Microsoft Details Vista RC1, Pricing
Microsoft on Tuesday further elaborated on its plans for RC1 of Windows Vista, including a confirmation of its planned retail pricing for the next-generation operating system and plans to expand the Customer Preview program (CPP) to five million testers.
The long holiday weekend also gave testers and pundits a chance to pour over Redmond's latest build of Vista, and some of Microsoft's biggest supporters had harsh words for the software maker.
Current members of the CPP will receive the code during this week. Microsoft will also open the program to new enrollments following the code's release. Additionally, readers of select worldwide technology publications will also receive DVDs along with the magazines, the company said.
"Now that we're expanding the Windows Vista Customer Preview Program, an even broader audience will get to experience just how much Windows Vista has to offer," said Mike Sievert, corporate vice president for Windows Client Marketing. "The expansion of the CPP program really sends a strong message to the industry and our customers: the time to prepare for Windows Vista has arrived."
In addition to the testing expansion, Microsoft also provided guidance on its planned pricing structure, and what each version would entail (all prices in USD):
- Vista Home Basic: $99.95 for upgrade, $199 for the full version;
- Vista Home Premium: $159 for upgrade, $239 for the full version;
- Vista Ultimate: $259 for upgrade, $399 for the full version;
- Vista Business: $199 for upgrade, $299 for the full version; and
- Vista Enterprise: available for Microsoft Volume license customers, and not available for retail purchase.
The company urged its partners to begin testing RC1 to ensure that their products work with Vista before the operating system is released later this year to manufacturers, and to consumers in January of next year. However, the company did not announce a specific release date with Tuesday's news.
Reaction to RC1 over the weekend, and the official announcement of pricing was notably mixed. Some pointed to the scant ten percent discount families would receive on volume licensing as a major issue.
"Microsoft's pricing people quite obviously don't understand how significantly family-friendly bundles would increase adoption rates, and it's a real shame," Robert McLaws wrote for LonghornBlogs.com. "I'm beating the drum to some of my executive contacts at Microsoft, doing everything I can to get them to readdress this issue before RTM."
Longtime Microsoft cheerleader Paul Thurrott said Vista's inconsistencies are a huge problem with the OS. "What's up with the glaringly inconsistent UI across Windows Vista and all of its applications?" he wrote in a post to Windows SuperSite on Monday. "Why isn't there a team of people just working on consistency issues?"
Blogger Chris Pirillo seemed to agree. "Sadly, the first release candidate for Windows Vista feels more like an alpha to me (or early beta, at best)," he wrote. "No, it's all about a cohesive user experience / user interface for me. Vista fails on most UI fronts."
Not all was negative. Microsoft MVP Brandon LeBlanc said that Vista "is on the right track," although he said the biggest problem facing Microsoft is driver support issues.
"If Microsoft can help hardware manufacturers develop better driver support and make a huge effort to make Vista's UI shine-up, I think Vista can easily become the biggest Windows release since Windows 95," LeBlanc mused.