Recommended Posts

Well, Vista is prolly the closest thing lately to a "complete rewrite", and even then I'm sure they used some existing code. However WITH that almost total rewrite, there was 7(?) years between XP and Vista? That just takes WAY to long.

Vista: November 8, 2006

XP: August 24, 2001

5 years 2 months. lol

And no Vista wasn't an almost total rewrite, it just brought in a large amount of new technologies that were written on top of existing code. And of course some of the existing code was improved.

It wont be out for atleast another 3 years.When they start talking releasing Windows 8 beta's then we can start speculating :p

If I remember correctly Microsoft stated 2 year release cycle for Windows, meaning software should be release around 2012 and we already know that it's in the works. This is something Microsoft has to do in order not to make the same mistake and with Windows XP.

If I remember correctly Microsoft stated 2 year release cycle for Windows, meaning software should be release around 2012 and we already know that it's in the works. This is something Microsoft has to do in order not to make the same mistake and with Windows XP.

Not to hijack this thread or anything, but how did you like Ergo Proxy?

this is as close as we can see so far..

Either a custom skin (i'm sure someone here will post a link to it) or someone has some sick video editing effect skills :p

Vista: November 8, 2006

XP: August 24, 2001

5 years 2 months. lol

And no Vista wasn't an almost total rewrite, it just brought in a large amount of new technologies that were written on top of existing code. And of course some of the existing code was improved.

Right. If you look back at the early longhorn builds (wiki has them) you can actually see them skinning Windows XP :p They change the background on every build, but they slowly modified the taskbar and explorer dozens of times.

  • 4 weeks later...

If windows 7 is going to be replaced soon I just hope they stick with windows 8 for a long time.I really dont feel like switching OS's all the time.

no one is going to put a gun in your head and force you to upgrade your OS every two years

you get plenty of support with professional edition of windows (mainsteam+ extended support = 10 year)

  • 3 weeks later...

Windows 8 is expected in 2014, along with Office 15. Windows Embedded is also confirmed, and if anyone thinks they are good enough, why not apply for a job on the Windows 8 Team:

The Windows Embedded for Vertical Industries team is looking for an experienced and strong SDET. Our team delivers Windows Embedded toolkit and Windows Embedded Ready solutions for several key device categories like Point of Service, Thin clients, Set top box/Connected TV, Digital signage, Multi-function printers, Industrial automation, etc?

Windows 8 Job Vacancy

  • 2 weeks later...

hope they make W8 a bit more modular in the sense of user actually getting options to remove certain features and programs fully, no dependencies

That will never happen - they payed billions of dollars in fines to keep their I.E. monopoly and the Windows image they desired... Even the "Windows Themes" are still locked "officially" and that will never change, for same reasons... :hmmm:

If you want freedom Linux is the only way, Windows and OS X will comes as they are - only opened towards 3'rd party software, that's all.

Windows 8 is expected in 2014, along with Office 15. Windows Embedded is also confirmed, and if anyone thinks they are good enough, why not apply for a job on the Windows 8 Team:

The Windows Embedded for Vertical Industries team is looking for an experienced and strong SDET. Our team delivers Windows Embedded toolkit and Windows Embedded Ready solutions for several key device categories like Point of Service, Thin clients, Set top box/Connected TV, Digital signage, Multi-function printers, Industrial automation, etc?

Windows 8 Job Vacancy

2014? I don't see them going back to a 5 year wait between releases... The last time was XP and Vista... And although 7 is stable like XP , I really love new versions to try out. I'm thinking it's due 2012/2013 at the latest. With builds with changes starting to pop up next year. Then Office 2014

Windows 8 is expected in 2014, along with Office 15. Windows Embedded is also confirmed, and if anyone thinks they are good enough, why not apply for a job on the Windows 8 Team:

The Windows Embedded for Vertical Industries team is looking for an experienced and strong SDET. Our team delivers Windows Embedded toolkit and Windows Embedded Ready solutions for several key device categories like Point of Service, Thin clients, Set top box/Connected TV, Digital signage, Multi-function printers, Industrial automation, etc…

Windows 8 Job Vacancy

2014? I don't see them going back to a 5 year wait between releases... The last time was XP and Vista... And although 7 is stable like XP , I really love new versions to try out. I'm thinking it's due 2012/2013 at the latest. With builds with changes starting to pop up next year. Then Office 2014 (Office 15) in 2014. Bringing features unique to 8.

  • 2 weeks later...

Win8 is already in development, They don't wait a few months or half a year after the previus OS before starting the next.

They start the next before the last one is done. And you won't see a full rewrite for a very long time, there's no need either. And major parts of the OS was already rewritten with Vista. And it took 1-2 years for the drivers vendors to catch up. which caused the media and anti people to go on a crusade about how vista sucks, yet somehow 7 which is for all intents and purposes, as far as stability, performance and compatibility go(the point the complained about Vista) identical is awesome (and yes 7 is awesome, but so was vista anyway)

Reverse Engineering minus all the useless services.

  • 2 weeks later...

I just think it would be go to "trim the fat." Vista and 7's footprint on hard drive space is huge. I think they are taking that for granted.

people always want more, but expect size limitations. im not a coder, but bits are bits. more included stuff = more space.

however, it'd be nice to be able to truly customize your install. say you dont want Windows Media Center, or all the pre-installed Games. just uncheck those to save space initially...

I think the risk is minimal. Microsoft has experience so they wouldn't be really starting from scratch with ideas of how to go about doing things. I'm sure a new experience would allow more Plug and Play approach to hardware. Like Apple for instance. I'm just shooting out ideas and wondering why. I don't have any background.

I just think it would be go to "trim the fat." Vista and 7's footprint on hard drive space is huge. I think they are taking that for granted.

The only reason that Apple has certain Plug and Play features is because you are downloading and installing a lot of drivers that you do not need. When/if you ever install one of those devices, then you already have the driver. A lot of those drivers are many MBs in size, which really adds quite a bit of bloat.

My OS X footprint is something like 12 GB. Originally, Windows Vista took up a lot of unnecessary disk space, but they did rectify the issue with Windows 7. I am not positive, but I believe my Windows 7 install (64 bit) is smaller than my Mac OS X one.

For Windows 8, I would like to see:

  1. Microsoft push OEMs and motherboard vendors to use EFI over BIOS by the time Windows 8 comes out, which should dramatically decrease boot times for newer PCs. It looks like either the vendors are doing this on their own, or Microsoft is successfully pushing them.
  2. Moving away from the registry. It cannot be killed for another version or two of Windows (too much legacy), but a less central point of failure needs to be made.
  3. User definable, software sandboxes that hide the rest of the file system from select programs (for instance, if some custom application goes crazy, then it can only destroy the folders you let it touch). I'd like to see more advanced sandboxes, but that's a start.
  4. Untying Internet Explorer from the OS. It can install by default, but the undesirable nature of lurking security vulnerabilities far outweighs the benefits. This goes for anything (including Safari on the Mac; as far as it not being the same thing, it seems awfully strange that Safari updates require reboots to OS X).
  5. Wider integration of Windows Update (this could really happen with Windows 7). More accurate, and up to date video card driver downloads (usually they tend to be a few months behind).
  6. Greater 64-bit push.

I'm sure there are more, but these are off the top of my head.

The only reason that Apple has certain Plug and Play features is because you are downloading and installing a lot of drivers that you do not need. When/if you ever install one of those devices, then you already have the driver. A lot of those drivers are many MBs in size, which really adds quite a bit of bloat.

My OS X footprint is something like 12 GB. Originally, Windows Vista took up a lot of unnecessary disk space, but they did rectify the issue with Windows 7. I am not positive, but I believe my Windows 7 install (64 bit) is smaller than my Mac OS X one.

It's your own choice whether to install Mac OS X with all language translations, printer drivers etc. or not. If you didn't install the HP printer/scanner driver for example, Software Update won't download them when a update is out either...

They will never rebuild the OS from scratch, just rewrite portions as they did in Vista.

Perhaps in the future they may base their OS off one of their research projects (Singularity / Midori), as in the way they moved from 9x to NT.

Exactly.

Microsoft problably has another code branch where they are rewriting the (or "a") OS but before it is released time will pass........

Not only that but they have to move to a 64-bit code branch.

  • 2 months later...

I seriously doubt Microsoft rewrites every OS they make, it wouldn't make any sense, why reinvent the wheel? I don't know anything about programming, but Windows 2000 = Windows NT 5.0, Windows XP = NT 5.1, Vista = NT 6.0, 7 = NT 6.1

I assume Microsoft builds on previous code, rewrite some, and build upon code they've already coded. I wonder how many lines of code make up Windows 7 :o

I seriously doubt Microsoft rewrites every OS they make, it wouldn't make any sense, why reinvent the wheel? I don't know anything about programming, but Windows 2000 = Windows NT 5.0, Windows XP = NT 5.1, Vista = NT 6.0, 7 = NT 6.1

I assume Microsoft builds on previous code, rewrite some, and build upon code they've already coded. I wonder how many lines of code make up Windows 7 :o

three years is too little to rewrite an OS as big as windows with millions of lines of code....

as about vista , they rewrite a good chunk of graphic , audio ,and networking stacks

that is why most drivers broke

it is rumored that Windows 8 would be NT6.2

give idea that it would be little application breakage

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • No news articles about the Arch Linux repo being majorly infected with malware?!?
    • Waymo recalls self-driving software after cars enter closed freeway work zones by Paul Hill Waymo, the self-driving car maker owned by Alphabet – the parent company of Google –, has recalled some of its fifth-generation Automated Driving Systems (ADS). It did so after some of its cars drove through closed construction zones. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the affected vehicles were capable of driving through a closed freeway construction zone and continuing to drive at speed. The listing on the NHTSA website says that Waymo is currently developing a solution to fix this issue, but in the meantime, freeway driving is being restricted. Waymo will update its ADS software so that vehicles can detect when they can avoid entering construction zones. According to the Safety Recall Report, on April 20, 2026, Waymo’s Field Safety Committee began meetings reviewing an event from April 11, 2026, and five events from April 19, 2026, where Waymo’s autonomous vehicles didn’t recognize and drove past ramp closure signs into the pre-planned freeway construction zones. This took place in Phoenix, Arizona. Separately, on May 18, 2026, seven Waymo vehicles entered freeway lanes with active construction in the San Francisco Bay Area by driving between cones that were placed to show the lane was closed. On the back of both of these events, Waymo restricted freeway driving until it could address the issue. In June, Waymo’s Safety Board reviewed the issue and additional information related to ADS performances around construction zones; then, as a result, it decided to conduct a recall. This development is not good for Waymo as it adds to a growing list of technical hiccups its cars have experienced. Ultimately, it will lead to more scrutiny from lawmakers around the world who will be more cautious about letting autonomous vehicles on their roads without tighter regulation. For readers in areas where Waymo operates, does this news make you more wary about stepping into one of these vehicles?
    • I'm still on Windows 10 22H2 because I didn't want to deal with all the issues in Windows 11, so I waited almost a week before installing the latest Patch Tuesday update (KB5094127), I went ahead and did it, and it was a huge mistake—ever since then, my File Explorer has seen a performance drop of about 30% when transferring large files... Once again, Microsoft has outdone itself! This update cannot be uninstalled, either through the Control Panel (via Settings) or by accessing Advanced Startup Options. The only possible alternative would be to use system restore points, but I’d have to reinstall all app and driver updates (and there’s no guarantee it would work). Or there’s the “nuclear option” of a in-place repair without losing files or apps, but even then, all my customizations would be lost! Microsoft just can’t help but mess everything up! Way to go, Microsoft! But I still don’t want your c****y Windows 11!
    • Microsoft: Windows 11 could finally solve a major issue across AMD, Nvidia, and Intel GPUs by Sayan Sen While Microsoft has been trying to improve it, Windows 11 is definitely not flawless, as even today some issues are taking a year to publicly acknowledge. However, one area of trouble that may finally see much better results soon is graphics driver crashes. Work on graphics driver timeouts, also called Timeout and Detection Recovery (TDR), is not new as the latest WDDM 3.2 also has specific improvements regarding it. Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) version 3.2 is supported on Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2. However, with the upcoming version 26H2, TDR crash diagnosis could go to the next level as Microsoft is introducing a new DirectX 12 API feature called "DirectX Dump Files". Similar to how system memory dump files work when a system crashes or freezes or encounters any such major issue, DirectX Dump Files (DDF) will essentially record a snapshot of the GPU execution right at the moment a graphics-related crash or hang or freeze occurs, so that developers can better understand and diagnoze these TDR and timeout detection errors. The dump will be available as a .dxdmp file for analysis and it will be a comprehensive dump file generated with detailed insights about the hardware, drivers, Windows, as well as the affected application. This should be another welcome change in this department. Earlier at GDC 2026, when the technology was first debuted, Microsoft had shared more details regarding it. The company had explained how DDF is designed to gather data from every layer of the graphics stack into a single file, eliminating the need for developers to manually correlate logs from multiple tools. As mentioned above, the dump can contain a lot of useful details like GPU hardware state information such as register values, shader program counters, page fault virtual addresses, shader memory data, and command buffers. Alongside that, it also captures DirectX runtime and kernel information, including D3D objects, pipeline state objects, device error data, adapter details, and CPU call stacks. Microsoft says the feature has been built around two primary use cases: retail device removals and local device removals. The former allows developers to collect crash information from end users' systems in the field, while the latter helps QA teams and developers investigate issues on test machines. Developers will also be able to include up to 2 MB of custom application data through new D3D12 APIs, providing additional context for troubleshooting. In addition, Microsoft is introducing three dump collection modes ranging from zero-overhead capture, which has no runtime performance impact on supported hardware, to higher-detail modes that collect more vendor-specific debugging data. On compatible Tier 2 hardware, zero-overhead dumps will be enabled by default, meaning developers may begin receiving useful crash diagnostics without making any code changes. The table below explains the three tiers: Tier Description NO_OVERHEAD Enables crash capture with no runtime cost and is suitable for broad deployment MEDIUM_OVERHEAD Provides a balance, capturing additional diagnostic data with moderate impact HIGH_OVERHEAD Collects the most detailed GPU and driver state available, enabling deeper investigation at the cost of higher runtime overhead In terms of availability, the company expects broader release to be around the fall of 2026, which should be right around the time when Windows 11 version 26H2 lands. Right now, DirectX Dump Files are available as a preview and currently, only AMD has the compatible AgilitySDK Developer Preview driver version 26.10.07.02. You can find the official announcement post here on Microsoft's website.
    • And with SO much better perf than the laggy mess that is Files.
  • Recent Achievements

    • One Year In
      Skeet Campbell earned a badge
      One Year In
    • One Month Later
      Sharbel earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • First Post
      BizSAR earned a badge
      First Post
    • Week One Done
      Jordan Smith earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Reacting Well
      BizSAR earned a badge
      Reacting Well
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      598
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      190
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      79
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      76
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      70
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!