Microsoft has sort of timidly started to share a couple of rather anodyne details about Windows 7, the next version of the Windows client due by the end of 2009, according to the company's Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer. Christopher Flores, Director Windows Communications even made available a video demonstration of Windows 7, but it showed only what Microsoft wanted its users to see. As such, the focus was placed exclusively on Windows 7's new multi-touch and gesture technology. But the entire video for the presentation of Windows 7 at D6 - All Things Digital features additional indications about the direction the Redmond giant is heading towards with the graphical user interface of the successor of Windows Vista.

In the video segment embedded at the bottom of this article you will be able to see Julie Larson-Green, Corporate Vice President, Windows Experience Program Management, and her full presentation of Windows 7 at the D6 - All Things Digital conference. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and CEO Steve Ballmer are also featured in the video. Ballmer even manages to intervene at a certain point. Larson-Green's demo of Windows 7 is not intended to show anything else than the multi-touch and gesture natural user input model of the operating system.

However, a piece of the traditional desktop is still present, although evolved beyond what Vista delivered with the Windows Aero GUI. The Taskbar has been redesigned. It's by no means a complete overhaul, since the basic concept is still the same; however, the changes are notable. First off, the Start sphere button is completely separated from the rest of the area as is the tray icon in the right hand side corner. The new Windows 7 Taskbar is wider than the standard Taskbar for Windows Vista, and the new icons have also undergone an evolution.

Of course, Julie Larson-Green failed to utter a single word related to the new Windows 7 Taskbar. She only managed to say that "it's something we're working on Windows 7 and I'm not supposed to talk about it, not today." But, at the same time, Julie Larson-Green is responsible for the introduction of the Fluent/Ribbon graphical user interface in the Office 2007 System, so big things should be expected out of Windows 7's GUI.