There have been quite a few rumors and some compelling logical arguments put forth which have combined to indicate the release of the next version of Windows (widely referred to as "Windows 7") will come sooner rather than later... perhaps as soon as next year. This makes 7 more XP to 2000 than Vista to XP, and has prompted many observers, including myself, to urge an indefinite delay in Vista adoption in favor of checking out the next revision and potentially saving both money and hassle in the upgrade process.

I've made this recommendation on pretty thin evidence; a few slips of the tongue, some basic mindreading, the usual. But now there's another similarly thin rumor flying around which can either substantiate the idea or not: Long Zheng reports that someone has tipped him that WIndows 7 will put in a debut appearance at the All Things Digital Conference coming up next week.

The linked blog entry provides some rational for the rumor, but it is just a rumor, and nothing else has indicated that such a thing is likely. If it does happen, however, it may be a positive sign that 7 is will on track and Microsoft is feeling confident enough to start drumming up a little quiet thunder (nothing to impact Vista sales, mind you; if I have a reason to doubt the rumor, it's that Microsoft still needs to push Vista hard, at least by their own logic, until the last possible minute even if they do deliver 7 next year) to prove something viable is coming, soon, to sate those wide swaths of customers who are clamoring to keep XP rather than move to Vista.