Windows 7 ready for home AND office

It's looking like an October release date for the latest version of Windows. Microsoft is out with what's known as the "release candidate" of its Windows 7 operating system.

Ken Page, program manager for Microsoft Federal Services, tells FederalNewsRadio, the word is spreading and anticipation is growing.

"Partly because the reviews have been so good, many agencies in the federal government are waiting now for Windows 7 to come out so that they can migrate off of XP, which we will discontinue support of in the not too distant future."

Asked what agencies can do now to make the transition easier, Page says it depends a bit on what system is being run now.

The jump from XP to Vista was significant, technologically. And the jump from XP to Windows 7, for many agencies, will be just slightly bigger than that. So our recommendation is that they begin testing their applications immediately for compatibility. They can do that on Vista, because if they work on Vista, they will work on Windows 7, and we can certainly help them through the use of virtualized PCs or virtualized hard-drives that already have the configuration already embedded in it.

So once the change is made, Page says Windows 7 is lighter, faster, uses less memory, and boasts a redesigned user interface.

In terms of security, Page says it's "easily configurable" to the user's needs.

Of course the DoD and the Microsoft security team are in the process right now of putting together recommendations for that, but the flexibility allows you to do much more with it in terms of configuration management than previous versions have.

Commercially, the release is being offered to a large group of technology-savvy testers. It will be available for anyone who wants to download and try out on May 5. The new version adds several new features to the operating system, including a way for users to run Windows XP applications.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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