I've noticed the long term — specifically
Windows 7 Milestone 3 (Build 6780).I got a gander at the latest test build of
Windows 7 briefly (courtesy of a source of mine) and was not allowed to take any screenshots. But it is real, it does exist and it is,
Office 2010 Activation, indeed, in certain testers; hands inside and outside the company.From the quick glimpse I got of Milestone 3, it sounds like Bryant of AeroXperience was right on the money with his hypotheses about what;s changed in the latest internal test builds. The latest build seems quite stable. The Ribbon user interface from
Office 2007 is now part of WordPad and Paint. Home Groups — the functionality formerly known in “Longhorn”/Vista as “Castle” — is part of the new
Windows 7 build.I also noticed that the “Graphical Console,” a k a PowerShell Version 2, seems to be part of the latest pre-release
Windows 7 build.(Looks like Stephen Chapman over at the UX Evangelist site got to see Build 6780,
Windows 7 Key, too, and has a lot more to say on
Windows 7;s Paint and WordPad.)From what admittedly little I had a chance to see,
Microsoft Office 2010 Product Key,
Windows 7 does not look or feel like a major departure from Windows Vista.Sources say there isn;t an “M4″ currently on Microsoft;s
Windows 7 schedule. Next up is likely some kind of preview build (which may or may not be distributed to those attending the Professional Developers Conference and/or Windows Hardware Engineering Conference in October and November,
Windows 7 Pro, respectively.) After that, a broadscale Beta 1, which should be feature-complete and pretty much set in stone, is expected for mid-December.Like my ZDNet blogging colleague Ed Bott said, it;s not impossible for Microsoft to hit a 2009 release for
Windows 7 if the first true beta doesn;t go out until December. Such a move would not be unprecedented.Do you think the Softies are going to get
Windows 7 out the door in 2009,
Office 2010, as they are hoping — and maybe even early enough to make it onto new machines in time for Holiday 2009 sales?
