Windows 7 Due Out Soon

In case you haven’t heard, Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer unveiled the newest version of Windows on All Things Digital Conference.

We are going to have to wait 18 months before Windows 7 appears on the market, but there are previews floating around on many a gadget blog.

Several people are concerned about the release date of Windows 7, which may be as late as 2010. The next iteration of Mac OS X will be on the market long before then, so it will definitely be in competition. Apparently, Microsoft is not worried about this at all.

It appears that Windows 7 hasn’t really changed its look, which looks quite a bit like Windows Vista. What has changed is the interface. It appears that Bill and his Microsoft associates have taken a page from the iPhone playbook with its touchable interactive display.

The preview shows something like the Surface, a long-delayed project from Microsoft that has a full-touchable interface, yet designed for the coffee table. Windows 7 appears to put all the elements of Surface on a vertical surface instead of horizontal surface. For example, the way a user can surf through multiple pictures with nothing more than some clean fingers has been a Surface standard.

What is really cool is the Google Earth style program that allows you to spin a globe, and go in for satellite photo close-ups. There’s even a piano keyboard for the musician in a user.

I can’t help but be excited by this new version of Windows, and my imagination is going wild with other standard features. Just imagine how scheduling on Microsoft Outlook is going to change. You’ll be able to move appointments with your fingers. I can’t help but wonder if the new version of Office will change significantly, and if it will be backwards compatible with older versions.

Something tells me that Windows 7 will be more of a hit than Vista. However, my desktop and laptop are not designed for touchable interactivity. Right now, I don’t know any major computer that has a touch screen as a standard feature.

I usually don’t give financial advice in my posts, but I’m going to make a suggestion. If you know any company that makes touchable screen interfaces, you should probably invest in them. If Windows 7 becomes popular, then sales for touchable screens can only increase.

I have included a YouTube video of Windows 7 in action.