Developers attending the Professional Developers Conference 2008 (PDC2008) witnessed this week the first full public demo of Microsoft’s newest and most promising operating system, Windows 7. Remember Vista? Well, Windows 7 promises to take the good in Vista, add some more applications and services and deliver an experience that will not only get users enthusiastic about the new operating system, but will also erase the bad marks left by its predecessor.

We’ve all watched how Windows Vista turned from a highly anticipated operating system meant to upgrade the XP experience, into a reason of frustration for users, developers, and Microsoft as well. Steve Ballmer himself called Windows Vista “a work in progress,” one year after its official launch. His affirmation did not come as a surprise for anyone, especially considering that users have been complaining of Vista issues since…forever.

Despite the high expectations for Vista, a large part of users tried it and decided to go back to Windows XP, at least until Microsoft delivers an operating system superior to Vista (since a fixed Vista seemed like a hard task). When Microsoft announced it would pull the plug on Windows XP, the PC community’s reaction reflected reluctance to Vista.

Windows 7 is not Windows Vista by any means, but it will have the same hardware compatibilities as Vista. Besides that, Windows 7 is indeed an upgrade, but an upgrade that doesn’t necessarily follow the design lines in Vista: it’s much easier to use, it has its own look, it was designed to work faster and better, and meet the demands of a wide range of users.

The operating system, which is expected to be released in full beta version early next year, is focused on delivering an adequate experience for the next generation of users, and expand all possibilities.

Microsoft described Windows 7 as an evolved approach to engineering, largely based on customer and partner feedback. Therefore, Windows 7 will be a platform capable of combining performance, reliability and security, but also a tool meant to change everyday life experiences by making tasks simpler and easier with a revolutionary user interface. Moreover, Windows 7 will support a better interaction between user and PC with the help of the multi-touch interface.

Besides being customizable, to reflect each user’s personality and preferences, Windows 7 is also a resource pool for developers. Microsoft said the new operating system will encourage developers to create new applications and services.

“With our new approach to planning and development we now have a great foundation for our partners to start learning and innovating on this exciting new version of Windows,” said Steven Sinofsky, senior vice president of Windows and Windows Live Engineering Group.

Microsoft expressed confidence that Windows 7 will enable developers to be more productive, by offering new possibilities to create Windows applications. The possibilities are endless! Moreover, the Windows 7 – Internet Explorer 8 combo will allow developers to combine the best of Windows and Web in their applications.