How will Windows 7 be programmed? Will .NET still be king?

Question

With Windows 7 due to be released at the end of 2009, what changes should we expect? What impact will Windows 7 have on the industry? Are we still going to be using .NET (3.5?) to program Windows? Where does 64-bit figure in all this?

We'll definitely be able to use Java for 64-bit stuff, but how is Microsoft going to have us making native 64-bit Windows applications?

Answer 1

IMO, Windows 7 is a better OS than Vista - a much better user experience; but from a coding perspective I'm not sure it will make a big difference.

A better question would probably be related to (for example) the impact of .NET 4.0, Visual Studio 2010 or Silverlight 3.0. And in answer; .NET 4.0 introduces much better (read: easier) support for multi-core programming. This is a big help, given the CPU changes.

Answer 2

Call me old-fashioned, but I'll still be using C/C++ to make both 32-bit and 64-bit applications, just as I have been for years. Windows 7 won't make a big difference to that.