NEW TECHNOLOGY

On Monday, Microsoft announced the Windows 7 Readiness programme, an effort to formalise the process by which hardware and software makers double-check that their Vista-compatible products also works with the next version of Windows.

Although Windows 7 doesn't introduce the kinds of major changes that Vista represented versus Windows XP, the company does want to ensure compatibility. Those who take part in the readiness programme will have access to additional documentation and test builds from Microsoft.

In an interview with ZDNet UK's sister site News.com, vice president Mike Nash said the goal was not just to increase adoption for Windows 7-specific features such as Device Stage and multitouch, but also to convince developers to start building on some of the features that have been in place since Vista.

"Some features in Windows Vista... have not gotten the adoption we would like to see," Nash said, pointing in particular to the Windows Presentation Foundation graphics layer that was built into Vista, but has yet to be widely adopted as part of Windows applications.

After it attracted criticism for constantly changing plans with Windows Vista, Microsoft is attempting the opposite approach with Windows 7. The software maker is being extremely conservative with what it says publicly about the operating system, a move it says is deliberate.

"The lack of a predictable schedule combined with the churn of features late in the the process made it hard for partners to know, is this the real Windows Vista," Nash said. "The result of our lack of predictability was everybody [saying] 'Let's wait for this thing to stop spinning'."

With Windows 7, Microsoft has tried to share details only as they became relatively certain. The hope is that, even though Microsoft isn't talking as early about its plans, it is talking with more certainty when it does speak.

That move has led to far fewer changes in plans, but also means Microsoft is still hedging on key questions — in particular, when Windows 7 will ship.

Microsoft has said only that it will ship within three years of the mainstream launch of Windows Vista — essentially by January 2010. However, the company is widely seen as trying to get Windows 7 on machines in time for 2009's Christmas shopping season.