At WinHEC, Microsoft CEO said Vista might be pushed back a few weeks, depending on the feedback received on Vista Beta 2. “We think we are on track for shipping early in [2007],” the Microsoft CEO said. “We’ve talked about the month, but we get a chance to critically assess all of the feedback we’ll get from this beta release then confirm or move [the launch date] a few weeks. We put the beta out today… So we should start getting feedback right away.” Other than that, Bill Gates said Microsoft will focus its products on 64bit, starting later this year.
OMG nobody expected a delay – hey chill MS – were used to it
Vista is the never here OS
Heh, first it was known as Longhorn, now Vista, next Windows Forever.
And put WinFS back in. I realize that most Linux users look forward to major new kernel & distro releases like they were the second coming of Christ, but since most of us Windows users are more ‘application-centric’, a new OS release is no big deal.
Nope, most Windows users want the latest and greatest. When I deal with the public and ask them the system they use, most boast, “Oh I use XP”, and it is a really loud boast when they say ” I use XP Professional”. Even if it is for browsing the web and sending emails. These same people mutter embarrassingly if they are using Windows 2000 or Windows ME, and if they use 98 or 95, they get someone else to phone.
Windows users will have a choice when Vista comes out, but most of them will want the top of the range, bells and whistles version.
If they buy a new PC and get the basic version, they will just go and download the top of the range on anyway.
Same old story.
These same people make big mistakes when they come over to Linux land, they think the newer the number, the better the software, even though the newest number is an alpha !
Nope, most Windows users want the latest and greatest. When I deal with the public and ask them the system they use, most boast, “Oh I use XP”, and it is a really loud boast when they say ” I use XP Professional”.
You should find out how many of these people are actually pissed that Windows Vista has been delayed this long
Windows users will have a choice when Vista comes out, but most of them will want the top of the range, bells and whistles version.
If that were true, wouldn’t everybody who’s currently running XP Home have upgraded to XP Pro? Hell, I still run XP Home on my main workhorse.
“If that were true, wouldn’t everybody who’s currently running XP Home have upgraded to XP Pro? Hell, I still run XP Home on my main workhorse.”
I’ve personally seen more than my share of people who equate the level of the Windows license (not necessarily purchased btw) with the size of their genitals. But for the most part people care more about version number than the edition of that same version. And yes, Windows users do tend to jump on the upgrade bandwagon en masse; when I was living in Newfoundland people would go beyond upgrading their software instead opting to buy a new computer with every new Windows release.
Most people running XP Home don’t even know about XP Pro. And if they know about it, they’ll be just as afraid of migrating to XP Pro as they would be of migrating to GNU/Linux.
I’m afraid most people are afraid of computers, rather than feeling in control of them.
So what? Big deal…
Shift toward 64bit-only arch IS a big deal. That should be the news and delay… just a propos.
MS always rolls out product in this way. There is a lot of hype and many missing pieces and all kinds of serious bugs. Everyone should know the drill by now: wait for service pack two before you actually use it. 😉
*cough*2008*cough*
Will Vista ever come out? Apple will be on the way to delivery 10.5 which will shame Vista outright. There was a time I thought Vista rocked and it was going to be a great system, but after all these delays, feature cut down Vista is very dissapointing its little more than Windows XP with special FX with one or 2 extra features on it.. I work with Windows 2000 and that has all the features for a work enviorement and XP is enough for PC games (even though ill rather use an Xbox or a PS2) Vista is turning out to be very dissapointing. No im not just saying it, I have honestly tried to give Vista a chance i really have but its not working anymore… i think i stick with Apple at least they’re making a system that will help our lifes rather than an upgrade for the sake of doing it. By this point it be Windows Vista SP 2 before we see any worthwhile upgrading…
People will get sicked and tired of MS products because they’re not delivery anymore. XP was worth the upgrade I cant see the upgrade value in vista yet…please understand im not having a bash or trolling if you read my past posts I have tried to give it a chance but Im very dissapointed in Vista now.
Regarding Apple…
If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, did it really fall?
it’s ‘does it make a noise’…
And the answer is “yes”.
The fact nobody heard the sound, does not mean the sound wasn’t there.
Noise is a physical phenomenon, and exists whether or not people hear it.
Why, yes.
I get your point and there is some truth. At the same time, it’s just funny that people will scream “Wow, look at all these NEW features/innovations!” when others have been using then for a while. The only thing that really stand out to me is the secure path for digital content. While it looks quite robust, it’s not something I’m excited about.
Will probably get it since I like to tinker with OSes (and, most importantly, because it’s likely we’re going to get it for free, thanks to our MSDNAA) but it doesn’t look like at all like the revolution they announced. Like claiming a whole forest is going to go down, but it ends up to be a lone tree…
XP was worth the upgrade I cant see the upgrade value in vista yet…please understand im not having a bash or trolling if you read my past posts I have tried to give it a chance but Im very dissapointed in Vista now.
Actually, research by the Royal Swedish Institute of Technology and the Swiss ETH have shown that people are less effective doing common office tasks using XP than using software from y2k.
How Vista will affect productivity remains to be seen, to make an upgrade profitable it will need to increase the effectiveness of the personnel using it quite a bit, as the cost of training, installation, and validation perhaps followed by upgrades of hardware and third party software will be quite high in most companies.
Apple will be on the way to delivery 10.5 which will shame Vista outright.
It will? I thought Apple was going to start talking about 10.5 in August, and until then there isn’t anything really known about it.
So how can you know that OS X 10.5 will “shame Vista outright”?
So how can you know that OS X 10.5 will “shame Vista outright”?
Because 10.4 does.
Seeing as it took Apple 10 years to write/steal/buy MacOS X, you’re looking a bit black, eh kettle?
I think I’m OK with “just an update of XP”. But maybe I shouldn’t say that out loud…
I agree with you about a simple XP upgrade. It would have been nice to have XP stay the same but come with a better firewall and some enhanced security and maybe the fancy window transparency stuff. I could have lived with that. Oh and also an upgrade to Explorer with tabs and other cool Firefox-like features. The memory requirements for Vista are too high for my current system which runs XP well. Fortunately I have a dual boot with Fedora 5 so I have been using Fedora a lot more and get excellent performance with 512 MB RAM and a old 1 gig hz Athlon cpu.
Edited 2006-05-25 00:06
Oh and also an upgrade to Explorer with tabs and other cool Firefox-like features.
You mean an even more bloated Explorer? The two improvements I would welcome the most would be Windows Explorer actually becoming responsive, and the choice to not install Internet Explorer. From what I understand, the second might be an option – the system is supposed to be independent of IE, but will it let the user decide whether to install it? I doubt we’ll ever see the first improve much.
I seem to remember reading an article (some time ago) saying that they were going to release the Aero interface and a couple of other things for XP after Vista is released. I don’t know if they still plan to do that or not. I’m sure IE7 will be available for XP as well.
Not the Aero interface, but they will be releasing Avalon, aka Windows Presentation Foundation, for XP so that apps written for Vista will run on XP.
Aaaaah, OK. That does make more sense. I thought it would be a little wacky to port Aero, since at this point that is Vista’s major selling point.
Is anyone really suprised?
The better question might be, does anybody really care?
It is clearly obvious that MS is in way over their head. Unless a miracle of miracles happens, it will be the same buggy crap we are accustomed to with the same security holes and virus susceptibility.
What MS needs is a wholesale change of design, development, and engineering processes. I am not discounting the talent of their engineers, however when the foundation is already shaky, anything built on top is shaky at best.
I modded you back up to 1
why is it that on this site if someone says anything anti-windows or anti-linux they get modded down ?
and if someone says windows is great or linux is amazing, they get modded up ?
thats not what the mod points are for !
Why is it that people always see the mod system as working against them?
Its anti with no substance thats why it should be modded down.
I am surprised, because I thought the launch to companies was in November, unless thats delayed too.
I’m surprised because I’m starting to see adverts on tv and on the tube, with flippin’ dinosaurs, unless their media people really want a kicking its not the sort of thing you want with an OS thats already years out of date on launch.
I’m surprised that they are struggling because features have been dropped left right and center, and whats there has been cut back so much we now are talking about a search in explorer, network and printer in the same place, and a sidebar with widgets, games, oh and its pretty, and probably some other stuff.
I’m surprised they haven’t shipped XP360 an evolution of XP rather than a revolutionary OS in the meantime, with lets face it Aero running on DirectX9 and the new interface, a few games, and a new media center. Every computer person knows its sensible to have a backup.
I’m surprised that a company thats got a monopoly in a lucrative market. Its very very rich, and can afford the best programmers, can’t get itself together.
I’m surprised because an awful lot of companies including Microsoft, have pinned hopes on DirectX10 being the business, and are in the process of developing out of date games for the PC, companies that Microsoft, you would think would like to keep sweet.
I’m surprised that the announcement for the delay comes so shortly after the last announcement when already its share price is dropping.
I’m surprised because alternative OS’s without anything like the same amount of developers, will have most of the features of Vista for months, established and bug fixed before whats looking like a rush job making what would have been Vista’s fanfare look like yesterdays news.
I’m really surprised because it plans to launch the new OS with IE7 and Office2007 two markets that they are desperate to keep hold of, and for the first time in years have real competition in.
I’m actually shocked and appalled that 64bit is not part of the minimum spec, but an afterthought, and looking frighteningly close to even the new launch date.
see substance
It should not be modded down on the basis of “lack of substance”.
It should be modded down only if it is off-topic, offensive, or spam.
His post was neither so it should not be modded down. Nor do I see reasons to mod it up.
Modding up is meant for posts of special quality.
None-the-less it is hilarious that Vista might get delayed again. Considering the numbers of delays so far, MS-credibility is harmed.
Some of the fanboys just can’t handle the truth… I give props to Microsoft for their accomplishments and their developers are among the most talented anywhere. I use Windows, Linux, and OS X at home and develop on Linux for work. If anybody is unbiased when it comes to OS commentary, I’d consider it to be myself.
thats not what the mod points are for !
SUPPOSED to be for. But in an internet forum where it’s impossible to physically punch somone in the head as you do battle over various opinions on tech, modding up and down is the next best thing. This forum has always been a major flame war site. Now with the mod points, the battle just takes a new form. Instead of so many insults, now it’s a push button war. I might have thought once upon a time that it was mostly a Slashdot thing, but now it’s clear that any site with mod points will find them used in this way.
Maybe it was the editorial spin in this particular article, but it was striking how Gates and Ballmer make “predictions” about certainties and claim “innovation” when they are merely reacting to third-party innovations. I was completely shocked, for example, when Gates said that 64-bit and multicore processors would soon become mainstream. I didn’t see that coming at all… not even 3 years ago could I have imagined that people would buy into that “Hammer” nonsense AMD was pushing. When AMD64 came out of nowhere and started showing up on retail shelves, it totally screwed up Microsoft’s development schedule, causing SP2 to become a CIO’s worst nightmare and “Longhorn” to be delayed.
It’s also nice to know that getting Windows to do efficient SMP for multicore processors will require some “innovative architectural work” in the future. Well, at least they’ve had the chance to see how most other general-purpose operating systems have already implemented SMP, so they can carefully select the worst approach…
Gates gave credit where credit was due by praising the recent developments in the microprocessor industry. He’s really excited because this enables all of the new features that they can keep adding to Vista even as the beta phase comes to a close and the release date is slipping. When he called this a “virtuous” development cycle, I subconsciously read “vicious,” but I’ll chalk that one up to too much coffee.
A beautiful work of almost Da Vinci quality sitting on top of a bad security model, and an even worse “closed set” of applications. *rubs thumb and middle/index fingers together*. Its all about the Cash.
I have actually heard some good things about changes to Vista’s security model, though knowing Microsoft I am still somewhat skeptical. However, I can’t say I’m as happy with their desktop. Just look at IE7, the arrangement of the widgets has to be the most bizarre I have ever seen… I’ve also heard complaints about very poor performance even on decent hardware, though I’m not sure how authentic those are, and it seems to me that, between the upcoming versions of OSX and XOrg, Microsoft may find itself surprisingly and thoroughly defeated in the desktop department.
Not that most users will care, of course; I’m willing to bet that many will just go on using XP or 2000, or 98 as the case may be. Maybe, by the time they do get around to upgrading, the average computer will even be able to handle Vista with reasonable snappiness.
I wonder if the problems with the Vista project will cause MS to make any major development changes. Will they start shipping OS upgrades every couple of years, or will they merely continue with the same release model? Will they make any structural changes to the OS to facilitate quicker releases?
Aside from Vista itself, I’m eager to see how this experience changes Microsoft.
As long as they own the market and all people drooling about the products MS stumbling out of the door, I bet they will change nothing.
I wonder if the problems with the Vista project will cause MS to make any major development changes.
They DID make major development changes and that’s one of the reasons Vista is “late”.
I put “late” because if those changes had not been made when they were, we’d probably have to wait even more for it to be released.
Aside from Vista itself, I’m eager to see how this experience changes Microsoft.
It won’t. They are an arrogant company who’ve no desire to change, unless it means great profit.
It’s amazing…
Think about the most interesting and talked about part of vista is.
You will soon realize that the most talked about feature of Vista is it’s never ending schedule set backs.
Not it’s new GUI or other *enhancements*, sure they talk about that, but not as much as the latest three month set back.
It’s ridiculous.
Why we keep talking about it?
Why do I keep talking about?
Whatever…
Later
I think the question is why do YOU keep talking about it?
I already asked myself that question.
The answer may be that I’m addicted to MS Lateness. 😉
is trying to find a face saving reason to put ‘er off for a few more months. Considering the number of new PC’s sold in January in the US, they’d effectively be ignored even by OEM’s if they released then.
It’s better to look bad for being late again than put out a major product and have no one notice. Look for surveys and news features claiming that the public would rather “wait and get it right” all through the fall.
Heh, what’s a few weeks? They are already a few years late so what is a few weeks besides more “publicity” showing how Microsoft is making sure it is “right” before releasing the damn thing.
Myself, I am much more anxiously awaiting Leopard just to see what will probably end up in the next version of Windows… that’s sarcasm with a bit of truth….
JRM7
The great advantage of MS Windows OSs over any other desktop OS out there is that it comes pre-installed on a computer when you go out and buy one.
So no matter what MS goes and does, as long as they keep users stuck on their APIs, document formats, and so on, it is still going to be a great success for Microsoft.
Even if the release of MS Vista is delayed beyond January, computer stores can still ‘sell’ computers with MS Vista, where the actual machine would ship with MS Windows XP and later you’d get MS Vista installed when it comes out. This was the same before MS Windows XP was released in the UK.
It is a pity that MS Vista has lost a lot of the originally planned features like WinFS etc, but is really not a concern for MS, as a great majority of desktop PCs are pre-installed with MS OSs, leaving no room for competition at that level.
MS just needs to chug along and they can secure their large profit streams for a number of years to come.
Does this means that by the time Vista is released, desktop open source distributions like Ubuntu, Nexenta, SUSE,PC-BSD, Mandriva, etc, will be ready to take on Vista head on?
I’ve never tried Nexenta, not crazy about Mandriva, but Ubuntu, SuSe, Debian etc, are all good choices for a desktop user, home or corporate. It’s really a matter of choice or preference. I’ve become so used to Debian, that I prefer it over my WinXP machine. VISTA may turn out to be OK(“yeah; I’m trying to keep a straight face”), but there is really no need for anyone to be “locked” into a paticular OS.
Does this means that by the time Vista is released, desktop open source distributions like Ubuntu, Nexenta, SUSE,PC-BSD, Mandriva, etc, will be ready to take on Vista head on?
No!
AFAIK those OSs are already capable of taking Vista head on – especially for users who understand that eye candy (like Aero) is just a waste of CPU time.
The important news here is that Microsoft is dumping all 32 bit machines and trying to make people upgrade to “64 bit only” software. This is a huge bonus for other OSs, as it means there’ll be a lot of 32-bit XP users looking for an up-to-date OS that doesn’t require spending $$$ on new hardware…
Hasta la Vista
Browser: Links (2.1pre20; Linux 2.4.27-2-586tsc i586; x)
“Does this means that by the time Vista is released, desktop open source distributions like Ubuntu, Nexenta, SUSE,PC-BSD, Mandriva, etc, will be ready to take on Vista head on?”
I hope that SUSE 10.2 with its early 07 release will have KDE4, then yes, Linux will be ready for Vista.
Just as we have been waiting for the latest and greatest from the (F/)OSS community for the next “killer” desktop, (Still waiting bye the way!) I guess we need to wait for the “competition” to get their act together as well…Windows VISTA will be *the* contender by way of default for the “near future” for the desktop computing environment (don’t like it, but pretty much a default choice for many).
So in 2006/7 why not “kick their @ss while we have the time!!! Come on RH, Suse, Ubuntu, etal….or OSX or *BSD….even OpenSolaris for that matter….somebody stepup to the plate, PLEASE!
Somebody give me an alternative to the MS products that “just work”. Even better, give me something that doesn’t tie me into some ungodly upgrade cycle that costs me time and money$$!!
/rant
I think they should already be focusing on 64-bit.
with Duke Nukem for Ever ?
I modded you back up to 1
why is it that on this site if someone says anything anti-windows or anti-linux they get modded down ?
and if someone says windows is great or linux is amazing, they get modded up ?
Do as I do.
I don’t post anymore, I just read it and smile about this pseudo moderation.
This way you do not cope with the supposed “Prima Donnas” and Gurus
that mode you down for no apparent reason.
___________________________________
About Windows Vista (since I’m posting), Microsoft is updating the system for
the new hardware capabilities, what is wrong with that?
This will be font rendering, 3D interface, multithreading (OS and Applications)
and better OS performance (and lack of security and satbility has always been a
side effect of Windows great popularity and great hardware support, you like it
or not).
It’s better to delay than to have the **commercial responsibility** of
introducing a bad piece of OS software, unlike Linux, Microsoft has a reputation
to maintain!
And that is on the corporate desktops! Average users will like Vista very much,
period. Debian delays their releases many times and no one complains.
Also, complaining about the huge RAM needed is not a true issue, Apple OS X also
needs a lot of RAM to run smoothly.
Etc, etc.
It’s better to delay than to have the **commercial responsibility** of
introducing a bad piece of OS software, unlike Linux, Microsoft has a reputation
to maintain!
So Microsoft has a reputation, while IBM, Novell and Redhat do not?
How did Microsofts reputation handle the previous versions of Windows, all versions known beforehand to be “bad pieces of software”?
I’m sure there will be font rendering and multithreading in Vista. If you take a look at NT4, you’ll probably notice that NT4 has font rendering and multithreading as well. Heck, even the first Mac had font rendering
I should revise my mod table:
OS | Praise | Bash
———————–
Windows | -2 | +3
Windows Vista | -4 | +5
Mac OS | -1 | +2
Linux general | +2 | -2
Ubuntu | +3 | -3
BeOS | +1 | -1
*BSD | -1 | +1
Let me get this straight…you vote based completely on whether the post is in favor of your preferred OS? Wow…that is really feeble. What about actually thinking about the quality of the comment?
I’ve voted up on people who write thoughtful comments either for or against an OS, regardless of whether that OS is a favorite or one that I can’t stand.
I hate Windows, but I have voted up on those who have offered thoughtful comments that were positive about WIndows.
You might want to take a look at the site rules: http://www.osnews.com/rules.php
For instance, one the vote page is the following:
“Please do not use this feature to vote down comments that you merely disagree with, or even ones that contain factual errors or misinformation. Rather, use the reply feature and enlighten us all with your opinion or correct facts.”
You shouldn’t vote people up or down based solely on their opinion of an OS. That violates the spirit of this site.
———————————
Now for something on topic:
Microsoft has borked this whole development cycle for Vista. I don’t see how they could have taken this long to develop Vista. Originally it was an OS full of new features and an improved security model. I was considering getting it until the features started getting stripped. The security model I now have doubts over as it seeems to be focused on placing warnings up. People are going to simply click through dialogs as their frustration rises. The system requirements seem beyond reach for many too. 700 Mb at boot is a hell of a lot of RAM. 512 as a minimum also seems fairly high. For those who are looking forward to Vista, I have to ask “why?” There just doesn’t seem to be any retantion of worthwhile features while the code has become more bloated and sluggish. Other operating systems such as OS X and Linux are just as seecure and have all the eye candy without the bloated system requirements…not too mention when the OS is even usable. I’m running OS X 10.4. I have a gig of ram and get nowhere near consuming that full memory volume. My system with a few apps running takes less memory than Vista does on boot yet I can do everything that it now seems Vista will do and more.