Microsoft set to reveal Windows 7

Microsoft has announced that it will showcase Windows 7, its new operating system, in October.

Developers at the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington have so far kept tight-lipped as to what surfers can expect from the new OS.

"The Professional Developers Conference on 27 October and the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference the following week both represent the first venues where we will provide in-depth technical information about Windows 7," Microsoft said on the Engineering Windows 7 blog.

This marks a change from last year's launch of Windows Vista, the details of which were widely reported before its release.

One feature which has been touted is the multi-touch interface, designed to improve interaction with different Windows-based applications.

Former Microsoft chairman Bill Gates gave a demonstration of the multi-touch technology which lets users drag and drop, zoom in and rotate Desktop applications similar to the technology Apple's iPhone utilises.

The first real glimpse of the new operating system will come in October, but it won't hit the shelves until 2010, three years after the release of Vista.

www.microsoft.com