W. Veteran Posted April 14, 2009 Veteran Share Posted April 14, 2009 They have yet to finish up rebranding the logon experience. Perhaps the surprise would be finally offering a second visual style alongside the stock aero.msstyles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spenser.d Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 I doubt it will be anything big, if anything at all. Popping a new user interface on people at the last second would be too giant a risk to take, especially having to recover from the stigma against Vista. There are too many ways it could backfire. A UI overhaul would be something introduced earlier. -Spenser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
»X« Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 While I agree that the current UI is more than enough for the task at hand, I would like to see a fresh new look. But for me personally, when I use Win7 I feel its just Vista with some addons. The wow is now eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lawtai Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 It would definitely be interesting to see if they go this route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToneKnee Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 While I agree that the current UI is more than enough for the task at hand, I would like to see a fresh new look. But for me personally, when I use Win7 I feel its just Vista with some addons. The wow is now eh? And Windows 98 is Windows 95 with some add-ons. :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Memphis Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 I doubt it will be anything big, if anything at all. Popping a new user interface on people at the last second would be too giant a risk to take, especially having to recover from the stigma against Vista. There are too many ways it could backfire. A UI overhaul would be something introduced earlier.-Spenser Agreed, we are too late in development for Microsoft to consider a new UI. I'm of the guess that it is a new theme. Currently besides the Super bar, the theme of Windows 7 resembles Vista, I'm sure this is something Microsoft wants to step away from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spy beef Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Oh no not another Vista like fiasco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boogerjones Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Wow, Thurrott must really be fishing for hits. Microsoft did not spend the last several months doing minor UI tweaks so that could drop a new UI on us at RTM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.F.D.K Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 I say 99.9% won't happen, more tweaks, more features sure but no major UI changes in this stage of development. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0nyX Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Wow, Thurrott must really be fishing for hits. Microsoft did not spend the last several months doing minor UI tweaks so that could drop a new UI on us at RTM. Agree.Paul is old news.I dont believe that we will see a new interface on 7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
»X« Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 And Windows 98 is Windows 95 with some add-ons. :rolleyes: Now thats just silly. :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
consume Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Now thats just silly. :rolleyes: Didn't Vista only get new icons during the RTM stage? I also have intel that tells me the UI will change also.....(wink wink giggle giggle) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imran Hussain Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Wow, Thurrott must really be fishing for hits. Microsoft did not spend the last several months doing minor UI tweaks so that could drop a new UI on us at RTM. Microsoft kept doing minor UI tweaks with XP as well and suddenly dropped in a new UI in RTM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victor V. Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Microsoft kept doing minor UI tweaks with XP as well and suddenly dropped in a new UI in RTM. Which was highly criticized at the time. People thought it was a joke. I thought it was awesome and wanted to install XP from day 1, but that's me. I still love the XP look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guru Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Microsoft kept doing minor UI tweaks with XP as well and suddenly dropped in a new UI in RTM. yep but many then prefered the whistler theme to the default xp blue one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt4pack Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Microsoft kept doing minor UI tweaks with XP as well and suddenly dropped in a new UI in RTM. I'm pretty sure that it was beta 2 when the fisher-price interface was released for XP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spy beef Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 I'm pretty sure that it was beta 2 when the fisher-price interface was released for XP. I thought it was RTM? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris-Gonzales Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 A darker UI? I mean the current one has a lot of glass, the white toolbars in explorer. May be they are creating a nice darker theme for those who like it dark? (darker themes are a lot easer on the eyes in my opinion) This could be the one to replace aero basic. another idea is a theme to replace windows classic. A new "pro" theme that will have no glass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imran Hussain Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Yup, it was in Beta 2, but we wont be having a 'beta 2' for Windows 7. My point remains that Microsoft could very well introduce a new UI for 7, since they did for XP. They also tweaked the UI for Longhorn so many times and then in Vista it turned out to be totally different. Personally, it doesn't matter if they introduce a new one or not. We'll be using 7 anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts