Windows 8 "within three years"
With Windows 7 out the door, TechRadar asked Curran whether the team had already started to transition across to work on Windows 8.
"We manage over a lifecycle; we try to have a predictable launch rhythm with Windows," Curran says. "We committed to that going into Vista and coming out of Vista, we said that we would launch within three years. Obviously, we beat those milestones by a healthy margin – January 2007 to October of this year.
"Our development team continues to have the focus on making sure that we continue with that, and that we are delivering great products. Some are still wrapping up the last aspects of post mortems and everything on Windows 7. Others have already, or continue to be, focussed on Windows 8.
"We continue to try to drive towards a very predictable release pattern that people can have confidence in and plan their IT investment around.
"Our focus and our belief is that obviously it continues to be a very competitive marketplace and one of the things that truly sets the Windows platform apart is the strong track record over the last couple of decades for product innovation.
"So we're really excited about a truly great release with Windows 7 and then we'll be looking forward to an even more fantastic version in Windows 8 within the next three years."
