The Windows 7 Timeline Becomes a Bit More Clear

Andy Patrizio at InternetNews took a look at the Windows 7 timeline and pegged June 2009 as the expected delivery date. We all know that is very subject to change. You can look for the Professional Developer's Conference in late October as the launch platform for the first public beta of Windows 7.

Microsoft has previously said that Windows 7 would ship in early 2010, and given Vista's January 2007 ship date, that date matches the above Microsoft statement. Its beta cycles are usually about a year in length, so a June ship date would be cutting it close. Then again, it has had a long time to work on it - Vista released to manufacturing in late 2006 - and it's not changing much.

Last month we learned that the server version of Windows 7 would not be a major release. It will instead be known as Windows Server 2008 R2. That leaves open questions as to how different either Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 will be from Vista.