The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant wants to ensure the Windows 7 end user reaps the full Windows experience by taking a development approach that is more transparent to third-party developers, said Mike Nash, corporate vice-president of Windows product management for Microsoft. The Windows 7 release candidate is available to MSDN and TechNet subscribers only, and to the general public on May 5.

"Windows isn't just the software we ship in a nice box," said Nash. "Windows is a product typically experienced on computers from OEMs with a bunch of hardware and software from third parties. We had to make sure that these people were engaged."

Nash said there are more than 10,000 vendors participating in various community programs for compatibility testing of hardware and software, which is markedly different than before, and that "has been a very important differentiator for the Windows business."

What differentiates Windows 7 development from that of Vista is the fact that there are fewer changes to contend with, and therefore fewer potential compatibility issues, compared with the slew of security-driven enhancements seen before. Nash said there are fewer drastic changes required this time around, thereby ensuring the investment made by third-parties with Vista "all accrues nicely with Windows 7."

Making available a pre-release for developers in late 2008 and a feature-complete beta in January served to give the development community a clearer sense of the product, said Nash. In November, 95 per cent of vendors reported that 100 per cent of their devices worked on Windows 7, and feedback following the beta release showed 94 per cent vendor compatibility.