Microsoft is currently hard at work building Windows 7, the successor of Windows Vista. The Redmond company has long shipped pre-Beta Build 6801 Milestone 3 and is now hammering away to produce the first fully fledged Beta of the operating system. At the same time, plans are being drawn for the successor of Windows 7. In this context, Microsoft is offering members of the ecosystem of software partners a chance to put in their two cents on where Windows will be headed in the future. The software giant has no less than three surveys in place, all designed for software developers that build their products on top of Windows, and which will need their solutions to run on the operating system beyond Windows 7. 

"At Microsoft we value your comments and feedback. At this moment the Windows engineering teams are conducting a listening exercise in key areas as is described below that you may want to take a look and let us know what you think," revealed Nestor Portillo, the Community Support Service regional manager for Americas and Japan.

One of the surveys comes from the Windows Application Platform team and is designed to permit developers to give Microsoft feedback related to their needs when it comes down to deploying and patching their applications. The second study, also from the Windows Application Platform team, inquires on the necessities associated with building programs that will end up either as installed locally or executed over the web. The last survey, via the Windows Feedback Program, is set up to assess the focus developers will deliver to building 64-bit applications for Windows by 2011.

The company has already referenced on numerous occasions that Windows 8 would follow Windows 7, although at this point in time it is still unclear whether the development codename will survive past RTM and make it as the final brand for the platform.

"This is an opportunity for you to tell Microsoft what you feel the needs and priorities for improving are on: how application installation and patching will work in future versions of the operating system, How web-based and stand-alone client applications will work in future versions of the operating system, how 64-bit and 32-bit applications will work in future versions of the operating system, as 64-bit PCs become increasingly prevalent," Portillo added.