RSSIt's Time: Windows Vista Goes Gold
By Ed Oswald and Nate Mook | Published November 8, 2006, 2:48 PM
"It's time!" And with that simple blog post, Windows head Jim Allchin has heralded the arrival of Windows Vista. Microsoft said Wednesday that it has released the next-generation operating system to manufacturing, capping a more than five-year development effort.
Volume license customers will get their hands on the final release -- build number 6000 -- this month, while the public launch of Vista is scheduled for January 30, 2007. The release to manufacturing of Vista will allow PC and device makers as well as developers finalize work on hardware and software in preparation for its formal debut.
The release of Vista will initially come in five languages including French, Spanish and Japanese that have already received final approval. The English version was signed off Wednesday morning, Jim Allchin said in an afternoon conference call.
"Windows Vista is built to be our most reliable operating system yet," release manager and director of program management Sven Hallauer said. "We used new development methodologies that helped us build more secure and reliable software."
Hallauer credited the Internet with allowing Microsoft to expand its tester base much further than it could previously, allowing for a more stable release.
Microsoft also thanked beta testers for helping push Vista out the door. "You gave us unprecedented support in testing and providing your feedback while we designed, developed and refined Windows Vista -- so much so that it has in many ways become a reflection of your involvement," Vista product manager Nick White said.
The path to RTM was sometimes rocky for the Redmond company. The first beta of Vista arrived last July, however numerous bugs slowed the development process. The next beta wouldn't come until 11 months later at the company's WinHEC hardware developer conference.
Shortly after WinHEC, Microsoft acknowledged that it had gone off track and recommitted to pushing Windows out the door by the end of the year. This would result in the release of RC1 in September followed by RC2 a month later.
An event has been scheduled for November 30 to signify the business launch of both Office 2007 and Vista, including an event in New York City featuring Steve Ballmer. Similar events are likely to be held around the time of the consumer launch.
I went to the Vista website and learned that the BitLocker feature is only available on the Ultimate version. I thought Microsoft would supply that with all versions considering the number of hot fixes and rewrites it has had to do. Once again the elite are the ones who have the advantage.At $400.00, it had better do a hell of a lot of stuff that XP can't, and I don't see that happening.
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|If you don't want to upgrade to Vista, Microsoft with friends will force you to do it. Like they saying: it's nothing personal, it's our business.
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|I am on Vista RTM now on both 64 and x86 to be honest 64 need alot more driver support. I would support older hardware only new stuff. Also x86 seem stable but i hate the it confirms everthing you do and turns the screen dark and stops yhour multitasking which i find slowes you down and is the reason for most bugs i found. The only resone to update is the cool factor. New WMP newer IE7 new Moblie software and it looks more graphical and come loaded with more software. I imagine they will make you buy it by making sofware that only works on Vista and IE WMP updates the only appy to VIsta and they will try to force you to buy it us hackers will only update if we can hack it to update. Hope Nlite make a Vista version soon cause 3.xxGB of stuff is way to over bloted. You need like at least 1GB of ram to run it.
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|When I add some RAM and a great video card, I want Vista. Why? Coolest kid on the block syndrome.
I really can't think of any practical reason for anyone to upgrade.
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|Vista is a much anticipated upgrade to Windows. Quit complaining about the price. YOU DO NOT NEED ULTIMATE. Plus if you get Ultimate its usually for enthusiasts, and if you are an enthusiast, then you really would just get Ultimate regardless of price.
For most users, Home Premium will be adequate. It is very much similar to XP MCE 2005.
(You really can't be so cheap with your own computer.) If money is an issue, just get the cheapest version and then upgrade it at a later time. But if you even have a computer, it shouldn't be a big issue. You got into the possibility of spending money for it. Welcome to the world of technology.
Also, that Motion Desktop feature will be the icing on the cake.
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|Except for Windows ME, I've upgraded to every new version of Windows since I first installed 3.1 way back when.
I'm passing on Vista though. Other than the addtion of a few security features, I haven't read anything good about it from a technical perspective, and I couldn't possibly care less for its supposedly "improved" look.
One of my machines is 4 years old, but the other is only 1, and I've beaten and hammered XP Pro into running very well on both, so I anticipate sticking with XP for a few years to come.
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|well, regardless of what people say about it, hate it or love it, probably it'll be the standard OS like XP is now in few years. Sigh... Although this sounds wrong, but hopefully Microsoft would release these kind of completely new OSes less frequently. It's getting tiring relearning everything in few years.
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|you won't have to relearn all that much switching from xp -> vista.
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|You don't have to relearn switching from 2000 to XP either.
And about learning new things(as one person mentioned above)...welcome to the world of technology (I think it's fun ;-)
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|It's getting tiring relearning everything in few years.
Progress, by it's very nature, involves change. If change disappoints you, I fear you'll simply have to get used to disappointment.
Of course, instead of actually dealing with anything, you could just load up on Prozac and Valium, like the rest of the United States.
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|ITS ABOUT TIME! I KNOW ILL PROBABLY BE GETTING MY HANDS ON A VISTA BOX NEXT YEAR :D
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|What software (if any) were you running to protect yourself from the trojan you got? Where did you get this trojan in the first place (most likely not from a legitimate source)?
Funny that you misspelled average. :)
I will upgrade to Vista. BTW, by the time most of us get Vista, a lot of patches will probably be available that work out any of the glitches that are still out there.
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|Nice observations. Maybe if he was using FF 2.0 he could have caught that little spelling error. Then again its probably better that he doesn't... shows what kind of a below average person he really is.
Thats a lot of Trojans...maybe one of his daughters were deliberately searching for Trojans... you know, you get to a certain age and you become a little curious. Its better to be safe though as there are quite a few viruses going around. A few hundred though, I'd be a worried parent.... must have cost a bundle....but thats OK, he runs a very successful middleman type business you see, marking up junk over Ebay and selling it to suckers. So I'm sure he'll get by.
I'd avoid upgrading to Vista though... A nice fresh install is the way to go, unless you upgrade over a fresh install of XP. Granted, A full version of Vista will cost a little more... maybe when SP1 is released I'll make the jump.
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|It sucks that you PC was hijacked, however, Vista has better security features then XP. Granted it is recommended to still have Antivirus installed.
I will be upgrading to Vista as soon as it is available.
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|I've been running NOD32 for 2 years and I've been virus free for 2 years. People have to stop using crap like Norton, McAfee and AVG.
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|see vista isnt just a prettier xp to begin with its a security rewrite which could prove to be pretty good the problem is you cant help someone who is a moron with security though no matter what... its added uac (which basically tells you and advises you are you sure you want to do this yes it can be mundane but still it'll make the avg user think twice before clicking on everything as "yes"...if a profile becomes corrupted only that profile will be harmed not the entire pc...ie operates in a secure mode now and prevents the core from being compromised...the system restore feature has been improved...the overall speed is better...there will be bugs when it comes out even the mighty osx has bugs in their os upon release and since vista was rewritten much like osx I believe a lot of the problems that plague windows will be less severe but again if you have dumb users to begin with you cant cure stupidity with any type of security unless the pc starts making the decisions
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|Full stops (periods if you're a yankie) are your friends.
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|They should use Symantec AntiVirus instead of Norton =). I have absolutely no idea why Symantec publish both titles when NAV is a terrible memory hog, bloated, and uses the same definitions as SAV.
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|Looks like the Trojan even went into every comment he wrote and deleted the contents.... thats some bug.
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|Well for the 2 years that you have had NOD and paid for it you may have remained virus-free...but I have not had any viruses when using AVG either...and the NOD website does not even list AVG in their comparison charts...so let me ask why you spent your money??
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|Because AVG is a piece of trash. Not even worthy of comparison to a product in NOD32's class. Anybody who thinks AVG can hold a candle to anything other than NAV is freaking delusional and likely mentally handicapped.
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|For the retail version microsoft need to learn from the volume licensing user. improve the product based on user experience.
by that it will make vista better.
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|Glad to hear it is released so the masses can continue the final beta testing phase, and than I will install it in about eighteen months after the first service patch, and no I am not joking, serious as can be. We all know what a problem a new OS can be regardless of final edition, and Microsoft's record on security aspects.
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|...and the band played on and the lemmings march.
"Shortly after WinHEC, Microsoft acknowledged that it had gone off track and *recommitted to pushing Windows out the door* by the end of the year."
Yup, that's the way to build an OS.
Next...
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|better info and link to Screenshots is here: http://keznews.com/1703_Windows_Vista_Is_Golden
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|So... how's the game support coming? One would hope it's come a long way from Beta 2. :(
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|Yes, because microsoft controls this and not the game manufacturers :-P
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|So I should go buy Vista because it's the game manufacturers fault their games don't work?
I like that logic. :P I'll stay with XP for now, thanks.
EDIT: by the same token, I should go buy a Mac, because again, it's the game manufacturers who aren't supporting it, not Apple. I'd really like a Mac, but at the moment it just won't play my games - so I'm stuck with XP. Vista, for now, is no different.
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|Game support has been amazing since RC1. Games run just as fast, if not faster, as they do on XP.
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|Where in my post did I say you had to buy anything? By your first post, I got the impression you were saying that microsoft should fix Windows Vista for what game manufacturers are in fact responsible for. Did I mis-interpret that?
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|I'm seeing 5840 out there on the usenet. Says Pre-RTM and was posted 2 days ago.
Long shot, but....
Anyone know the build-number of the RTM?
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|5840 is quite old, at least a month, build 6000 is RTM, even then, the build number has been stuck at 6000 for the last 2 weeks, with incremental builds of 6000... (We want to keep build 6000, as Vista is NT6.0)
6000.16386.061101-2205 IS the real deal...
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|Is it a bad sign that he said "its time" instead of "its ready"?
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|not to me...it is ready...it's time because they waited long enough...so have I!!! Vista!
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|Actually, he said, "It's time."
He's smart enough to know when to use an apostrophe. :p
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|RC1 was a dog. final product isn't RC1.
Wait for SP1 though, just in case Gold sucks also. :)
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|"Wait for SP1 though, just in case Gold sucks also."
Excellent suggestion.
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|Terrible suggestion. Why not Windows 2000? 95? 3.1? Hell, go use DOS and let the rest of us evolve.
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|Oh no take a look at that:
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quote
Most secure Windows ever
source: http://www.microsoft.com...y/editions/default.mspx
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That means that in the future there will never be a more secure windows then windows vista. Threatening, isn't it?
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|Amazingly you can claim "ever" and refer to the past, not the future.
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|Yeah,
"Ever"
As in, Up to this point.
Grammatically incorrect, but it is the modern usage.
Of course, you knew that. Just couldn't resist another chance to bash MS, no matter how lame, eh?
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|No i just found it funny. :)
go go vista
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|Ugh, really bad image of pom poms and a skirt. ;o}
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|Good news!
Maybe Microsoft re-thinks now its plans about release of XP SP3 and we will see it a bit faster?
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|What do you need SP3 for? There are very few issues in XP SP2, I assume SP3 is simply for SP3 sake...
I wouldn't be suprised if XPSp3 was cancelled in favor of Hotfix roll-ups....
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|One might assume that SP3 will *be* hotfix roll-ups.
Lord knows we need one.
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|You can bet that no new features will be released for XP, now Vista is out, XP has moved into a maintainance phase, so hotfix roll-ups will be almost certainly the norm, that simply bundle all the patch Tuesdays into a single download...
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|Indeed we do. Our builds currently pull about 60 Windows Updates after an OEM install of SP2. A rollup would be really nice. :P
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|You are almost right. Take the current SP2 as a base, add all Tuesday's patches, bundle some add-ons as IE7, WMP 11, .NET 3.0, ActiveSync, Windows Defender and MSN Messenger, and finally test them all for compatibility. I mean this will be SP3, you can name it roll-up - no matter...
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|If Microsoft isn't quick enough for you, go to www.autopatcher.com. They update every month and include the PowerToys, .NET Framework, Java 2 SE, and other goodies in one package.
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|Microsoft has announced in the past they were definitely going to backport the Aero Glass interface to Windows XP.
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|umm, I doubt this. Do you have a source?
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|it's the "Other Goodies" I think i'll pass on.
People are fools, can you really be sure Autopatcher are not installing extras on your system? How do they make money? They certainly are not doing it out o the kindness of their hearts..
I'll get my patches and service packs from Microsoft, thank you....
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|Why would they, when Stardock can sell it to you for $50.00?
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|Yeah, God forbid anyone should see a need and fill it without wanting to hack/spy/rape your computer.
*shakes head*
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|MSDN Subscribers will have this in their hands, and Office 2k7 within week, time to upgrade my RC2 development machines....
PS, don't bother watching Jim Allchin's launch video, it's a waste of time...
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|Well, now everyone pray with me:
"In the name of everything, let's hope this one finally hits the security nail, considering it missed all the rest."
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|"Gold
Always believe in your soul
Youve got the power to know
Youre indestructable
Always believe in, because you are
Gold!"
I love Spandau Ballet don't you?
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