While Microsoft last week began sharing some glimpse of what Windows 7 will be like once it become available, Randall Kennedy asserts that whole “MinWin” bubble burst. Windows 7 would in fact be more akin to “Windows Vista – Second Edition”: An evolutionary update that builds upon the existing NT 6.x kernel architecture as manifested in Windows Vista, Kennedy writes in The myth of MinWin and a thinner Windows 7. That’s to say that, despite the rumors and speculation, Microsoft will not be making clean break of sorts from previous versions by rewriting a new one from the ground up. “Vista is fatter all the way around, and this includes the kernel and its various outlying critical subsystems. To achieve anything close to ‘MinWin’ you’ll need to break all sorts of stuff that would render Windows essentially unusable. Which is why, despite all the fanfare and breathless pontificating, ‘MinWin’ remains an academic exercise.” Software Development