Windows 7 goes gold

So the final major milestone (aside from that 22 October release date) has been reached: Windows 7 has been released to manufacturing. It has, in short, gone gold.

The final nail in Vista’s coffin – here’s hoping – has been tweaked, prodded, and streamlined in recent months, and it’s now in a state ready to hit retailers in the autumn. News of the RTM milestone was revealed at Microsoft’s internal Microsoft Global Exchange (MGX) conference overnight in Atlanta, Georgia, with suitable shouts and screams and excitement...from Steve Ballmer.

Anyway.

Windows 7 has continued to impress me; aside from the video driver problem, it hasn’t crashed a single time, and is far more responsive than its immediate predecessor. Besides just being a robust and reliable OS, there are plenty of neat touches to the interface. For instance, the inclusion of the snap function is so obvious and instantly intuitive; you just have to wonder why Microsoft hadn’t added it in the past!

All eyes will now be on the release date, and the initial response from users that haven’t yet spent time with Windows 7. Does the implementation of XP mode alleviate the compatibility issues Vista faced on its release?

And will there be a Service Pack 1?

Once Win 7 hits retails, Office 10 will no doubt continue to step into the limelight. Its 2010 launch, coupled with the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint web applications marks the latest fight back for Microsoft, as Redmond continues to fight Google on a war with many fronts.

Let the battle continue!