Alright, so I talked about Windows 7’s pillars not so long ago. Paul, along with a member of our forums, recently mentioned build 6780 as Milestone 3. This post serves as my thoughts of what might hypothetically exist in this build based on what I saw in M1. I’ll start with the applications:

Based on the trend we saw in M1, The Sidebar the thing which really shouldn’t be called the sidebar anymore will be embedded into the desktop even further, eventually annihilating the concept of a sidebar in the first place. The gadgets might remain on the side, but for all intents and purposes, the gadgets might just stay on the desktop, ready and willing to be called to the front using a key combination (not different from what you see in Vista now: Win+Space to pull gadgets to the front in Vista). It will likely be more heavily integrated into the shell than we saw in Milestone 1. Besides these changes, I doubt M3 would have anything different for the user who takes a look. The gadgets thus far would most likely be the same, though I personally hope they switch to a better codebase for the gadgets.

Wordpad and Paint will likely have seen major overhauls to their user interfaces by this point. My suspicion is that they will probably have adopted an Office-esque look along with possibly some added tools and features for both, simply for the sake of consistency. Since adding tools to Paint and Wordpad likely isn’t the Windows team’s largest focus, one could expect to see two or three tabs for the ribbon. By this point, there likely won’t be any other major changes, though seeing feature additions in the future would definitely be in line. Update 9-16-08 8:39PM: Looks like I was right. Stephen has a screenshot.

Calculator in Milestone 1 saw a few minor functional and visual tweaks, such as the addition of programming and statistics modes. With this in mind, it’s reasonable to expect the calculator to be much more aesthetically pleasing in order to follow suit with the pattern likely established by Wordpad and Paint. After all, bundled applications will be seeing an overhaul in Windows 7, so expect them to look similar in terms of design. Calculator almost definitely will not carry an Office UI, as it isn’t a productivity application per se.

Windows Media Player likely won’t see much of an overhaul from Milestone 1 besides possibly being more organized and pretty. It will also start to take a shape of its own as it turns into Windows Media Player 12.

Milestone 3 could also carry rough implementations of various technologies which carried merely a footnote’s worth of importance in Milestone 1. Quick examples:

Homegroups might actually work by now! I suspect the Homegroups feature to be much more well integrated into the networking center as well as other functions in Windows 7 Milestone 3. Joining a computer to a Homegroup, for instance, would likely be something which could be done from the Network and Sharing Center as opposed to only being established during the OOBE what used to be called the OOBE as it was in Milestone 1. It might even be possible to join a computer to multiple Homegroups , though if you only have one home, I’m not sure what good this would do.

Windows Live integration will most likely have increased compared to the first milestone. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Internet Explorer 8 accelerators found their way into Windows 7, likely with shortcuts to make things easier (such as Microphone commands and quick access to accelerators via a taskbar toolbar, perhaps). Also, as has been making the rounds recently on sites such as LiveSide and All About Microsoft, certain applications present in Windows Vista will, by now, start being subtracted from Windows and dropped under the Windows Live designation.

Themes probably wouldn’t be such a discombobulated process for the user in Milestone 3 as it was in Windows Vista. As a part of the goal to make simple tasks easier to do in Vista, a number of quick thematic combinations (visual themes. Probably nothing fancy yet) will likely find their homes in the main Personalization page by way of an iconic representation of the final outcome. Customization would still be available to those who wish to choose something less standard, but the default combos would be helpful for selecting a mode on a glance, such as a high contrast mode for those who have difficulties seeing what’s on their screen.

Other minor visual tweaks will almost definitely exist, likely in the start menu and in typical folderview. However, features such as the “superbar” seen at D6 may not be available out of the box, if at all.

That’s it for my speculative extrapolation on what Milestone 3 of Windows 7 hypothetically could contain. Tomorrow, I’ll detail how one feature which I discussed in the first serving of yam dip might work in Windows 7.

Wired has an interesting article on how the iPhone boosted smartphone sales for other manufacturers (most notably RIM and Palm). With the next version of the iPhone now released, you might be asking yourself

• What will Microsoft do to keep Apple from breaking into the enterprise smartphone market?
• Why haven’t I bought this new iPhone yet?
• What’s that pretty thing in the Crystal Ball?

Now might be a good time to analyze the potential impact Apple’s iPhone might have on Windows Mobile.

The current version of Windows Mobile is version 6.1… which is still based on Windows CE 5.2 despite the release of Windows CE 6.0 back in November of 2006, which is well over a year ago. Windows Mobile 7 will be based on either Windows CE 6 or a later version of Windows CE judging by its anticipated mid-to-late 2009 release. Since the last major Windows CE release, two iPhones have come along and, according to the people watching today’s WWDC keynote, eclipsed every smartphone in existence (we’ll disregard the argument that the iPhone is not a suitable enterprise tool for now).

Since the moment news of the first iPhone broke two Januarys ago, companies such as Meizu and HTC have tried to revamp the Windows Mobile interface with their own code, though only HTC has actually managed to push anything to the market. A number of threads discussing the new HTC Touch Pro have come and gone, with many people as-yet-unaffected by Mr. Jobs’ Reality Distortion Field seriously weighing the unreleased Touch (less so with its Diamond sibling) against the new iPhone and another HTC project, the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1.

The impact of the iPhone is already visible in the preparation of new user interfaces for both Windows Mobile and RIM’s Blackberry (the Bold UI). However, with the announcement that iPhone v2 will carry full Exchange support, the latest iPhone is also making an attempt to invade the enterprise smartphone realm, and third party innovations for smartphones in this department typically have a high FAIL rate in catching on, so it’s up to Microsoft to keep itself awake and running. HTC pulled a lucky rabbit from its proverbial top-hat, but HTC’s experience lies in what most people in the Orient prefer with their phones: glitz, glamour, and lots of overly pretty animated functions, menus, spinning icons, and other similar user interface clutterings enhancements which missed the Longhorn boat back in 2004.

This gets me to what I think Microsoft might be forced to do with Apple’s growling 2ft-tall-and-growing-fast presence in front of it.

Background Applications won’t go away. Even though Apple had a fun jab at how background applications eat battery power and performance, I personally don’t believe Microsoft will let background applications go the way of the dodo. Instead, Microsoft will likely make enhancements to how Windows Mobile manages background applications. This will save battery power (good!) while making it less likely that your phone will be infected with spyware (good!), while also preserving backwards compatibility (good, but not as enthusiastically good).

A revamped user interface will likely be issued with Windows Mobile 7. While this has already been discussed many times in the past, I personally think the new UI will be developed in tandem with Windows 7’s User Interface. We’ve seen Windows 7’s poorly executed touch demo at D6 (I’ll keep my 50 cents Steve, thank you), but I think that Microsoft will keep a similar but highly condensed touch-centric user experience for Windows Mobile 7 for two reasons:

1. The iPhone has already made touch look cool, and with companies such as HTC pulling off some of the most ingenious touch interfaces , touch and gestures won’t be going away.
2. Microsoft has a history of keeping things looking alike (and yet disjointedly different at the same time) for the sake of branding. Windows Mobile 6 had this mildly Vista-esque feel through the use of gradients and glossed elements. On the other hand, this is a phone. One of the problems some people have with the iPhone is that while the user interface is great, the time it takes to go from one place to another (despite the presence of the home button) can get a bit annoying with the animations and other UI tidbits in place. In consumer environments, a glitzy UI is great, but in snappy business environments when CEOs are jumping from cabs and limousines to business meetings in skyscrapers while trying to arrange that multi-million (or billion) dollar merger during the only 30 second time slot available in the elevator trip to the top floor, the last thing that is needed are animations which eat time.

With that in mind, Windows 7 might be less of a festival of motion than Windows Mobile 6.1 with HTC’s TouchFLO, with a new interface likely catering to both businessmen and consumers alike.

Accelerated Development might split priority between Windows 7 and Windows Mobile 7. Should the two systems share a similar user interface, seeing Microsoft split its resources down the middle for both Windows and Windows Mobile might not be the largest surprise. One of Microsoft’s most successful areas is within the corporate sector, and with the iPhone trying to barge in, Microsoft might be much more inclined than before to put more emphasis on Windows Mobile development. With connectivity becoming the ultimate focus for Windows 7, seeing a heavy emphasis on connectivity between Windows Mobile, 7 and Windows 7 might be less of a shock now than it might’ve been, say, three to six months ago. This doesn’t mean we’ll see Windows 7 launch in 2009, nor does it mean that Windows 7 will come before the second half of next year (but it might). All it means is that more teams might be devoted to Windows Mobile 7, with collaboration between both Windows and Windows Mobile development climbing much higher than ever before. This could also mean that a number of Microsoft’s Windows 7 “pillars” will carry over into Windows Mobile.

Mind you, all of this is my own mindless speculation. The iPhone is not a crystal ball, I can’t see into the future, and the phone in the ball is an HTC Touch Pro. If you have any other ideas as to which directions Microsoft might take with Windows Mobile, post! Comments are below, but before you post, here’s a dose of irony, courtesy of Paul Thurrott.

Yesterday’s pillar (Specialized for Laptops) focused on changes which, while applicable to all platforms on which Windows 7 will be found, have a slant in favor of mobile platforms. This is part two of my series on the Five Pillars of Windows 7. Most of the emphasis in today’s pillar will be focused on how Windows 7 will spread the Windows Experience away from just your hard drive.

As always, comments are appreciated. Pillar Two (Update: with screenshots!) is after the break.

Pillar Two: Designed for Services

Microsoft has been working on expanding its online properties. Windows Live is the manifestation of Microsoft’s Windows-related online efforts, and it seems that these services will play a key role in Windows 7:

• Being Up to Date with Windows Vista is easy thanks to Windows Update. Windows 7 will look to expand this a bit, but the scenario presented by Microsoft is fairly vague. My own personal interpretation is that Windows 7 will encourage an up-to-date experience with all applications installed on a Windows machine (which presumably will have to opt into Windows Update to take advantage of it). The user would be notified of any applications which could be in need of a tweak or update.
• Worry-free Upgrades means that the advantages of upgrading as well as specific upgrade paths will be easy to understand for the user. Confusion over the benefits and disadvantages of upgrading will be minimized, and for counterfeit users, an easy and hassle-free path to genuine Windows will be made possible. My personal opinion regarding the counterfeit purchase program gig is that Microsoft is targeting the wrong users for it. I could be very wrong, but I don’t believe there are many laypeople who are buying
• Windows Online will essentially serve as a knowledge base for the average user, providing information, resources, and assistance for everything from solving problems, being up to date, and even choosing a Windows machine that’s right for the user. It likely won’t be much different from the resources Microsoft already maintains online.
• Help and Community access will allow for a user to upload information about his/her computer to communities of Windows Experts who can help answer questions. It’s analogous to when you run HijackThis and post the results on an anti-spyware forum for the more experienced users to filter. Whether this will take advantage of only Microsoft communities or non-Microsoft communities as well is up in the air, though I know I’d love to get AeroXP involved (we’ve got a great bunch of people here).
• The Family Friendly Web Experience will help parents protect their children from content which might be seen as unhealthy for those underage. Essentially, it’s a broadening of Parental Controls in Vista, though as it’s within the Designed for Services pillar, online coordination will likely play a large role. Online adult blacklists, perhaps?
• Gadgets that are ready when you are and safe, too. Tying into the Working on Demand scenario as well as other optimizations such as information caching, gadgets (be they for Live or for your Sidebar) will always present relevant content to the user without service dropouts.
• In-box application improvements will be evident in applications such as WordPad, Paint, the Calculator, and other core tools. Some of these applications will see added functionality for the first time in over a decade, though seeing anything significant is probably nothing more than a dream.
  The god-worded term used internally for this particular scenario is “Applets that showcase the Platform.” The reasoning behind my use of a different title should be obvious enough, I hope. Update: Screenshots of Calculator and Paint added below.

The Calculator saw the addition of two new modes, while Paint now comes with rulers.

Pillar Three will be focused much more on how you, the user, will use Windows 7. Expect it tomorrow at around the same time.

Edit: image links vanished when this page reverted to a backup. I reconnected the links.

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