If you're one of the many who are giving Vista a bye in the hopes that Windows 7 will revolutionize the Windows OS, you might consider rethinking your position. Microsoft this week has finally given us the littlest of peeks into what we can expect out of Windows 7. From Lee Pender over at Redmond Channel Partner:

Windows 7 will not have a new kernel; the kernel will build on those of Windows Vista (hmm) and Windows Server 2008. There will be a 32-bit version and a 64-bit version, and Windows 7 should debut sometime around January 2010 -- although Ballmer mentioned late 2009 at the D show -- give or take a few months (or years, if we know Microsoft, but that's our little added comment).

More color commentary from the Ars Technica blog:

Now, Microsoft has settled the question of whether or not the operating system would come with a completely new kernel, or simply one that builds on what we already see in Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008: "Contrary to some speculation, Microsoft is not creating a new kernel for Windows 7. Rather, we are refining the kernel architecture and componentization model introduced in Windows Vista," said Flores. He went on to say: "one of our design goals for Windows 7 is that it will run on the recommended hardware we specified for Windows Vista and that the applications and devices that work with Windows Vista will be compatible with Windows 7."

It is important to note that these are goals, and won't necessarily be achieved, but it's great to see that Microsoft has set the bar high. This is in line with Gates' recent quote about Windows 7's performance, and my speculation that Windows 7 will be about performance as Windows Vista was about security.

Even more details, out of a CNet interview with Steven Sinofsky, Microsoft's Windows chief:

I know you said you don't really want to look back, so maybe looking forward a little bit...We haven't heard a lot about Windows 7, but we've heard about a couple of things discussed. The real areas I've heard a lot about are this idea of a new kernel, a minimum Windows kernel that came up in a speech, and then some stuff around new user interfaces. Can you tell us a little bit more about where those things fit in with how you guys are thinking about Windows 7?

Sinofsky: We're very clear that drivers and software that work on Windows Vista are going to work really well on Windows 7; in fact, they'll work the same. We're going to not introduce additional compatibilities, particularly in the driver model. Windows Vista was about improving those things. We are going to build on the success and the strength of the Windows Server 2008 kernel, and that has all of this work that you've been talking about. The key there is that the kernel in Windows Server 08 is an evolution of the kernel in Windows Vista, and then Windows 7 will be a further evolution of that kernel as well.

So, memory management, networking, process management, all of the security hardening, all of those things will carry forth, and maintain the compatibility with applications that people expect. Finally, we are going to make sure that the release is available both in 32 bit and 64 bit, which is an additional help for maintaining compatibility, particularly with device drivers. As the 64-bit ecosystem catches up, we expect more and more people, particularly enthusiasts, to be running 64 bit. For many people that's a great scenario today. I know I run 64 bit on most of my machines, including my primary laptop.

While the focus on Vista was definitely on security, Microsoft has said again and again that Windows 7's focus is in performance. Definitely read this last interview if you want to hear some interesting positioning on Microsoft's part. What they won't provide are any down-and-dirty details of what we can expect out of the new OS. But, this is a good thing. Vista's image suffered as much from its implementation as the delta between the implementation and the expectations in the marketplace prior to release. By not hyping the OS to the levels we saw with Vista, Microsoft does themselves a favor.

Underpromise and overperform is a great motto to live by, it seems.