Windows 7 and the ISV Application Compatibility Story

Major portions of our company are focused on delivering some really great capabilities in our product in the next 12 months. Some of our most important releases are going out the door in the next year, and a key one is in the last sprint to the finish line — Windows 7.

For those of you using the beta bits that we provided earlier this year, you have seen the performance, compatibility, and focus on quality. Everyone on my team is now using Windows 7 as our main OS, and I am very happy to say that even interim builds have been very high quality. MSDN and TechNet users have been able to download Windows 7 Release Candidate, and now the general public can too. If you haven't already, give it a try now.

As all of us in the software business know, it is critical that our end customers have an excellent experience with what we ship. Application Compatibility is a huge priority for Microsoft with Windows 7. We are geared up and starting the push to have as many applications ready and flawless on the new release.

You will see labs, consulting, toolkits, logo certification, guidance, and more from us in the very near future. Please don't hesitate to let us know of anything you need to get your applications tested and ready for our launch this winter. The market is ready for a big release; we have an excellent product going out the door; and we are fired up and motivated to do whatever it takes to help you close on that opportunity.

You will see some of the cool new features before launch. Try them and let us know what you think!

Visit the MSDN Application Compatibility resource center to get started with the work to be certified on Windows 7.

As always, thanks for the partnership.

Rob Craft
Microsoft Senior Director, Partner Team
Developer & Platform Evangelism