Windows 7 just went out the door, and already Microsoft is looking toward Windows 8.

At a recent software developer's conference, reports the website Australian Personal Computer, Microsoft laid out a preliminary roadmap for the successor to Windows 7. Codenamed "Windows 8", a slide from the conference shows a tentative launch year of 2012, making it about three years between Windows 7 and 8. (Note that a codename is a temporary name for a product in development. In most cases, the name changes; in the case of Windows 7, it didn't).

Whether Microsoft hits that target date, however, is another matter entirely. The company is very hit-and-miss about timelines established so far in advance. If Windows 7 ends up being a huge success, it wouldn't surprise me to see a new version of Windows delayed; there would be no great urgency to erase the memories of the last operating system, as happened with Windows Vista.

I recently told you about the increased battery life Windows 7 gave my laptop. Some, however, are claiming that Windows 7 has the opposite effect on netbooks, those teensy-weensy notebooks that are all the rage right now.

Laptop Magazine ran some battery tests on netbooks, and found that Windows 7 battery life was significantly worse for three different models than Windows XP. In two cases, the batteries lasted about an hour less. That's big. The magazine's conclusion?

"In the case of the NB205, the difference in our test was small enough not to matter, especially given that you're still getting over 8 hours of juice. But on a system like the Eee PC 1008HA and Mini 311,  the loss of about an hour is significant."

I would have to agree. The magazine did conclude that on standard laptops and desktops, Windows 7 provided more battery life.

One thing I've asked the magazine to clarify is what version of Windows 7 it used for the tests. I don't know if there would be a difference between Windows 7 Starter, made specifically for netbooks, or a regular version, like Windows 7 Home Premium. I'll update this when I hear back.

Windows Home Server, Microsoft's tool for managing a home network of computers, has been updated with Power Pack 3, which includes an update for Windows 7.

Home server provides a central repository for files, including documents, pictures, music and so on. Those files can be shared among multiple computers on the home network. This latest version will be automatically installed if you have automatic updating turned on and are running Power Pack 2. In addition to working with Windows 7 computers, Power Pack 3 also adds improvements for Windows Media Player and better integration for netbooks.

Power Pack 3 is free. If you have a Windows 7 computer(s) now, or have bought a netbook recently, the upgrade is well worth it.

There are many reasons Windows XP, as great an operating system as it's been, falls well short of Windows 7. I've listed five of them in this article.

I left out one of the primary reasons -- the Windows 7 Taskbar. That's because I cover it here.

Let me know your reasons for wanting, or using, Windows 7 instead of XP -- or, if you feel so inclined, tell me why I'm wrong.

I was traveling on business all day yesterday, and did a little experiment with my laptop as it relates to Windows 7 battery life.

On the long leg of my flight -- four-and-a-half hours from Las Vegas to Baltimore -- I put in a DVD, set my battery to "Power Saver" mode within Windows 7, and kicked off the movie.

The movie itself was two hours and 38 minutes, and ran continuously. At the end, there was anywhere between 10-20 minutes of battery life left. So on Power Saver mode, I had about three hours' battery life; not bad at all, considering that playing a DVD is a continuous drain on resources. There are no breaks for the CPU to take a breather.

There are no big pronouncements here, just an indication that Windows 7 manages power well.

Microsoft relied on mountains of user feedback as it was building Windows 7, its newest operating system.

Steven Sinofsky, a senior Microsoft executive in charge of Windows development, spoke at a software developer's conference about how important it was to hear from users, and how their input shaped Windows 7.

For instance, feedback was sent from users to Microsoft 1.7 million times on various Windows 7 issues. In addition, Microsoft got information back from 10 million Windows error reports. All that data resulted in 4,753 code changes that were driven by error features, Sinofsky said. That means Windows 7 was significantly modified during its development, to make sure it was stable and as useful as possible.

"We learned from the data how people use the product," Sinofsky said. I think it shows in how well Windows 7 works. What do you think? Tell me what you like most (and least) about Windows 7.

Microsoft is claiming that the newer generation of 64-bit computers running Windows is safer than 32-bit versions.

The blog entry states that there is less "malware" -- bad stuff like viruses and worms -- out there attacking 64-bit computers. 64-bit is found mostly on newer hardware (a more detailed discussion of the differences between the two types can be found here.)

If you bought a new computer with Windows 7 on it, chances are good that it's a 64-bit machine. If that's the case, you should be more safe than those running previous Windows versions, including XP and Vista. Here's how the blog writer summed it up:

"Overall, 64-bit malware is still exceedingly rare in the wild, and the additional protections built into 64-bit Windows will make it harder for malware to make the 64-bit jump that's easy for PC users with Windows 7."

That does not mean your computer is invulnerable; just that it's less likely, at least at present, to be attacked. Learn how to protect your PC on About.com's antivirus site.

Have you ever wanted to have a Coke background and Coke-specific sounds on your computer? How about Ferrari? Well, Microsoft has made it possible by selling "themes" for Windows 7.

According to this Computerworld story, Microsoft is allowing companies to build themes -- collections of backgrounds, sounds, borders and so on -- that will make your Windows 7 experience more like an Ducati experience, for example.

Note that you won't automatically get these themes somehow pushed to you without your agreement; you need to visit Microsoft's site for that and download each theme. I must admit, that as a wannabe Boxster owner (although probably never a real Boxster owner), this is pretty appealing.

I have a new article up about a netbook-only version of Windows 7, called Windows 7 Starter Edition. This version of Windows 7 is causing some controversy among pundits and others. Some, like Mary Jo Foley, say it's a good option (as do I in my article) as long as you're aware of its limitations.

Others don't like it at all. But I'm interested in your opinion of Windows 7 Starter. Would the lack of features put you off, or would you rather go with a new operating system rather than one that's eight years old, like Windows XP? It's a good question, and I'm anxious to know about. Email me your thoughts if you've used Windows 7 Starter or are considering it, or comment below.

I received an email last night from a reader who's been getting bad information. She said she has more than one PC and wanted to upgrade to the Windows 7 Family Pack, which has three licensed copies of Windows 7 for $149.99.

She's gone to a number of different stores and was told that no such product exists; she would have to buy three individual products, she learned. That's just bogus information. I gave her this link to the product on Amazon.com. It's also available at PriceGrabber.com, Best Buy and numerous other retailers.

I don't know if the salespeople are just uninformed or intentionally trying to rip her off. But if this happens to you, don't believe what they're telling you.