Windows 7, Milestone 3

It's not a sports score, but it might be even more important to tech fans: Windows 7, Milestone 3 is the current progress "score" for Windows 7, the next generation of Windows (milestones are internal test builds used to develop and debug features before beta testing begins).

So, what's inside W7M3 (also known as Build 6780)?

Castles, a simplified version of domain control designed for home networks but pulled from Windows Vista before it went out the door, is in Windows 7 but is now called Home Groups.

PowerShell v2, aka Graphical Console, is also in the mix for scripting fans (a preview for XP and Vista users is available now).

WordPad and Paint no longer look like leftovers from Windows 3.1 - they're getting a cleaned-up version of the ribbon UI introduced in Office 2007. Here's more about what's new and different. What's the big deal? According to Softpedia, the so-called Fluent/Ribbon interface is the future of Windows and Windows apps.

It looks as if the first formal beta of Windows 7 will be launched before the end of the year, with some observers speculating  that Windows 7 might be available in final form sometime between June and September 2009. So, what do you think?

Do you like the foretaste of W7's user interface? Are you looking forward to Windows 7, or do you suspect, as InfoWorld's Randall C. Kennedy opines, that "it's doomed to failure?" Click Comment and place your bets on Windows 7's future and launch date.

Illustration based on screenshots from UXEvangelist.