Microsoft has revealed more details about Windows 7, its next operating system.
In addition to the touchscreen interface that has already been revealed, Windows 7 will do away with the quick-launch bar, integrating it into the Taskbar.
Microsoft's Ian Moulster told Web User that there would also be a new feature built into BitLocker, an encryption program, that would let you encrypt data on a USB drive.
"USB drives are more likely to be lost and are also quite likely to have important data stored on them, so we've made it easy to encrypt them in Windows 7," said Moulster.
Some features included in Windows Vista will be left out of Windows 7. The Windows Mail and Windows Gallery are among those to be dropped, to prevent confusion with Windows Live services that are available.
Microsoft has previously referred to a three-year cycle for operating systems, which suggests that Windows 7 should launch in early 2010, though Moulster declined to name an exact date.
Nor would he say how many different versions there would be of Windows 7. "There will be different versions and I imagine there'll be an enterprise-focused version and a consumer-focused version, but we haven't buttoned that down yet," he said.
The software giant has been showing off an early build of Windows 7, which will be the official name of the new OS, at the Professional Developer's Conference in Los Angeles.
However, attention has been on Windows Vista in recent weeks after Apple's Tim Cook put record sales of Macs in the second quarter of 2008 down to the unpopularity of Vista, as Web User reported in Issue 199.
"We believe Vista is a strong product now, certainly stronger than when it launched nearly two years ago," Moulster told Web User.
A second service pack for Windows Vista will be released this week.
www.windows.co.uk 
Topic: More Windows 7 details revealed (Read 720 times)