Microsoft announced that new details about the upcoming release of its Windows 7 will be made available during two of its major events later this year - the Professional Developers Conference (Oct. 27-30) and the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (Nov. 5-7). Windows enthusiasts should not get too excited because there is nothing changed on the company’s initial schedule, with Windows 7 set for release around the beginning of 2010.

A few months ago, Microsoft Senior Vice President Bill Veghte sent a letter to Microsoft’s customers, expressing the company’s intentions to deliver the new OS approximately three years after Windows Vista’s official launch, which happened in January 2007. Still, there are many who believe that the launch will occur a lot sooner, as early as June 2009. The problem with the release date is that having a set deadline can be interpreted in two ways: either the people involved will address their work in an extremely focused manner, set on getting the job done well in good time or they will start panicking with each passing day, jumping over certain development steps that will lead to many frustrations for the users. The first scenario is supported by the company’s enthusiasts who had a great time working with Vista or XP and can’t wait for a new even better version, while the second scenario is expected by many because they know that Vista took 5 years of work and the result was less than satisfying, causing major headaches with its constant errors and flaws.

Still, looking at Microsoft’s efforts to improve its image, everyone should keep a positive attitude about Windows 7, as this is going to be the ultimate advertising campaign for its services. Forget about Jerry Seinfeld’s jokes, Bill Gates’ dance or users’ testimonials. What better way of promoting itself than to release a very good operating system, a bug-free operating-system that will present the potential to erase all the damage caused by Vista in a single move. In my opinion, this is why Microsoft will come out with a flawless, or at least a far better product than Vista, in almost half the time it took it to build the previous version – because it cannot afford, so to say, another crash on the market.

The operating system is being built on Vista’s code base, as the company is looking to avoid the many application-compatibility issues encountered with Vista in its early days. One of the major new differences is its multi-touch screen technology, which was presented by Bill Gates and CEO Steve Ballmer back in May, during Windows 7’s first demonstration. The company prepared a beta version called Milestone 3, which at this point is being tested and should be released by the end of the year.

Microsoft launched a Web site called Engineering Windows 7, which offers a lot of details about development process, the new features, the components, the people involved and everything else that users might consider interesting about the work on the company’s new operating system.

The convention scheduled for October should provide more info about the Microsoft’s progress.