Answer me this then, what are the true requirements for windows 7 ?
haven't looked up system req yet, don't know, don't care, my system is plenty powerful, if you can run Vista you can run 7.
Have you taken into consideration that many programs are not ready for windows 7,
hmmm... take a look at this thread, plenty of apps etc already tested by site members. granted this list is short compared to all the software that is available, but it's a good start and includes a lot of the most popular. pretty much anything that runs on Vista is going to run on 7, maybe a little updating/patching for some.
Also some developers like xp alot and hating vista for alot of numorous reasons which makes them not create decent programs these days.
Only because they are either lazy and stuck in an XP world which will eventually lead them to bankruptcy. Yes XP is a great platform but won't be here for ever. Or these developers that hate vista are only there due to vista's problems and there are waiting for a solution in the form of Vista SP's (longshot) or a new OS to solve the problems before they invest a lot of resourses into new apps. They don't have much choice, as I said XP will be extinct sonner or later and if they wish to remain in business they will have to move into the win 7 or later platforms. they will also be forced to support 64bit soon, the way it's going I'm betting in 5 years (or atleast within the next 2 MS OS releases) 32 bit OS will no longer be marketed. take a look around online at the major PC/laptop manufactures, 50%+ of their inventory is 64bit OS. they are phasing out 32 bit.
to make at least windows 7 have a backward compatiblity program to use most of vista's x86 and x64 programs.
backward compatiblity is not a real issue. Vista IS the platform for 7. 7 is not a complete rebuild like it was moving from XP to Vista. see for youself, find the 7 beta build 7000, install it and check your system properties, it will say OS installed Windows Vista build 7000 same as mine.
overall the transition to 7 will be smoother than the transition to Vista was being it is the same base platform, It will not be the driver headache that Vista was. drivers etc. for Vista needed a complete rewrite / extensive updating, for 7 they will only need minor updating to be compatible with new Win 7 features and possibly remove code for Vista features that are being removed.