Windows 7 Windows 7 , the last windows version?

Hmm, good point xoxs. It's true that Windows is a lot more popular, so that could be a reason to keep the same name. But then again, they might want a new name to make it look like there is a "drastic change" in that version of the OS. Or, perhaps they will come out with a new UI that doesn't use Windows.

I feel that Windows was at its peak with XP. It is far superior to anything else Microsoft have produced, including Windows 7. OK so XP is not as pretty as Vista or 7 but for everything else it cant be beat.
µsoft don't want to admit that by producing something so widely supported as XP, they made a rod for their own backs! Vista nor 7 will be as popular simply because with each new release they alienate those with older hardware and software. Windows 7 is worse for this than Vista was.

well hardware and software get outdated over time you cant avoid that. as a broad example try running windows xp on a 386 machine or booting programs off a 5 inch floppy into xp. xp became so compatible because it was in production for some 6 years before vista came around. Compatibility mode has solved any such issues for me since then. Windows backwards compatibility is actually quite good.

Im really curious to see how windows has changed in the next say 10 years as touchscreens have become so popular. I have a feeling most systems will be built around them and software written specifically for them. if you havent seen it, check out the videos of the touchscreen tabletop system microsoft has developed its wicked. (called "microsoft surface")

I've heard talk that the next OS would be web based OS. One of the things that OSes do is they talk to your devices using drivers (printers, graphics cards and sound cards to name a few). The advantage of using web apps in business is that you don't have to install the applications on the desktop and the app run on the web server/app server. I can't forsee how they would load drivers for multiple machines using a browser OS.

I had a friend suggest to me that MS make a unix-based architecture system. I explained to him that microsoft has built a Dynasty with windows. So many systems are based on it now that a shift such as that would spell disaster for nearly everthing lol. Windows is the most popular OS for right now, also the most compatible as most software and hardware is designed for one type of windows or another. Go into any government building, in almost any country and you will find Windows boxes. I think we're stuck with Windows folks.