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The release candidate was available from April 30, 2009 for MSDN and Technet subscribers, and was released to the public on May 5, 2009. The final build of Windows 7 was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/07/microsoft-windows-7-is-done-on-its-way-to-manufacturers.ars |title=Microsoft: Windows 7 is done, on its way to manufacturers |last=Protalinski |first=Emil |date=2009-07-22 |publisher=Ars Technica |accessdate=2009-07-22}}</ref> Technet and MSDN subscribers were able to download it on August 6. On October 22, the operating system was made generally available for public purchase.
==History==
In 2000, Microsoft was planning to follow up [[Windows XP]], and its server counterpart, [[Windows Server 2003]] (both codenamed ''Whistler''), with a major new release of Windows, [[Microsoft code names|codenamed]] ''Blackcomb'' (both codenames refer to the [[Whistler-Blackcomb]] resort). This new version was, at that time, scheduled for a 2005 release.<ref>[http://www.wininsider.com/news/?226 Microsoft pushes back Blackcomb to 2005]</ref><ref>[http://news.cnet.com/2100-1001-966174.html .Net Server: Three delays a charm?]</ref>
Major features were planned for Blackcomb, including an emphasis on searching and querying data, and an advanced storage system named [[WinFS]] to enable such scenarios. In this context, a feature mentioned by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates for Blackcomb was "a pervasive typing line that will recognize the sentence that [the user is] typing in."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/billg/speeches/2000/07-12pdc.aspx |title = Professional Developers Conference Remarks |last=Gates |first=Bill |authorlink=Bill Gates |publisher=[[Microsoft|microsoft.com]] |date = 2000-07-12 |accessdate=2008-03-05}}</ref>
Later, Blackcomb was delayed, and an interim, minor release, codenamed "Longhorn" (named for the Longhorn Tavern between the resorts), was announced for a 2003 release.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/10/24/gates_confirms_windows_longhorn |title=Gates confirms Windows Longhorn for 2003 |last=Lettice |first=John |date=2001-10-24 |publisher=The Register |accessdate=2008-03-05}}</ref> By the middle of 2003, however, Longhorn had acquired some of the features originally intended for Blackcomb, including [[WinFS]], the [[Desktop Window Manager]], and new versions of system components built on the [[.NET Framework]]. After the 2003 "Summer of Worms", where three major viruses − [[Blaster (computer worm)|Blaster]], [[Sobig (computer worm)|Sobig]], and [[Welchia]] − exploited flaws in Windows operating systems within a short time period, Microsoft changed its development priorities, putting some of Longhorn's major development work on hold in order to develop new service packs for Windows XP and [[Windows Server 2003]]. [[Development of Windows Vista|Development of Longhorn]] was also "reset" in September 2004.
===Naming===
As major feature work on Windows Vista wound down in early 2006, Blackcomb was renamed ''Vienna''.<ref name=thurrottfaq>{{cite web |url=http://www.winsupersite.com/faq/windows_7.asp |title=Windows "7" FAQ |last=Thurrott |first=Paul |authorlink=Paul Thurrott |publisher=Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows |date=14 February 2007 |accessdate=2008-01-05}}</ref> However, following the release of [[Windows Vista]], it was confirmed by [[Microsoft]] on July 20, 2007 that "the internal name for the next version of the Windows Client OS"<ref name="zdnet592">{{cite news | first=Mary J |last=Foley |title=Windows Seven: Think 2010 |date=2007-07-20 |publisher=[[ZDNet]] | url=http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=592 |accessdate = 2007-09-19}}</ref> was ''Windows 7'', a name that had been reported by some sources months before.<ref name="thurrottfaq" /> On October 13, 2008, it was announced that ''Windows 7'' would also be the official name of the operating system.<ref>{{cite news | first=Ina | last=Fried | title=Microsoft makes Windows 7 name final | date=2008-10-13 | publisher=[[CNET]] | url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10064971-56.html | accessdate=2008-10-13}}</ref><ref name="CBC14Oct08">{{cite news|url = http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/10/14/tech-windows.html|title = For Microsoft's Windows, 7th time's a charm|accessdate = 2008-10-27|last = [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]|authorlink = |date=October 2008 | work=CBC News}}</ref> Mike Nash, Microsoft's vice-president of Windows product management said:
{{blockquote| The decision to use the name Windows 7 is about simplicity. Simply put, this is the seventh release of Windows, so therefore Windows 7 just makes sense.
Coming up with an all-new 'aspirational' name does not do justice to what we are trying to achieve, which is to stay firmly rooted in our aspirations for Windows Vista, while evolving and refining the substantial investments in platform technology in Windows Vista into the next generation of Windows.<ref name="CBC14Oct08" /><ref>{{cite web
|url = http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/230106/windows-7-to-be-called-windows-7.html
|title = Windows 7 to be called... Windows 7
|date = 14 October 2008
|accessdate = 2008-10-17
|last = Collins
|first = Barry
|publisher = [[PC Pro]]
}}</ref> }}
Numbering this version of Windows as "7" has confused many users, so on October 14, 2008, Nash clarified his earlier remarks, saying:<ref name="Protalinski">{{cite web|url = http://arstechnica.com/journals/microsoft.ars/2008/10/15/final-release-of-windows-7-to-have-kernel-version-6-1|title = Final release of Windows 7 to have kernel version 6.1|accessdate = 2008-11-24|last = Protalinski |first = Emil|authorlink = |date=October 2008}}</ref><ref name="Nash14Oct08">{{cite web|url = http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2008/10/14/why-7.aspx|title = Windows Vista Team Blog - Why 7?|accessdate = 2008-11-24|last = Nash|first = Mike.|authorlink = |date=October 2008}}</ref>
{{blockquote|The very first release of Windows was Windows 1.0, the second was Windows 2.0, the third Windows 3.0. Here's where things get a little more complicated. Following Windows 3.0 was Windows NT which was code versioned as Windows 3.1. Then came Windows 95, which was code versioned as Windows 4.0. Then, Windows 98, 98 SE and Windows Millennium each shipped as 4.10.1998, 4.10.2222, and 4.90.3000, respectively. So we're counting all 9x versions as being 4.0. Windows 2000 code was 5.0 and then we shipped Windows XP as 5.1, even though it was a major release we didn't want to change code version numbers to maximize application compatibility. That brings us to Windows Vista, which is 6.0. So we see Windows 7 as our next logical significant release and 7th in the family of Windows releases...There's been some fodder about whether using 6.1 in the code is an indicator of the relevance of Windows 7. It is not. Windows 7 is a significant and evolutionary advancement of the client operating system. It is in every way a major effort in design, engineering and innovation. The only thing to read into the code versioning is that we are absolutely committed to making sure application compatibility is optimized for our customers.<ref name="Nash14Oct08" /> }}
==Focus==
Microsoft's Ben Fathi stated on 9 February 2007 that the focus of the operating system was still being worked out, and he could only hint at some possibilities:<ref name="Vista2009">{{cite web|url=http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/02/09/HNvistafollowup_1.html|title=Microsoft: Vista follow-up likely in 2009|author=Robert McMillan, IDG News Service|date=9 February 2007}}</ref>
{{blockquote|We're going to look at a fundamental piece of enabling technology. Maybe it's [[hypervisor]]s. I don't know what it is [...] Maybe it's a new [[user interface]] [[paradigm]] for consumers.|Ben Fathi, Windows Core Operating System Division Vice President}}
[[Bill Gates]], in an interview with [[Newsweek]], suggested that the next version of Windows would "be more user-centric."<ref name="gates">{{cite web|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16934083/site/newsweek/page/4/print/1/displaymode/1098/|title=Bill Gates on Vista and Apple's 'Lying' Ads|author=Steven Levy|date= 3 February 2007}}</ref> When asked to clarify what he meant, Gates said:
{{blockquote|That means that right now when you move from one [[Personal computer|PC]] to another, you've got to install apps on each one, do upgrades on each one. Moving information between them is very painful. We can use [[Windows Live|Live Services]] to know what you're interested in. So even if you drop by a [public] kiosk or somebody else's PC, we can bring down your home page, your files, your fonts, your favorites and those things. So that's kind of the user-centric thing that Live Services can enable. [Also,] in Vista, things got a lot better with [digital] ink and speech, but by the next release there will be a much bigger bet. Students won't need textbooks; they can just use these [[tablet computer|tablet devices]]. [[Parallel computing]] is pretty important for the next release. We'll make it so that a lot of the high-level graphics will be just built into the operating system. So we've got a pretty good outline.}}
Gates later said that Windows 7 will also focus on performance improvements:<ref name="gates2">{{cite web|url=http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/billg/speeches/2008/05-07japanwdlc.mspx|title=Bill Gates: Japan—Windows Digital Lifestyle Consortium|author=Bill Gates|date=12 May 2007}}</ref>
{{blockquote|We're hard at work, I would say, on the next version, which we call Windows 7. I'm very excited about the work being done there. The ability to be lower power, take less memory, be more efficient, and have lots more connections up to the mobile phone, so those scenarios connect up well to make it a great platform for the best gaming that can be done, to connect up to the thing being done out on the Internet, so that, for example, if you have two personal computers, that your files automatically are synchronized between them, and so you don't have a lot of work to move that data back and forth.}}
Senior Vice President Bill Veghte stated that Windows 7 will not have the kind of compatibility issues with Vista that Vista has with previous versions:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.softpedia.com/news/Windows-7-Will-Not-Inherent-the-Incompatibility-Issues-of-Vista-88625.shtml|title=Windows 7 Will Not Inherit the Incompatibility Issues of Vista|author=Marius Oiaga|date=24 June 2008}}</ref>
{{blockquote|You've let us know you don't want to face the kinds of incompatibility challenges with the next version of Windows you might have experienced early with Windows Vista. As a result, our approach with Windows 7 is to build off the same core architecture as Windows Vista so the investments you and our partners have made in Windows Vista will continue to pay off with Windows 7. Our goal is to ensure the migration process from Windows Vista to Windows 7 is straightforward.}}
Speaking about Windows 7 on 16 October 2008, Microsoft CEO [[Steve Ballmer]] confirmed compatibility between Vista and Windows 7:<ref name="DignanOctober2008">{{cite web|url = http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=10464|title = Ballmer: It's ok to wait until Windows 7; Yahoo still 'makes sense'; Google Apps 'primitive'|accessdate = 2008-10-17|last = Dignan|first = Larry|authorlink = |date=October 2008}}</ref>
{{blockquote| Our next release of Windows will be compatible with Vista. The key is let's get on with it. We'll be ready when you want to deploy Windows 7.<ref name="DignanOctober2008" /> }}
Ballmer also confirmed the relationship between Vista and Windows 7, indicating that Windows 7 would be an improved version of Windows Vista.<ref name="DignanOctober2008" />
==Builds==
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