Make no mistake about it, just because Microsoft continues to be extremely shy when it comes down to sharing specific details related to Windows 7 internal Builds does not mean that the operating system has not evolved since the initial Milestone 1 at the end of 2007. In fact, while the next iteration of the Windows client is yet to run as a Beta in test environments outside of Redmond, development milestones of the operating system are being tested on the machines featured in the adjacent images, courtesy of Jon DeVaan, Senior Vice President, Windows Core Operating System Division.

Microsoft has a consistent tradition of dogfooding its own products, but the computers in the two pictures are part of the Redmond company's testing infrastructure. According to DeVaan, Microsoft has managed to achieve a sufficiently high Daily Build Quality. In this context, DeVaan indicated that Windows 7 is by no means limited to the test automation infrastructure.

“For Windows 7 we have largely succeeded at keeping the build at a high level of quality every day. While we have occasional breaks as we integrate the work of all the developers, the automation allows us to find and repair any issues and issue a high quality build virtually every day. I have been using Windows 7 for my daily life since the start of the project with relatively few difficulties. (I know many folks are anxious to join me in using Windows 7 builds every day - hang in there!),” DeVaan added.

The strong focus on a high daily build quality level is intimately connected with the overall quality of the RTM version of Windows 7. This is why the new testing infrastructure for Windows 7 permits the code submitted by feature teams to be verified before being integrated into the daily build of the client.

“One of the best ways we can address these is by better day-to-day management of the engineering of the Windows 7 code base - or the daily build quality. We have taken many concrete steps to improve how we manage the project so that we do much better on this dimension,” DeVaan added.