Steven Sinofsky, senior vice president for Windows, likes to joke that seven is a magical number in human psychology and it is therefore appropriate that Windows 7 is all about making information easier for humans to deal with.

Microsoft is certainly hoping the man who built Office into a ubiquitous business tool will pull a rabbit out of the hat with Windows 7 after the disappointing reception of Windows Vista. The company has also learned from the long and very public saga of developing Windows Vista. This time it has kept its plans very quiet until this week’s Professional Developer Conference, where software developers were the first to see the new version of Windows.