And the new name is ... Windows 7

Last week I wondered whether the product currently code-named Windows 7 would get a new name for its release.

The answer, made official a few minutes ago, is no. In a post at the official Windows Vista Team Blog, Microsoft VP Mike Nash announced that Windows 7 will in fact be the final name:

While I know there have been a few cases at Microsoft when the codename of a product was used for the final release, I am pretty sure that this is a first for Windows. You might wonder about the decision.

The decision to use the name Windows 7 is about simplicity. Over the years, we have taken different approaches to naming Windows.  We've used version numbers like Windows 3.11, or dates like Windows 98, or "aspirational" monikers like Windows XP or Windows Vista.  And since we do not ship new versions of Windows every year, using a date did not make sense.  Likewise, coming up with an all-new "aspirational" name does not do justice to what we are trying to achieve, which is to stay firmly rooted in our aspirations for Windows Vista, while evolving and refining the substantial investments in platform technology in Windows Vista into the next generation of Windows.

For the 15% or so who picked this as your entry in my poll, congrats. You get bragging rights for at least the next two weeks.

Update: A few people are wondering how you get to "the seventh version" and thus qualify for the Windows 7 moniker. I don't know the answer definitively, but can easily get to that point if I count only members of the NT family with numbers attached to their names: Windows NT 3.1 (yep, that was the very first release), 3.5, 4.0, 2000, XP, Vista. That's six, making the next release number 7. If you try to count using the consumer versions from the Windows 9X family (or the barely usable Windows 1 and 2 releases), you'll quickly go mad.