The repeated delays in the release date of Windows Vista indicate that this operating system is facing significant issues, much more serious than what Microsoft has revealed so far.
A close source has indicated that although Microsoft announced the release date of Vista would be pushed back by only a few weeks, in reality, the operating system will not reach hardware and chip manufacturers for more than two months.
Instead of distributing to computer manufacturers on August 25 as originally scheduled, Microsoft will now release Vista on October 25. The first public beta version of Vista, initially planned for mid-July, has also been postponed to August 25.
Microsoft firmly states that it is adhering to the release timeline for Vista, but they have not disclosed the specific dates, which are the most critical pieces of information.
Previously, Microsoft shocked the global tech industry by announcing that the consumer version of Vista would not ship with computers until January 2007, although enterprise customers would have access to the operating system earlier, starting in November. This means that Microsoft and its hardware partners will miss the busiest trading season of the year: the holiday shopping season from mid-November to the end of December.
Microsoft briefly explained this “few weeks” delay as necessary to enhance security features. However, the two-month delay clearly indicates that the development process of Vista is off track. Moreover, since they have already missed the holiday season, Microsoft has nothing to lose and could potentially delay Vista at least one more time, deep into 2007.
Computer sales are typically very sluggish in the first and second quarters. As such, at this point, “January is just like July,” noted analyst Joe Wilcox from Jupiter Research.
Thien Yi
