Industry insiders say that the question now is not "Is Vista dead?". The real question is whether Microsoft can release Windows 7 in time to save its dominance in the desktop computer field? Insiders believe that Microsoft "might" succeed. Here are the reasons: Vista is dead. However, what Bill Gates, Microsoft's chairman, said at a conference on corporate philanthropy in Miami on April 4 this year was not "Vista is dead." But it might as well be. In fact, Gates actually said that the next version of the Windows desktop operating system, Windows 7, will be released within the next two years.