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?

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 12 '09 at 20:19

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.

score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 12 '09 at 20:18

5

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.

answered Jul 12 '09 at 20:18

RichieHindle

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May I ask why? Is it because it's what you are used to, or does it have some sort of advantage? – cwap Jul 13 '09 at 07:30
@Meeh: Building products that are portable between lots of platforms (not just Windows). On-going development of well-established products written in C/C++. – RichieHindle Jul 13 '09 at 07:58
On-going development is one thing, another thing is to build a GUI C++ app from scratch. Why not use Java for portability? :) – cwap Jul 13 '09 at 08:38

score 4 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 12 '09 at 20:18

4

.NET Framework has supported native 64 bit JIT for a long time. You can take advantage of it just by running your .NET binaries on an x64 system (unless they are explicitly marked as x86 only).

answered Jul 12 '09 at 20:18

Mehrdad Afshari

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score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 12 '09 at 20:19

3

I'll continue to write Windows 7 applications in C. Microsoft has supported 64-bit applications in the SDK for more than five years now.

answered Jul 12 '09 at 20:19

Martin v. Löwis

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score 2 · Answer 5 · edited Nov 18 '09 at 20:43

For Windows-programming, you will still use .NET without any notifiable difference (maybe you will design your user interface a little different to blend into Windows 7). Windows 7 supports XP and Vista mode quite good, so your MFC/ATL/whatever C++ applications should still work, but there's not really any reason to create GUI applications in C++ anymore :)

So, in short, you won't really feel any difference..

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

5 Answers5