- Rob Bushway

Todd Bishop, of SeattlePI.com, is reporting that the next version of Windows, codenamed Windows 7, is due out in three years. This information is coming from an internal sales meeting held at Redmond this past week.

Most of the other information is stuff that has been previously reported: 32 bit and 64 bit for both consumers and business, along with a more predictable release schedule, and the desire to deliver more than just the OS, like subscriptions.

Read more at Todd Bishop's blog.

At an internal meeting for its sales force this week, Microsoft confirmed the code name and approximate timing for Windows Vista's successor. The details, such as they are, aren't a huge surprise, but given the dearth of information from Microsoft on its next PC operating system, any confirmation seems notable.

According to a series of PowerPoint slides presented at the company's internal "MGX" global sales meeting this week, the new version is, as expected, known by the internal name "Windows 7," and it's due out in approximately three years.