Although Microsoft earlier this year had been maintaining that we’d not see Windows 7 until 2010, most Redmond watchers kind of figured out a long time ago that the company had for all intents and purposes given up on Windows Vista.

We reported earlier this week that even two years after release, Vista is running on about 20 percent of computers according to Net Applications. By contrast, Windows XP is running on over three times as many. So, by that measure Vista has not been a success at all.

However, in a (possibly inadvertent) comment posted to his personal web log on MSDN, Southeast District Architect Evangelist Chad Brooks says that the company is guessing that Windows 7 Beta 1 will probably be out by the January 13th.

That will be an exciting week — on the 13th, a new version of Windows, and the following Tuesday, a new president of the United States. Talk about change! But I do digress…

Two prominent Microsoft bloggers in the past week or so have stepped out and voiced concerns over what they see as the increasing Mac-like feel of Windows 7. Paul Thurrott has blogged on his concerns that Microsoft doesn’t understand “simple” and “easy,” and says it’s copying the worst of Mac OS, while meanwhile my good friend Mary Jo Foley has made an impassioned plea to the Microsoft team to keep the Windows in Windows 7.

While I agree with Thurrott’s general premise that Microsoft really doesn’t understand how to do things in a simple manner, and with Mary Jo that maybe Windows 7 is a little too much like the Mac, I firmly believe that Windows users stand to gain far more than they would lose.

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As both WinHEC and PDC 2008 move ever closer, talk among Microsofties has increasingly turned to Windows 7. Specifically, talk among bloggers has begun to focus on whether Microsoft will continue what it began with Vista by segmenting Windows into (arguably too many) various editions.

Let’s look at Vista as is stands now. Five seperate editions round out the line — Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, and Enterprise. A sixth, Windows Vista Starter, is aimed at developing markets.

The launch of Vista changed Microsoft’s previous policy of having a single operating system for consumers, expanding it to three seperate editions. Microsoft’s decision became instant fodder for Apple, which used the somewhat confusing offering in its highly popular Mac vs. PC ads.

Was this a wise move? Probably not. If you picked the Basic version, you basically got a reskinned version of XP with security enhancements. In order to get the “full” Vista experience, the Premium edition was necessary. Microsoft’s own chart clearly shows how hobbled Basic is when compared to the other editions.

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