Login:
Password:
Lost Password?
Print this article  |  E-mail this article  |  Comment on this article

MS Won't Commit to Vista in January

By Ed Oswald, BetaNews

July 28, 2006, 11:29 AM

At its annual financial analysts meeting, Microsoft would not commit to shipping Vista in the January 2007 timeframe it had announced in March. The uncertainty caused the Redmond company's already lagging stock price to drop another two percent Thursday, although it had recouped some of those losses Friday.

Platforms & Services co-president Kevin Johnston, while saying there was nothing to prevent Vista from shipping in January, responded to questions of possible future delays by saying Microsoft was taking it "milestone by milestone." Seemingly echoing earlier comments by Bill Gates, Johnston told attendees "we will ship Windows Vista when it's ready."

Another delay would not only affect Microsoft, but its wide range of partners as well. Missing the lucrative holiday shopping season likely shaved a lot of potential growth off the PC industry by pushing back the boost seen after major Windows upgrades.

"Bottom line: He didn't commit to the January 2007 date, which makes it absolutely uncertain," JupiterResearch senior analyst and Microsoft pundit Joe Wilcox said. "Microsoft may or may not make it. As I've said before, from a sales cycle perspective, January might as well be July."

Vista is a major part of Microsoft's "four pillars" strategy for growth. New versions of Windows and Office comprise the first two pillars, and their growth will give the company the needed capital to build two new ones: one for its Internet services strategy and the other for Xbox.

Add a Comment (29 Comments)

BetaNews reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic. Foul language and personal attacks will not be tolerated.

Name (required):

E-mail (required):

Enter Your Comment:

By frankwick

posted Jul 31, 2006 - 10:38 AM

I don't really consider this news. This is basically the approach the Linux people take. Don't release a product on a date, release when the product is ready. People don't fold Torvalds to a kernel date, so why do people push MS for a date?

Score: 0

By Walkerbowe

posted Jul 31, 2006 - 9:03 AM

How much of it progress have you been following? It has some pretty interesting features, voice recognition, 64bit, aero-glass, it's new security scheme, amoung others.

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

edited Jul 31, 2006 - 12:54 PM

usere3rr IS LAME:

http://usere3rr.youarelame.com/

See, I even have a link providing proof. ;)

Sure...they delete the comment this was in response to and not this one...

Geez, guys. If you're going to delete the thread-initiatior, at least dump the whole thread. ;P

Score: 0

By fewt

posted Jul 29, 2006 - 8:37 PM

Who cares if it's delayed, if it's not done then it needs to be delayed.

This is a non an issue really.

It could be delayed another 5 years for all I care, especially if it means it would be a better more stable and more secure operating system.

Score: 0

By PhoenixPath

posted Jul 30, 2006 - 3:11 PM

5 years?

Yep.

That'd be enough time to start-over using a POSIX kernel and build in compatibility for the current apps, right? :O

Score: 0

By SKSnews

posted Jul 29, 2006 - 7:55 PM

I am a shareholder of Microsoft stock (MSFT) and I am not happy when a product is delayed. I've also written software and understand how when you think the hardest part has been coded some new chanllenge pops up that takes longer to address. In my case I'm talking about programs under one thousand lines. Image how many lines of code Vista contains!

Vista will have an impact on many corporations and individuals and I would prefer that they take the time to get it out bug free if such a beast exists.

Score: 0

By SteveJohnSteele

posted Jul 28, 2006 - 9:29 PM

yawn !

Score: 0

By Jordanr05

posted Jul 28, 2006 - 7:15 PM

Since they've finally re-written a gratuitous amount of code for the OS, I for one am willing to wait until they're satisfied they've done the best they can.

If they rush it you'll all b**** that it's buggy. When it's delayed you b**** too. Go b**** about something else for now :)

Score: 0

By crashoverride

posted Jul 28, 2006 - 9:02 PM

Some people just can't make it thru the day without b****ing about Microsoft. I for one am going to start looking for something else.

Score: 0

By GCoder

posted Jul 28, 2006 - 4:36 PM

Take as much time as it takes to get it right this time, DAMNIT!

Score: 0

By crashoverride

edited Jul 28, 2006 - 3:56 PM

When are people going to learn you can't go by these supposed release dates. It's a crap shoot at best.

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

edited Jul 28, 2006 - 4:29 PM

After Duke Nukem Forever, you'd figure people would start taking projected release dates with a planet sized grain of of salt or something...

Score: 0

By Grazer

posted Jul 29, 2006 - 4:58 AM

Ah, that must be the problem, there is not enough salt availible for even a single person ;)

Score: 0

By PhoenixPath

edited Jul 30, 2006 - 3:09 PM

He could have been talking about a very *small* planet....

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

edited Jul 28, 2006 - 2:23 PM

1.) They *never* guaranteed a ship date.

2.) All projected ship-dates have been vague and were only estimates to begin with.

3.) To delay something requires a set-in-stone date.

4.) There has been no such date set.

And last but not least:

They aren't delaying anything. The article simply states they will not *guarantee* a ship date.

Duh? Who would?

The information stated in the article should be obvious to *anyone* who's ever even glanced sideways at any kind of development project.

Frankly, the only reason I can see for posting it is to generate flames and trolling.

Score: 0

By wincement

posted Jul 28, 2006 - 2:45 PM

Umm... there have been delays. Originally, MS wanted Vista out last year. Denying that doesn't change anything.

Just because they never set the final release date in stone doesn't mean there haven't been delays in development. In fact, the reason they haven't been able to set the date in stone is because there have been so many delays.

I really don't care how much they delay it. Nor do I see it as something that Microsoft should be ashamed of. I was just pointing out below that it's kind of funny that they made a contest and everything, seemingly confident of a 2006 release date. ...oops.

It's ok, man. Try some decaf next time. =p

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Jul 28, 2006 - 3:30 PM

Originally, MS wanted Vista out last year. Denying that doesn't change anything.

Wanting and guaranteeing are two different things. It's only a delay if a date is set, not estimated.

In fact, the reason they haven't been able to set the date in stone is because there have been so many delays.

No-one sets dates in stone for development. It's counter-productive and leads to crap software. It's not due to delays, it just isn't done.

It's ok, man. Try some decaf next time.

You'd like me to be comatose, wouldn't you? *takes another swig from my 1-liter Dew*

Yee-Hah!

Score: 0

By ds0934

posted Jul 28, 2006 - 2:08 PM

G-D-it! Stop building products to meet deadlines!!!! Make them to solve real problems! Release them when they're ready. My 3 year old can figure that one out.

Score: 0

By mattbg

posted Jul 29, 2006 - 3:30 PM

Your 3-year-old doesn't have investors, and doesn't have partners whose products also depend on your product.

Score: 0

By xyzcb1

posted Jul 28, 2006 - 1:45 PM

Why would this be a surprise? It's part of MSFT's tradition, please name 1 software program that they didn't delay.

Score: 0

By Grazer

posted Jul 28, 2006 - 4:19 PM

Microsoft is not unique in delaying release dates.

Score: 0

By wincement

edited Jul 28, 2006 - 1:17 PM

I seem to remember a contest last year where you could guess the release date some time in 2006. What are they going to do with all those entries? Transfer them to next year?

Bad move launching a contest like that when they weren't sure they could deliver. I would be embarrassed to be in the PR department right now.

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

edited Jul 28, 2006 - 2:24 PM

Yeah, trying to explain to people what words like 'projected' and 'estimated' means would be a real PITA...

Score: 0

By wincement

posted Jul 28, 2006 - 2:38 PM

Dude... My point is:

They promoted a frikking contest to guess the date it would be released this year. Then, they nullify everyone's enthusiasm by not releasing it this year.

They shouldn't have gone through with the contest idea unless they were DARN sure they could release Vista this year.

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

edited Jul 28, 2006 - 2:42 PM

Dude...

I wasn't responding to *that* point. ;)

I was responding to your last sentence. I suppose I should have reposted it in italics...

Score: 0

By wincement

edited Jul 28, 2006 - 2:48 PM

Oh. I thought I detected a hint of sarcasm. My bad.

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Jul 28, 2006 - 3:28 PM

No, it wasn't a hint. It was flat out, bold, in-your face, sarcasm. ;)

Score: 0

By fewt

posted Jul 29, 2006 - 8:39 PM

Now that's *MY* kind of sarcasm.

heh

Score: 0

By deadmonkey

posted Jul 28, 2006 - 12:37 PM

Not really news. I don't think many people really believed Microsoft would delivered by January 2007 anyway (November 2006 for businesses). I think we are more likely to see January 2007 for businesses and March 2007 for consumers.

Score: 0

Oct 11 - 11:16 AM ET Things left unsaid, in a recent interview with Sony's CEO

Oct 11 - 11:03 AM ET EU regulations block Italian ISPs from blocking Pirate Bay

Oct 11 - 10:55 AM ET Making it to Apple's App Store by staying out of court

Oct 10 - 7:43 PM ET Wal-Mart changes its mind, leaves existing DRM servers up

Oct 10 - 7:05 PM ET Hands on: An amateur photographer tests out Adobe's latest Lightroom

Oct 10 - 6:52 PM ET Mobile service providers brace for the economic storm

Oct 10 - 6:24 PM ET Apple warns users about bad Nvidia graphics chips

Oct 10 - 4:21 PM ET New Norton Vista tool trades UAC for online feedback

Oct 10 - 3:23 PM ET Verizon Wireless to raise fees for service-related texts

Oct 10 - 3:04 PM ET BlackBerry Bold sales halted in UK