Next month at Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles, Microsoft will give attendees a pre-beta version of Windows 7, the successor to Windows Vista that's slated for release in late 2009.
Microsoft, in a Wednesday post to its PDC 2008 Website, said it plans to use the event to highlight its progress on the Windows 7 kernel, networking, hardware and devices, and user interface.
The event will include keynotes by Steven Sinofsky, senior vice president of the Windows and Windows Live Engineering Group, and David Treadwell, corporate vice president of Live Platform Services, Microsoft noted.
"At this year's PDC, keynote attendees will be among the first to receive the pre-beta build of Windows 7," and the event will also include 21 different Windows 7 related sessions, Microsoft said in the post.
Microsoft traditionally schedules the PDC whenever it reaches a critical mass of momentum and coming technology to offer developers a sneak preview of what's coming down the road, and PDC 2008 will be the first since September 2005. Microsoft in late 2006 announced plans for a 2007 PDC, but cancelled it the following May.
Microsoft has said that Windows 7 will include multi-touch powered tools for editing and arranging digital photos, as well as interactive mapping applications similar to the Concierge offering developed by Microsoft's Surface team.
However, the software giant hasn't offered much in the way of additional information on Windows 7 features and functionality, so it's a good bet that developers will be chomping at the bit to get their hands on the pre-beta release at PDC.
