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Vista Gets Official Release Dates

Posted by samzenpus on Thu Nov 02, 2006 12:06 AM
from the this-weeks-dates dept.
SlinkySausage writes "Five years, three months and five days after Windows XP made its debut, Microsoft will usher its next-generation OS onto the stage. Microsoft has set November 30 as the release date for Vista (and Office 2007) to business customers and January 30, 2007 as the date for the official launch to consumers and The World At Large."
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  • really? (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 02 2006, @12:09AM (#16684743)
    so soon?
  • by BadAnalogyGuy (945258) <BadAnalogyGuy@gmail.com> on Thursday November 02 2006, @12:10AM (#16684755)
    But I liked it better when they called it OS X!

    J/K, I'm not gay.
  • All in all... (Score:1)

    by Sneetch (953357) on Thursday November 02 2006, @12:11AM (#16684767)
    it's just another brick in The W.A.L.
  • 535? (Score:5, Funny)

    Surely there's a numbering system where this reads "666".
    • Re:535? by Anonymous Coward (Score:1) Thursday November 02 2006, @12:34AM
      • Re:535? by strider44 (Score:2) Thursday November 02 2006, @01:26AM
        • Re:535? by Anonymous Coward (Score:1) Thursday November 02 2006, @03:27AM
      • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
    • Re:535? by midkay (Score:1) Thursday November 02 2006, @01:20AM
      • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
    • 535? We are not there yet! by someone1234 (Score:1) Thursday November 02 2006, @02:33AM
    • Eh Dunno But by Karem Lore (Score:1) Thursday November 02 2006, @02:42AM
    • Re:535? by bblboy54 (Score:1) Thursday November 02 2006, @02:55AM
    • Re:535? by Hazclan13 (Score:1) Thursday November 02 2006, @03:32AM
    • Re:535? by rbochan (Score:2) Thursday November 02 2006, @09:07AM
      • Re:535? by Wordsmith (Score:2) Thursday November 02 2006, @12:31PM
  • dup? (Score:2)

    by a.d.trick (894813) on Thursday November 02 2006, @12:15AM (#16684787)
    (http://terminate.sourceforge.net/)
    Haven't I seen this before. I can't remember the details, but I thought they already had this planned out months ago?
  • by reaktor (949798) on Thursday November 02 2006, @12:16AM (#16684793)
    Business a.k.a. corporate version will be out before customer version. So this means that everyone will be downloading and using the corporate version long before the home issues comes out.
  • Do we care? (Score:2)

    by LardBrattish (703549) on Thursday November 02 2006, @12:17AM (#16684809)
    Unless they're particularly sad gamers who MUST play HALO2
    • Re:Do we care? by HiVizDiver (Score:2) Thursday November 02 2006, @12:50AM
    • Re:Do we care? by irc.goatse.cx troll (Score:2) Thursday November 02 2006, @12:52AM
      • Re:Do we care? by abandonment (Score:2) Thursday November 02 2006, @01:33AM
        • Re:Do we care? by BrokenHalo (Score:1) Thursday November 02 2006, @03:36AM
          • Re:Do we care? by Dogers (Score:2) Thursday November 02 2006, @02:17PM
          • Re:Do we care? by BrokenHalo (Score:1) Thursday November 02 2006, @10:20PM
          • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
        • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
      • Re:Do we care? by sponga (Score:1) Thursday November 02 2006, @12:14PM
    • Re:Do we care? by ZJVavrek (Score:1) Thursday November 02 2006, @01:09AM
    • Re:Do we care? by jonwil (Score:2) Thursday November 02 2006, @01:13AM
      • Re:Do we care? by Spikeles (Score:1) Thursday November 02 2006, @03:04AM
        • Re:Do we care? by Shawn is an Asshole (Score:2) Thursday November 02 2006, @06:32AM
        • EULA by Lonewolf666 (Score:2) Thursday November 02 2006, @11:44AM
      • Re:Do we care? by tylernt (Score:2) Thursday November 02 2006, @12:21PM
  • Christmas Shopping! (Score:5, Funny)

    by NineNine (235196) on Thursday November 02 2006, @12:17AM (#16684811)
    (http://ninenine.com/)
    Just in time for Christmas Shopping Season! I'm getting everybody in my family a shiny new End User License Agreement (EULA)! I can't wait for Christmas morning around the tree, when we all get to click "Accept" together! Now, that's what I call quality family time.
  • Switch to Linux? (Score:1, Troll)

    by brad_daniels (1021533) on Thursday November 02 2006, @12:18AM (#16684821)
    How many regular semi-power-user types do you expect will switch to Linux when Vista is revealed as the pile of shit its sure to be? I know I will. Actually I'll probably just stick with XP (a superb OS BTW) for as long as its supported.
  • by TubeSteak (669689) on Thursday November 02 2006, @12:18AM (#16684823)
    (Last Journal: Saturday February 25 2006, @11:02PM)
    No Vista for the holidays.

    But: "buyers of Vista-ready Toshiba notebooks preloaded with XP Professional or XP Tablet Edition -- which is just about all of 'em -- will qualify for an upgrade to Vista Business for a meagre $27 'shipping and handling' cost. The uber-OS itself, over five years in the baking, is free."

    And here's the best explanation I've found regarding how Corporate/Retail keys will work. Note that I didn't say the explanation was simple.
  • by RAMMS+EIN (578166) on Thursday November 02 2006, @12:20AM (#16684837)
    (http://inglorion.net/ | Last Journal: Thursday October 06 2005, @07:17AM)
    Well, this is the so manyeth announcement from MS about when Longhorn/Vista will be released. I guess that the inclusion of exact dates should give us some more confidence that it will really happen, this time. However, it's still interesting to see how many timeframes and features Microsoft announced that they never lived up to.
  • Why is the delay such a big deal? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by wizrd_nml (661928) on Thursday November 02 2006, @12:23AM (#16684853)
    (http://www.promanagerblog.com/)
    Let me say up front I consider myself computer savvy but definitely not a programmer or an expert. My question to everyone is, why is everyone so upset about how long it's taking for Windows Vista to come out?

    As far as I can see, Windows XP, with patches, a firewall and Firefox seems to be working fine. I don't feel the need to upgrade as soon as Vista comes out.

    They're late on the deadline they originally set for themselves. But I don't see anyone else losing any sleep over it.
  • Breaking news (Score:5, Funny)

    by ameyer17 (935373) <slashdot@ameyer17.com> on Thursday November 02 2006, @12:27AM (#16684881)
    (http://www.ameyer17.com/)
    Unseasonably cold temperatures predicted for November 30th in Hell.
    • Re:Breaking news by crowbarsarefornerdyg (Score:1) Thursday November 02 2006, @12:44AM
    • Re:Breaking news by owlnation (Score:2) Thursday November 02 2006, @06:27AM
  • Someone start a pool (Score:2, Funny)

    by Trikenstein (571493) on Thursday November 02 2006, @12:28AM (#16684885)
    on when the first patch will be released, and another for SP1
  • Can't Wait for Apple (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Killer Eye (3711) on Thursday November 02 2006, @12:28AM (#16684889)
    Somehow, I see this going a little like Apple's surprise price reduction for the iPod just before the Zune came along: Microsoft employees scrambling to hack some last-minute changes into their strategy after hearing what Apple is doing.

    So imagine MacWorld just before this January 30 Vista release. Jobs has already shown he's not too afraid to take a stab at Redmond. We all expect some surprise Leopard features that speak for themselves, but expect some intentional jabs as well. Maybe even a TV commercial campaign to steal thunder from the TV campaign Microsoft is sure to launch (because they always do).

    Personally, I predict the real show-stopper will be a surprise price reduction from Apple. Seriously, if they knocked Leopard *down* to $99 or something, Microsoft would be looking really bad.
  • oh my (Score:3, Funny)

    by chowdy (992689) on Thursday November 02 2006, @12:28AM (#16684897)
    Repent the end is extremely fucking nigh
    • Re:oh my by Lord Kano (Score:1) Thursday November 02 2006, @04:39AM
      • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
    • 2 replies beneath your current threshold.
  • Changes (Score:1)

    Ouch - Just installed IE7 and WMP11 - the beta's were much better
    Just installed the technical refresh for Office 07 - beta 2 had more functionality by default
    Guess Vista'll follow suite?
    • Re:Changes by Shados (Score:2) Thursday November 02 2006, @12:36AM
      • Re:Changes by Hawkxor (Score:2) Thursday November 02 2006, @12:52AM
        • Re:Changes by Shados (Score:2) Thursday November 02 2006, @12:57AM
  • by rampant mac (561036) <toast1911.mac@com> on Thursday November 02 2006, @12:35AM (#16684933)
    Vista shipping?

    The Leopard/Ubuntu update must be coming along a lot faster than expected. I can't wait to delve into all those nifty features Vista has promised over the last few years! That kick ass WinFS addition will surely make my life easier.

    <C:\>ongrts.win
    indeed.
  • by Beren (21815) on Thursday November 02 2006, @12:38AM (#16684955)
    (http://www.fiberoptica.net/)

    ...manage to beat Duke Nukem Forever.

    According to this page [duke4.net], DNF has been in (in)active development for over 8 years...

  • University licenses (Score:3, Interesting)

    Does anyone have any details on which flavor of Vista will be made available for university licenses?
  • Hardware... (Score:2)

    by interiot (50685) on Thursday November 02 2006, @12:52AM (#16685035)
    (http://paperlined.org/)
    So when will the first DirectX 10 hardware be available?
    • Re:Hardware... by RappinTonyG (Score:1) Thursday November 02 2006, @03:43AM
    • Re:Hardware... by Gernok (Score:2) Thursday November 02 2006, @06:48AM
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
  • I wonder (Score:1)

    by MikeWin10 (817478) on Thursday November 02 2006, @01:12AM (#16685137)
    how many people here bashing Vista have actually used it. Why is everyone so up in arms about upgrading? Its only $450. Vista is much better than XP, by far.
    • Re:I wonder by William_Lee (Score:2) Thursday November 02 2006, @01:30AM
      • Re:I wonder by QuantumG (Score:2) Thursday November 02 2006, @02:01AM
    • Re:I wonder by grcumb (Score:2) Thursday November 02 2006, @01:47AM
    • Re:I wonder by dbIII (Score:2) Thursday November 02 2006, @02:26AM
    • Re:I wonder by Jesus_666 (Score:2) Thursday November 02 2006, @03:47AM
      • Re:I wonder by Zaiff Urgulbunger (Score:2) Thursday November 02 2006, @06:31AM
      • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
    • Re:I wonder by mike_diack (Score:1) Thursday November 02 2006, @08:03AM
    • Re:I wonder by prelelat (Score:1) Thursday November 02 2006, @09:18AM
    • Re:I wonder by Salsaman (Score:2) Thursday November 02 2006, @10:34AM
  • by Timbotronic (717458) on Thursday November 02 2006, @01:14AM (#16685151)
    Word of warning to anyone planning to jump in on Nov 30, make sure you can get Vista drivers for *everything* you want to use.

    I played around with Vista RC1 a bit last week on a spare machine. For the most part, I was actually pretty impressed with the ease of install. Inevitably there were a couple of devices (onboard audio and USB wireless) that it didn't support. However, it seems that the driver model has changed pretty significantly from XP/2000 as these didn't work at all.

    So the release date isn't Nov 30, it's when your last hardware vendor releases their Vista drivers.

  • Phew! (Score:1)

    by corychristison (951993) on Thursday November 02 2006, @01:22AM (#16685205)
    So close!

    My birthday is December 1st. If they were to wait one more day, my birthday would have been the day the world went to hell.
    With my luck, something will go wrong and they will delay it one day.

    ... my birthdays always suck. If it happens to fall on my b-day, I just don't know what I'll do.
    • Re:Phew! by SpottedKuh (Score:2) Thursday November 02 2006, @11:17AM
    • 2 replies beneath your current threshold.
  • I'm so glad MS will let Sony, Disney, Diebold, SCO, HP, and all those other nice folks try out Vista and work out any remaining kinks before home users see it. MS, putting users first!
  • by sAgE(folly) (1021563) on Thursday November 02 2006, @01:50AM (#16685325)
    Whenever I get someone comming to me with a problem with their computer I ask them "so you are running windows" They say "Yes" and then I tell them: "Well that's your problem." And then I give them a Kubuntu Live CD because even a windows user should be able to figure out how to use Kubuntu. Seriously why bother with Vista? You can get a better OS that is FREE (LEGALLY free, I should say)and not have to deal with all the bullshit that comes with dealing with Microsoft. I mean it's your money and your computer, but why waste the former to fuck up the latter?
  • by syousef (465911) on Thursday November 02 2006, @01:56AM (#16685361)
    ...to be locked out of running my software, playing my music and videos, and generally having my hardware crippled for Christmas. I've been good all year. I've been looking forward to my windows advantage. Why oh why can't I have my "trusted computing" and DRM for Christmas?
  • by lordvalrole (886029) on Thursday November 02 2006, @02:00AM (#16685379)
    I wish they just postpone all of vista. The only reason why vista will be used is because major corporations will buy all their computers from Dell, HP, etc. Those computers will house Vista. It will take a couple years before everyone has the operating system. Mainly because people don't want to pay a lot of money for an operating system. There is way more people who buy from venders like Best Buy, CompUSA, Fry's etc. Microsoft has a version of windows for every circumstance you need. You know what? Screw that. Just make one OS with everything in it. All the same damn features as the top of the line Vista. An average person isn't going to know the differences between Home Premium, Vista Enterprise, Vista Business, Vista Home Basic, Vista Ultimate. Shit I don't even know what the hell is the difference (yes I know I can look for it on their website) but in general people don't want to think when it comes to computers. It is too technical, blah blah blah.

    The problem is that we just need to STOP buying their damn products. It is easy to say that than to actually do that but for god sakes we could have so much more in an OS. We could have really cool interactive menu systems, we could have media drivin enviroments and I am not talking about shitty ass GUIs I am talking about 3D enviroment desktops. Make things intuitive and faster. I know people want fast times when installing the OS but I would love to see options to not install or to install certain applications. The best thing any one can ever do in software development is make two versions of your software, one light and one full, then you put them into one piece of software. Being able to select which options you want to have on there and which options you don't is just better for everyone. Most the people who build their computers know enough about computers to have options to do shit in the OS. Dell, HP, Gateway, etc. all can have their own installation processes for prebought computers (they could have a drop down menu in the bootup disc for average users and users who want to customize installation). Yes I know linux has some of this stuff already. The problem is linux isn't that user friendly. I know I will probably get slammed for this but it truely isn't intuitive at all. I do admit over the years different distros have made it a lot easier to install but just dealing with hardware issues and drivers, etc. just a nightmare to deal with.

    I just want more. I want people to think what you want the future to be like in 10-20 years. What sort of technology do you want? Think of all the cool ideas for a good os would be, think about optimizations in your companies computers, think about gaming and how interactive that is, now think about something like interactive menu systems and real time effects. In 20 years we will amazing technologyy, maybe more doors will open with light particles and we will be able to manipulate light in a way where we could have 3D holograms. The way I see it, is that Vista is just a blockade for all of that. It will only help out the big media corporations and hurt innovation and creativity. I say we hold off as long as we can with out installing vista. Make it as painful as we can for them. If any one is high up in a company, please do not upgrade your systems yet. Wait till crazy haxors begin the crack it open and figure out the system.

    Make vista the new ME.
  • XGL & stuff (Score:1)

    by bioglaze (767105) on Thursday November 02 2006, @02:01AM (#16685385)
    (http://users.utu.fi/tmwire | Last Journal: Thursday February 15 2007, @04:22PM)
    Will this speed up the development of XGL, Compiz, Beryl and likes? I assume they aren't still stable, but i haven't tested them yet.
    • Re:XGL & stuff by wayward_bruce (Score:1) Thursday November 02 2006, @03:05AM
    • Re:XGL & stuff by the_greywolf (Score:2) Thursday November 02 2006, @02:14PM
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
  • Lackluster Sales Expected? (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 02 2006, @02:01AM (#16685391)


    And when the sales aren't there like they expected, will they attempt to blame piracy?

    I'm not hearing too much from companies that they want to upgrade again after just adopting XP in the last couple of years.

  • Why the wait? (Score:1)

    by Deviant Q (801293) on Thursday November 02 2006, @02:43AM (#16685611)
    (http://www.domenicdenicola.com/)
    Apparently it's obvious to everyone else, since I never see this question asked, but why the wait between businesses and consumers? What's the logic there? I mean, I understand why you would give it to businesses ASAP, but why make the consumers wait---especially until after Christmas? I mean, if it's good enough for businesses, it's good enough for consumers, right?
  • by Ritontor (244585) on Thursday November 02 2006, @03:05AM (#16685725)
    Why do businesses get this first? I don't understand. Is there something different between the version to be given to regular consumers and the one that businesses get? Is it not finished or something, but the business clients get a beta version to test? Or is it some sneaky way to milk more money out of people? I honestly don't get it.
  • Great! (Score:1)

    by TheVelvetFlamebait (986083) on Thursday November 02 2006, @06:26AM (#16686581)
    Now all we need to do is wait until 2010 for hardware that can run it.
  • by v1 (525388) on Thursday November 02 2006, @07:51AM (#16687037)
    (http://vftp.net/ | Last Journal: Saturday December 09 2006, @09:52PM)
    I've been pondering the reasons for the split release (business first) of Vista. I haven't even bothered "RTFA" on this because I don't think I'd put any stock in their answer anyway. Something tells me they are doing it for a reason they don't really want to admit or discuss. After much consideration I am tossing out the theory that MS wants to use the business market as a "guinea pig" for their new system. This limited initial release will allow the businesses to smoke test the system and shake out the majority of the really nasty problems and allow MS to get a Service Pack 1 developed and ready for the public release of Vista. If they didn't do this, wouldn't the release of Vista create a golden opportunity for someone to write a virus that nukes hundreds of thousands of new Vista users on Day 1? You just know there are dozens of people out there just foaming at the mouth waiting for the main release day. Though only a stupid virus writer would release his work today, surely they would hold it until it had maximum impact. Maybe MS is hoping that they are impatient and consider hitting the business community worthy enough to take the heavy hit?

    God forbid my business rely on windows, but if it did, you certainly wouldn't see me with a copy of vista before March.
  • Rushed out the door... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Kildjean (871084) on Thursday November 02 2006, @07:53AM (#16687053)
    (http://www.bytesandbeans.com/)
    I think they are rushing it out the door. They know Apple will release Leopard on Timee and it would really hurt Microsoft if apple Launches 1st than their grand product. Most Enterprise and Crporate business will not upgrade to Vista for at least another year. They have enough trouble winth windows xp as it is. and by the time Regular users install vista, Leopard will be out rocking since day 1.

    I think Apple is more organized when launching a new OS , Microsoft is jas noisy as any makle, loud and with bragging rights but has premature ejaculation problems.

    It will take vista at least a year to be where its supposed to be after all the bug fixes it has to undergo.
  • by JohnCC (534168) on Thursday November 02 2006, @08:29AM (#16687433)
    (http://www.jccworld.com/)
    Has a release date been set for service pack 1?

    I think I'll wait it out a little...

    /J
  • by pjr.cc (760528) on Thursday November 02 2006, @10:16AM (#16688799)
    But, I gotta say i'm way more interested in samba 4 hitting a stable release then seeing vista ship myself... its something unix really does need...
  • by Thaelon (250687) on Thursday November 02 2006, @11:22AM (#16689843)
    There are a number of things that Windows has done forever and continues to do that I would have thought would have been addressed by now but remain all the way through XP SP2.

    What about these problems:
    • Explorer windows defaulting to worthless column widths and window sizes
    • Not autoresizing columns in explorer (you can do it with ctrl+numpadPlus, but why doesn't it do it automatically?)
    • Not selecting a word AND THE SPACE AFTER IT when you double click a word
    • Focus stealing. No application, for any reason, should be allowed to steal focus.
    • Showing a blinking cursor in an application, yet keystrokes do not go where the cursor is, but to some other application that REALLY has focus (Surprisingly, this is not related to focus stealing.)
    • Having hundreds of useful settings that are only accessible by altering the registry directly. This is only slightly better than having to configure an application in linux through a text file
    • Having 9347234 different places something could be set to load on startup

    There are more, but I just can't think of them right now.
  • by gzerphey (1006177) on Thursday November 02 2006, @11:54AM (#16690267)
    Next thing you will be telling me that DNF has a release date. Nope, I just don't buy it...
  • by the_greywolf (311406) on Thursday November 02 2006, @01:53PM (#16692367)
    (http://the-junkyard.net/)

    I've been begging for an answer to my ever-so-simple question for months now. It's so trivial a thought that I'm amazed that i have yet to actually get a response, much less an answer:

    Why buy Vista?

    DirectX 10 is hardly a selling point, because, as a developer, I see very little that makes it special enough to consider as a target API, and with such a small audience (i.e., one solitary platform with the possibility of porting to XBox 360), I fail to see the point of even giving it a passing glance. Aero Glass is only merely interesting. I use AIGLX on Linux at home and actually turn it off from time to time because Beryl's effects get kinda old after a while (and Compiz is just plain boring). MacOS X has similar OpenGL-accelerated windowing effects, and has had them for quite a while, so it seems little more to me than a passing fad.

    All the other benefits and new features that Vista will actually include elude me. In researching the product, I see no reason to even bother looking at Vista for any computer. Yet, I see so many people getting so excited about Vista and all the new stuff it will bring to their systems, that I have to stop and wonder.

    So, I am asking, why does anyone want to buy Vista? Why should I consider an upgrade path to Vista? What's so exciting about it? I really want to know! Someone, PLEASE tell me!

  • That implies Linux users get any sex, you're thinking of Mac OS X.
    [ Parent ]
  • Re:so... (Score:2)

    by GrumblyStuff (870046) on Thursday November 02 2006, @12:23AM (#16684857)
    About week before I imagine.
    [ Parent ]
    • Re:so... by indifferent children (Score:2) Thursday November 02 2006, @08:02AM
  • MOD PARENT UP (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 02 2006, @12:30AM (#16684905)
    An insightful, eloquent post. It is rare that such a visionary, non-conformist poster arrives on this page to share their knowledge in the fashion of the remarkable parent poster. Does our love of free speech not demand that every effort is made to make these brilliant words available to all, so that they can be treasured and committed to memory?

    Slashdot, I urge you to mod UP.

    Think of the children.
    [ Parent ]
  • Re:better than linux (Score:4, Funny)

    by Jekler (626699) on Thursday November 02 2006, @12:36AM (#16684937)

    I'm going to take a 6 month sabbatical to meditate on your words. There's just something deeply compelling about what you have to say that fills me with a sense of longing for a truer understanding of this wacky universe of ours.

    Thank you fellow scholar. You have changed me.

    [ Parent ]
  • Re:better than linux (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 02 2006, @01:41AM (#16685297)
    "at least it's not for fags. you fucking dick sucking dirty ass faggots."

    Dude, you have no sense of direction. Who do you think is on their hands and knees with their pants down when you run Windows? It sure in hell is not Billy Boy. His is on top bitch slapping your ass while yelling, "Who's your daddy!?". Care to rethink your position?
    [ Parent ]
  • by chawly (750383) on Thursday November 02 2006, @02:30AM (#16685547)

    And I would like welcome every Overlord connected (even remotely) to this wonderous event. I hope to make a lot of money out of it - as much as I made from XP's launch, maybe. Here's to you Bill ! I can hear my cash-register jingling now. OK Jingle Bells it ain't - but it is still jingling

    Just one detail you should maybe want to notice, Bill, my friend. This post comes from a Linux machine; my personal machine. And Steve baby, try to do the next one quicker, would you please ! My investment fund you know - it needs your contribution through cooperation. Thanks

    [ Parent ]
  • by the_greywolf (311406) on Thursday November 02 2006, @02:19PM (#16692769)
    (http://the-junkyard.net/)

    I'd laugh if a variation on the old AIDS virus [wikipedia.org] was brought to Vista. That'd just be hillariously ironic.

    [ Parent ]
  • 15 replies beneath your current threshold.