Microsoft has also realized that better documentation of development changes through sites like TechNet help drive transparency.

Nash said Microsoft wants developers to treat the beta the way they used to treat release candidates, and treat the release candidate the way they used to treat the final product. "We've had to earn the right to ask the ecosystem to do that ... we have earned the right by having a very different approach to our planning process, being much more predictable and driving significantly less churn late in the game."

Eric Sugar, manager of business solutions with Toronto-based ProServe IT, an IT consultancy that runs internal custom-developed applications on Windows 7 beta, agreed that Microsoft's different approach this time around is making it easier for partners, and that the development community is taking advantage of that. "We even found that we were engaged earlier and more often as releases and changes came out to help keep us in the loop and to help make things smoother," said Sugar.

The changes will benefit the final product release, said Sugar, in that it will not be a repeat of the Vista launch. "I believe we should see a lot less (compatibility issues). Partners should be working toward that goal of having things run on Windows 7 today, so when (general availability) happens, it's ready," he said.

Michael Cherry, research vice-president of operating systems with Kirkland, Wash.-based research firm Directions on Microsoft, said the development community has better transparency regarding a ship date this time, allowing them the confidence to start their compatibility testing earlier. "(Microsoft) had a lot of difficulty communicating when it would actually ship Vista," said Cherry. "As a consequence, vendors had lost faith, so instead of doing a lot of work to time with a ship date that was a moving target, they waited until they had final code."