papa-bear

too bad none of my computers at home will run it (that's what I get for working on 400Mhz Pentuim II boxes.

JulianW

Microsoft delays launch of Vista

Now arriving 2007...


Microsoft plans to delay the consumer launch of its much-anticipated Windows Vista operating system to January 2007.
It had originally aimed to launch Vista - the first major update since Windows XP was introduced five years ago - in the second half of 2006.
Now, a version will be available for corporate customers from November 2006.
Vista will then be rolled out for consumers after the holiday shopping season, said a spokesman for Microsoft - the world's biggest software maker.
But analysts said this could throw some PC manufacturers and retailers into turmoil.
"It's not the optimal situation, to be launching the next-generation version of Windows right after the big holiday sales season," said analyst Joe Wilcox at Jupiter Research.
Efforts to improve security in the new system were largely behind the delay, Microsoft said.

Six versions
Microsoft is planning six versions of the next incarnation of its Windows operating system.
Three versions of the software, called Vista, will be for home users, two will be for businesses and one will be for emerging markets.
Vista, which was known as Longhorn during its long development, is a major re-working of Windows that makes changes, among other things, to the way the operating system looks and how it handles networking and sound.
Microsoft said the six versions were designed to match the demands different users have for its software.
No details have been given about the pricing of the separate versions. When Vista eventually hits the market it will be the longest gap between releases of Windows systems.

MSYoung

Before I jump on the Vista bandwagon, I want to see how they deal with DRM (Digital Rights Management). They claim it will make it easier to burn CD's, but I wonder if that is true.

One of the things I like to do is compile my own CD collections. As we all know, when you buy a CD there is usually no more than one song on it that is worth listening to. And CDs only come with a dozen songs on them anyway, when there is capacity for nearly twice that many. When I have acquired enough CDs I sit down at my computer and burn the songs I want to listen to, to another CD.

Hasn't been a problem yet but full enforcement of DRM will make what I do impossible (it is already illegal, technically), unless I want to become a pirate. I need to see what Vista will do before I buy it.

__________________
Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

Marty

JulianW

Neelie Kroes wants more information from Microsoft

The European Union (EU) has written to Microsoft to state its anti-competition concerns about the US giant's new operating system. EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes is worried that the forthcoming Windows Vista system will not offer customers a real software choice.
Yet the letter does not mean the start of a formal inquiry, and Ms Kroes is responding to a query from Microsoft.
Microsoft had asked EU regulators to set out any Vista concerns it may have.
Separate case
"We're concerned about the possibility that the next Vista operating system will include various elements which are currently available separately either from Microsoft or other companies," said EU competition spokesman Jonathan Todd.
Microsoft has delayed the main Vista launch until next year


He added that Ms Kroes and her department were highlighting Vista's integrated internet search, digital rights management and documents software as key areas of concern.
"We assume that Microsoft has its own interests at heart," said Mr Todd.
"It wants to launch another product without having to worry about the Commission instituting various actions under anti-trust law."
The EU's look at Vista is entirely separate from its continuing legal dispute with Microsoft over Brussels' 2004 anti-competition ruling against the US giant.
Brussels has since accused Microsoft of dragging its feet over implementing its call for the firm to open up its software systems to rivals - something Microsoft denies.
Delays mean the launch of the main consumer version of Vista will not now take place until early next year.