When it was made available in November 2006 and in January 2007, Windows Vista brought to the table a plethora of editions, some of which will survive with the next iterations of the Windows client. But one SKU that was officially confirmed by Microsoft for Windows 7, and even Windows 8, is Enterprise. Out of all the editions of the Windows client, Enterprise is available only to a select crowd of users, namely volume license customers, who also own Software Assurance.

With Windows 7 and Windows 8, the Redmond company is continuing its focus on the enterprise segment. According to the software giant, Software Assurance is nothing short of a smashing success. During the Financial Analyst Meeting 2008 the past week, Bill Veghte, Senior Vice President, Online Services & Windows Business Group, indicated that the renewal rates for Software Assurance customers exceeded 80%.

In this context, Microsoft's continued commitment to the corporate environment and Software Assurance customers with Windows 7 Enterprise and Windows 8 Enterprise SKUs comes as a response to what the company claims to be "over 34 million PC end-users already licensed to deploy." Of course that not all the 34 million machines will see Windows 7 Enterprise, as some will be migrated to Vista Enterprise.

Microsoft is even looking for a new Senior Product Manager to take care of the product management work for Windows Enterprise. "The Senior Product Manager will be the Windows Vista and future versions of Windows, Enterprise SKU owner responsible for supporting the current launch and developing the future value proposition for the next release. You will also own the Vista/future versions of Windows Enterprise value proposition targeting enterprise customers that have yet to license the Enterprise SKU," the company revealed.

Microsoft is just shaping the next Enterprise SKUs beyond Windows Vista and, while details are scarce at this point in time, it is likely that the editions will follow in the same line as what is available today.