Windows 7: From beta to final code in one year
InternetNews | at | by Mike
On Oct. 28, 2008, Steven Sinofsky, then senior vice president of Windows and Windows Live, stood on stage at the Professional Developer's Conference to announce the first preview release of Windows 7, the operating system that would succeed the poorly received Windows Vista.
One year later, Windows 7 is out, earning excellent reviews, and Sinofsky has a earned a promotion to be president of the unit. How did his team manage this in one year?
Also in Windows 7's favor was the fact that Microsoft didn't make drastic changes from a previous version, as it had with its predecessor: Its kernel and driver model came from Vista, which had been steadily evolving since the release. Vista, on the other hand, introduced a far more sweeping amount of change with which to contend.