Windows may be the most popular operating system in the world, but the faults in the latest version of it - Windows Vista - are simply one aspect that users and developers could not easily overlook. But perhaps that bad reputation will change in one year’s time, when Microsoft plans to release Windows 7. By the look of things, Microsoft is not only working hard on delivering an upgraded, innovative new experience, but has also promised to open new opportunities, and make the future OS more user-oriented and less resource-consuming.

After offering a preview of Windows 7 during the Professional Developers Conference 2008 last week, Microsoft added some new details on its operating system at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) 2008.

While Microsoft seems to be very confident that Windows 7 will not repeat the same mistakes as Vista, and will address more the needs of users and developers, some critics believe there will be no essential differences between the two operating systems, and that Windows 7 will be nothing more than a light upgrade of Vista.

That’s not the case, Microsoft suggests. Although Windows 7 comes with the same basic architecture as Vista and Windows Server 2008, that is something the new OS will take advantage of. But unlike Vista, Windows 7 promises no more incompatibility issues, which were a big problem in Vista, as well as changes in the security department, improvements in speed, device recognition, and boot duration.

“We’re helping protect partner investments in Windows Vista as we build Windows 7,” explained Jon DeVaan, senior vice president of the Windows Core Operating System Division of Microsoft. “Our goal is to maintain very high compatibility with products designed for Windows Vista.”

Microsoft showcased during the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference new features of Windows 7, which promise to deliver users an optimized interaction with users' PCs, improved device management, broadband access, and of course offer the feature everyone’s been talking about, the touch-screen interface. This will create opportunities for partners as well to improve their customers’ experience, Microsoft said.

DeVaan explained in the WinHEC keynote that Windows 7 started in the context of Windows Vista and the feedback they started receiving immediately after Vista’s release. Not only did they take that feedback to work on the major elements of the operating system that needed improvements, such as reliability and performance, but they also looked into extending the device support capabilities and delivering a superior ecosystem readiness.

What this means is that Windows 7 will have reliable, pre-release builds to help users understand the operating system, and will also allow Microsoft to deliver the promise of shipping Windows 7 on a particular date, DeVaan said.

Windows 7 comes with a wide set of improvements, from ecosystem readiness, to the support for standards (fairly easy to spot in Internet Explorer 8), to support for Open XML format, and support for the Open Document format in Word Pad.

There are two key elements that Microsoft has clearly been working on in Windows 7, which coincide with users’ major interests in an operating system. First of all, Windows 7 will be about reliability (if in Windows Vista SP1, the reliability factor became greatly superior to that of the initial version, in Windows 7 reliability will be a strong asset as of day one).

Secondly, the boot time is a couple of seconds faster in Windows 7 than in Vista, thanks to a new concept that loads drivers in parallel instead of serially, as well as to a new mechanism that starts services on demand, lowering the number of services to start and therefore lowering the memory pressure.

“Windows 7 reflects an evolved approach to engineering that weaves partner feedback more closely to the development process, and enables the delivery of innovative new features while preserving compatibility and performance,” the company said.