In October, hoping to reduce expectations in advance of Windows 7's launch, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer noted that Windows Vista also received favorable reviews from testers prior to its launch. "I am optimistic," he told Bloomberg News in an interview about Windows 7, "but the proof will be in the pudding."

It's now more than one month since Windows 7's Oct. 22 debut, and that pudding is worth a closer look. That's because, at this point in Windows Vista's life cycle, there were clear signs of widespread problems. "Vista glitches frustrate first-wave users," was the headline on a Feb. 20, 2007, article in Newsday -- detailing what would turn out to be a rash of hardware and software compatibility problems.

So far, at least, Windows 7 seems to have avoided that type of debacle.

Of course, success is more than the avoidance of failure. And the upgrade to Windows 7 hasn't been without complication, particularly for people moving from Windows XP, or for students participating in Microsoft's discounted upgrade program. Windows 7 also hasn't gone unscathed from a security standpoint.

But sales of the new OS appear to be strong so far, and favorable comments still outweigh complaints in the "Windows 7" Twitter search that I've been checking regularly during the month since the launch. I also haven't been hearing the types of complaints that I frequently did in Windows Vista's early days.

In fact, the biggest Windows 7 controversy so far has involved not the new operating system's performance, but the revelation that the National Security Agency worked with Microsoft and the Department of Defense to leverage its "unique expertise and operational knowledge of system threats and vulnerabilities to enhance Microsoft's operating system security guide," as an NSA official told a U.S. Senate subcommittee.

Understandably, that comment raised speculation and concerns that the NSA would be able to eavesdrop on Windows 7 users through a technological "backdoor" -- which Microsoft subsequently denied.

So what's next? Microsoft has started to hint about the next version of Windows Server coming in 2012, raising speculation about the timing of Windows 8 for PCs. But so far, at least, Microsoft's Windows president Steven Sinofsky isn't tipping his hand at all -- which means that the recipe for the next Windows will remain secret while people decide if they really like the one Microsoft just put on their plate.