Microsoft has announced the successor to its Windows Vista operating system, named Windows 7. Further details, previews and copies for developers were released at Microsoft Professional Developers Conference (PDC), with many new features and functionality announced – analyst Al Gillen told TechNewsWorld to think of it as “an improved version of Windows Vista”, while CNET says Microsoft is aiming to leave a very different impression to what it did with the previous version of Windows.

So what exactly will be new in Windows 7? A plethora of interface tweaks with a re-styled taskbar; new interface concepts including much better touch-screen and gesture support. Microsoft are also targeting so-called “netbooks”, hardly any of which run Windows Vista due to its system requirements, with a lightweight edition specifically designed for the platform. For additional information on all the new features, check out this great series on PC Pro; to watch the keynote presentations from PDC yourself, visit the Microsoft PDC website.