The starting point for his presentation was to talk about how the Internet has become ubiquitous. And how there is a benefit to having proximity between the hardware, the software and the user. He also mentioned the phone as one of the software platforms that are part of most people's lives, which is not a surprise considering the comments about the Live Mesh made at Mix '08.
Also interesting that Windows 7 is being referred to as the 'client' operating system. The intent is obviously to set up the idea that the next version of Windows is intended to be the 'client' to the Azure 'service'.
The highlights for Windows 7 include:
- Changes to the taskbar to including thumbnails of the running instances of an application, as well as the ability to manage (e.g. close, open a recently used document, etc.) an instance from the thumbnail.
- Improvements to the searching capabilities within the machine, as well as across the machines in your home network.
- Improvements to automatic connection while in your home network. This includes discovery of other Windows 7 machines on the network. And, more importantly, the default printer changes to a printer within your home network (instead of having to remember to change from your printer at work).
These last two points indicate the focus for Windows 7 improvements, that being to try to smooth the integration of computers within a home next.
More to follow.