Microsoft's Delayed Vista Will Be in Stores Jan. 30
Associated Press
November 8, 2006 11:46 p.m.; WSJ, Page B4
Microsoft Corp. finished work on its long-delayed Windows Vista operating system and said the software would be broadly available Jan. 30.
That means Microsoft will meet its revised goal of putting Vista in consumers' hands in the first month of 2007.
Windows Vista's code was released yesterday to manufacturing, a step that allows the Redmond, Wash., software company to begin making copies to be distributed with PCs and sold at stores, said Jim Allchin, co-president of the Microsoft division that includes Windows.
Microsoft previously had said it would release Vista to major business clients at a Nasdaq Stock Market event Nov. 30, and Mr. Allchin reiterated that corporations that buy Windows licenses in bulk will get the new system this month.
The release will be the first major upgrade in more than five years to the operating system that powers most of the world's personal computers.
The software has been plagued by delays, the most recent blamed in part on efforts to improve security. Mr. Allchin cautioned that Vista will still encounter some security threats because attackers are growing more sophisticated. But he said a rigorous testing process and changes that hinder attacks from jumping from one Vista-powered computer to the next should reduce those problems.
The most recent delays forced Microsoft to miss the holiday season, potentially dealing a blow to computer makers and retailers that may have been hoping the new system would increase gift sales.
Microsoft and computer makers are offering holiday shoppers coupons good for a free or discounted Vista upgrade.
In its quest to get Vista out the door, Microsoft also has had to scale back some of its original goals, including scrapping a more sophisticated method for sorting and organizing data.
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