A first glimpse at the technology inside the next version of Windows will be given in October.

Microsoft has said that engineering information about Windows 7 will be shared with attendees at two technical conferences it runs.

Windows 7 developers will show off their work at both the Professional Developers Conference and the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference.

Based on Vista, Windows 7 is expected to be released in January 2010.

The announcement about the unveiling was made on a new Windows 7 blog written by engineers putting the software together.

Before now details about Windows 7 have been scant. Writing on the blog the two senior engineers on the project, Jon DeVaan and Steven Sinofsky, said this was because Microsoft did not want to talk up features that never make it to the final product.

It was also wary, it said, of talking about features and technologies in a way that would cause confusion among its partners.

Microsoft has also been reluctant to talk about Windows 7 as it continues to promote Windows Vista as its flagship operating system.

What is known about Windows 7 is that it will use components from Vista at its core and that it will have a touch interface that, with the appropriate screen, can recognise gestures to complete tasks.

For instance pinching the screen could be used to close documents or manipulate images.

Industry experts have speculated that Windows 7 will also have more virtualisation technologies onboard as well as tools that make it easier for people to get at their data and programs as they use different machines.