[citation][nom]neiroatopelcc[/nom]imo win 7 is so much more than what you feel it is. From where I'm standing, vista is an xp with a new shell and even less compatibility (and xp was really bad in that regard when it was new) - windows 7 is the new system. It's the operating system where not just the graphics, but the engine as well has been upgraded. I've got to say that I've never been as content with an RC than I am with this one. It's got higher quality than many a retail product from other vendors - or their own office package for that matter.[/citation]
The RC has better quality than their own current retail OS ever did.
But you're kind of wrong on a couple points. Windows 7 at its core is really Vista 2.0. Vista was completely new from the ground up and shared very little with XP. Windows Longhorn, the original early development version Vista, was based on Windows XP, but hey later decided to scrap that and start fresh because there were more problems to fix than there were upgrades to make, so they scrapped that and started fresh. That is exactly why it was so problematic, because all that new code introduces new and unforeseen bugs and compatibility issues. Windows 7 is entirely based on Vista while adding a lot more features and redoing the GUI so that it actually makes some sort of sense, on top of fixing most of Vista's issues.
In short, Vista was originally going to be a face-lift of XP but ended up with a brand-new engine and chassis instead; but they hadn't refined it enough by the time it went on sale. Windows 7 is everything Vista was supposed to be from the start, and is compatible with Vista software and hardware to boot.
Why not call it Vista 2, then? Because "Vista" is synonymous with "problematic" in the public's mind. It's a PR nightmare, and MS needs to dissociate Win7 from Vista as much as possible if it hopes to repair its public image. Ironic, given the meaning of the word "vista" and it's close relation to the word "window". Windows with a view. Exactly what it's supposed to be a view of seems to be the root of the problem, because all I see is a post-apocalyptic wasteland of 1's and 0's randomly strewn about. Thanks, but I'm gonna keep the curtains drawn, if you don't mind.