Dell Computer announced last week that it is ready for Windows 7’s impending release by making available Windows 7 drivers for its commercial desktop and laptop product lines. The company also says that it will release additional drivers in the next several weeks in anticipation of the commercial release of Windows 7.

Microsoft Gets Its Windows 7 Ducks In A Row

Microsoft announced that it had finished development on the release last month and shipped the final version of the OS to OEMs earlier this month. Volume licensing customers with Software Assurance already have access to Windows 7, and volume licensers without software assurance will get access to the new OS on September 1.

Dell’s driver releases are seen as critical to the success of the Windows 7 launch. OEMs, including Dell, were slow to produce drivers for Windows Vista, which was initially released in January 2007. Dell also helped spearhead the drive to keep Windows XP alive, at least for its commercial customers. Windows diehards will be able to purchase downgrade rights to XP for a short period after Windows 7 is released. Volume Licensing customers can load any version of the operating system, including Windows XP.

Making a good showing in the commercial computing market is one of Microsoft’s goals with the release of Windows 7. Accompanying Windows 7 to the marketplace will be Windows Server 2008. The most compelling feature in the Windows Server 2008 release is its ability to make Windows 7 play nice in the enterprise environment. Windows Vista never quite got along with Windows Server 2003’s Active Directory implementation and many enterprise customers skipped the Vista release because of it.

With Windows XP approaching its eighth birthday, ancient history in computer time, Microsoft is hoping that the Windows Server 2008 revamp will incent enterprise users enough to make the simultaneous switch from its vintage Windows products to something a little fresher.

With Dell loaded into the starting gate, Microsoft is expecting other hardware manufacturers to fall in line when it comes to producing Windows 7-compatible drivers in a timely way. The company is already threatening to pull its Vista-compatible imprimatur from hardware manufacturers that don’t come across with Vista-compatible drivers by October 22.
In all, the Windows 7 beta release has proven itself to be more stable than its predecessors and appears to deliver better performance in most circumstances. Nonetheless, Microsoft isn’t going to risk a dud release and is eliminating as many gotchas as possible prior to October 22.

Photo Credit: Mike Browne, via Flickr