I am a happy Apple / Mac user (read: fanboy), but I’m very much aware of the pain and suffering my unfortunate Windows peers had to endure with their Vista PCs. Most of them had switch back to Windows XP.

So when the news broke out that Microsoft is working on a new version of the OS, it receives mix views. Some thinks that it would get better, other thinks that it is downhill for Microsoft. The news about a new Windows OS got out while Windows Vista were still hot in production. They just recently started to push Vista out.

The new Windows OS still haven’t had an official name, it was known as ‘Blackcomb’ at one time and then ‘Vienna’. Now it is just known as Windows 7. The number ‘7′ is just the version number for windows.

I was still drooling and sucking on my thumb when Windows 1 and version 2 was out. Most of you might remember Windows 3.1, that was my first introduction to GUI based computing. After that came Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows ME, they were all based on Windows version 4. Windows XP is version 5 based loosely on the Windows NT kernel (NT 5). The current Windows Vista is actually Windows version 6. Thus the upcoming version is conveniently named Windows 7.

They should go back to the basics and stick with the name Windows 7 as was Windows 3.1, and not have some fancy name like ‘Vista’ or ‘XP’.

Windows 7 is schedule to release in 2010. That means Vista’s lifespan is just 3 years. That is pretty short for an OS version.

Apple might have released new versions of MacOSX every one or two years, but they are still version 10 of the MacOS (hence the ‘X’ a roman numerical representation of the number 10). Leopard just means 10.5. Windows 7 however is a jump to a new version all together.

Microsoft is playing it safe this time. They are not going to share bunch of information about the OS features and not having them in the actual final release. That’s what happened to Longhorn/Vista. They promise the world with Longhorn but end up delivering Vista.

In a recent D: All Things Digital conference, Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer had demoed Windows 7. I was following the live coverage on Engadget, hitting the refresh button. It is more of a technical showcase then a full demo.

They showed the multi-touch feature and it’s supported throughout the system. Pretty slick, I wish my phone has multi-touch.

Long time windows users would be happy to know that Microsoft Paint will still be there. This time you can paint with all your fingers!

Microsoft isn’t releasing much information on Windows 7 apart from the Multi-Touch feature and that the kernel is built upon the Windows Server 2008 kernel which is an evolution to the Windows Vista kernel. Drivers that worked on Vista will work on Windows 7.

Anyhow I don’t think it will be any worst then Windows Vista, the overall reception from consumer that is, not the OS. I have not played with Windows Vista long enough to comment.

So can users hold on to their Windows XP for another three years?