Microsoft may delay Windows Vista (again), firm says

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Microsoft Corp. may be forced to delay the release of its much anticipated Windows Vista operating system upgrade by at least three more months, analysts for Gartner said this week.



"Microsoft?s track record is clear; it consistently misses target dates for major operating system releases," a group of the firm's analysts wrote in a research note sent to clients on Monday.



The analysts said the major Windows overhaul -- the first since Windows XP was released nearly half a decade ago -- is too complex and feature-burdened to meet the software maker's release target of November for corporate customers and January for consumers.



Instead, Gartner believes widespread availability of Vista will not materialized until the April calendar quarter, which runs till June. "Based on Microsoft's current schedule, we would expect the schedule to slip again, with broad availability not coming before 2Q07, nine to 12 months after Beta 2 ships, assuming Beta 2 is reasonably stable and feature-complete," the analysts wrote.



Internally, Beta 2 will represent the second major test release of Vista, and also stand to signify that a certain level of quality has been attained, Gartner said.



In the research note, the firm notes that Windows XP took only five months to go from Beta 2 status in March 2001 to manufacturing in August of the same year. But the analysts said that "was a relatively minor release built on Windows 2000 and cannot compare to the magnitude of change from Windows XP to Windows Vista."



By comparison, it took the Redmond, Wash.-based company 16 months from the time it released Windows 2000 Beta 2 in August 1998 till the software shipped in December of 1999.



Microsoft's "original" plan called for Windows Vista to be released in 2005. The company later pushed the release to 2006 before announcing in March that the software would not ship in time for the critical 2006 holiday shopping season.



"Microsoft?s development organization firmly believes that it will release Windows Vista to manufacturing in October or November 2006, in time to ship to enterprises with volume licensing in 2006 and for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to ship on new PCs in January 2007," Gartner analysts added. "However, development also believed it could do it in time for 2006 holiday availability, and that did not materialize."



In response to Gartner's report, Microsoft on Tuesday issued a statement reaffirming its claim that Vista remains on track for the the November/January time frames.



Meanwhile, Apple Computer has publicly vowed to release the next major update to its Mac OS X operating system, Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, in late 2006 or early 2007.



Updated: 10:22 pm ET
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 89
    knnethknneth Posts: 14member
    You just blew my mind.
  • Reply 2 of 89
    sharp_spotsharp_spot Posts: 22member
    Could this have anything to do with it?



    http://www.osviews.com/modules.php?o...rder=0&thold=0
  • Reply 3 of 89
    officerdigbyofficerdigby Posts: 343member
    It must be really good .. .





    "Ladies and gentlemen.. It's been a decade in development.. Yes now we've almost made it secure.... Fancy icons too... loads more features to come in the service packs... you can run run you 1982 D(r)OS scripts on it.. "
  • Reply 4 of 89
    deapeajaydeapeajay Posts: 909member
    OSX could come in late 2006? Cool!



    Who cares about windows. I'm just about sick to my stomach of that pathetic piece of junk.
  • Reply 5 of 89
    porchlandporchland Posts: 478member
    Holiday '07 for sure, though. Or spring '08 at the latest. We mean it this time!
  • Reply 6 of 89
    tednditedndi Posts: 1,921member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by sharp_spot

    Could this have anything to do with it?



    http://www.osviews.com/modules.php?o...rder=0&thold=0






    No.



    Apple is about to blow the doors of windows not join them.



    Sorry. It IS about the competition.



    please don't troll.







  • Reply 7 of 89
    aplnubaplnub Posts: 2,605member
    I guess it is not to far fetched that MS won't deliver on time. I would be somewhat surprised if they bounced it back again. I wonder if this could be a major turning point in the comeback of the Mac? (comeback = 5 point market share gain over the next few years)



    If the deadline gets moved back once again, I expect my Windows friends will really get a thrashing from me.
  • Reply 8 of 89
    zunxzunx Posts: 620member
    "Microsoft?s track record is clear; it consistently misses target dates for major operating system releases"



    NOPE! THAT IS A M$ STRATEGY FOR SHAREHOLDERS AND CUSTOMERS NOT TO LOOK ELSEWHERE. BACK IN THE OLD DAYS OF DR. DOS THEY ALREADY DID IT. THEY PROMISED A GUI FOR FOR "NEXT YEAR" AND TOOK THEM MANY YEARS TO BRING WINDOWS 3.1 TO MARKET.
  • Reply 9 of 89
    screedscreed Posts: 1,077member
    Gartner analysts aren't exactly marksmen, but wow!



    Could the phrase "beleaguered OS" be in Microsoft's future?



    Once they started ripping out the Way New File System and left the Shiny Transparent Candy Coating in, you had to known there were problems.



    Are Indigo and Avalon still in?



    Beware the ghost of Cairo...
  • Reply 10 of 89
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by sharp_spot

    Could this have anything to do with it?



    http://www.osviews.com/modules.php?o...rder=0&thold=0



    Wow. That site just lot a crazy amount of credibility.
  • Reply 11 of 89
    sjksjk Posts: 603member
    No need to SHOUT your comments here, zunx.
  • Reply 12 of 89
    tinktink Posts: 395member
    OuCH!

    \



    As the OS goes I could really care less, but I feel for the people working for the company. I have some family members who've worked there for ever and they're not very happy.



    It's a serious contrast to the family members who work for the mothership!
  • Reply 13 of 89
    deapeajaydeapeajay Posts: 909member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by tink

    OuCH!

    \



    As the OS goes I could really care less,




    If you could care less, than why don't you?
  • Reply 14 of 89
    tenobelltenobell Posts: 7,014member
    Its no surprise.



    When MS pushed back to January '07 many analysts said there is nothing special about January. Its not a big computer buying quarter.



    They may as well push it back to June that would be the next large buying quarter.
  • Reply 15 of 89
    targontargon Posts: 103member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by sharp_spot

    Could this have anything to do with it?



    http://www.osviews.com/modules.php?o...rder=0&thold=0




    What on earth is this rubbish all about? Why publish utter nonsense like this?
  • Reply 16 of 89
    mr. hmr. h Posts: 4,870member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Targon

    What on earth is this rubbish all about? Why publish utter nonsense like this?



    I'm hoping, for the author's sake, that it was a joke.
  • Reply 17 of 89
    kcmackcmac Posts: 1,051member
    M$ is disputing this claim. How long till they fess up or Gartner is shown to have jumped the gun? In any case, it lowered their stock price again which is taking a severe beating.
  • Reply 18 of 89
    elixirelixir Posts: 782member
    what can the new OSX possibly bring us in terms of new innovation and features? i mean i think the OS now is just perfect.





    there a few little things like the finder, compatibility, better airport (that hasn't really much anything to do with the os thoough)





    like they could improve on stuff but what new things will the doors off the current OSX?
  • Reply 19 of 89
    tag me backtag me back Posts: 121member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by AppleInsider

    ...feature burdened...



    I expect these kinds of verbal constructs watching fox. not here.
  • Reply 20 of 89
    Quote:

    Originally posted by sCreeD

    Gartner analysts aren't exactly marksmen, but wow!



    Could the phrase "beleaguered OS" be in Microsoft's future?





    I remember the uproar Gartner made a few years ago when they recommended that people stop using IIS due to it's security problems. I am not sure how many people heeded their advice...
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