Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft, Commercial
Microsoft on Vista: It's done!
by Jordan Running Nov 8th 2006 at 3:20PM
This morning Windows chief Jim Allchin held a conference call to announce that Microsoft has declared Windows Vista complete. "It's rock solid and we're ready to ship. This is a good day," he said of Microsoft signing off on the final code. CNet gives us a little timeline, reminding us that it's been five years since Windows XP debuted and three years since detailed "Longhorn"--Vista's codename--plans were first revealed. Now Microsoft will release the OS to PC manufacturers and gear up for its release to business customers on November 30 and consumers on January 30. It's still waiting, however, for a few straggling hardware makers to finish their Vista drivers. Microsoft is planning a release press conference on November 30 for Vista and Office 2007. The champagne is undoubtedly flowing fast in Redmond today.[Thanks, Jeff!]
So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do.
Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game.
The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Steven said 3:52PM on 11-08-2006
"It's rock solid.... "
Yeah, this statement will be proved false the first day of the release.
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D said 4:27PM on 11-08-2006
#1 I don't know. I've been playing around with the beta versions and it is a nice improvement over xp in some ways. Now don't get me wrong, I would never, never roll this thing out for production until a service pack or two and even then only if there was a really good reason to upgrade. However for home use it has enough new functionality for me to give it a go.
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Mosh Jahan said 4:20PM on 11-08-2006
Oh dear here we go. Let's not get carried away and take "rock solid" literally, it's just an expression meaning it is more stable than any previous version. And of course there will be bugs found, but just watch the anti-Microsoft crowd make a big deal out of the slightest faults.
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Will said 5:33PM on 11-08-2006
I have the RC1 on a Dell laptop, and on the MacPro at home, using parallels, and I have to say that while the extra window dressing is nice, I haven't found that Vista is all that much easier to use than XP. I'm not enough of an expert to gauge if it's more secure, but here's hoping. So really I can't see spending any extra to install this on an existing system.
The sad part though is that most people will go nuts to buy new computers, and buy upgrades when it gets released, since the majority of computer uses have no clue, and just want it because it looks pretty.
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Count Clamula said 12:16PM on 11-09-2006
I want it because I am a techie, I want change and love Windows. Linux and Macs are fighting a losing battle. Of course there will be bugs and since you don't have much of a choice other than trying to do a better job than them suck it up or go back to using a typewriter. If the world wasn't full of scum bags we wouldn't need to worry about hacked up flaws, since it is though it is good that Microsoft does what they can to give us free updates and fight off the scum. Everyone loves to wine about Microsoft, the world needs less winers and more positive people. Get over it already as 99% of you that love to wine about it will use it to do something productive and then jump on your geek Lnux noob long hair geek friends blog and bad mouth it. And the Apple crowd-- jeez what a bunch of biased queers. There is always one or two in an office driving some gay electric car with horn rimmed glasses trying to be differant that wants to be connected to the network with their glorious Macs, I love telling them no way are you using that on this network- sorry you wasted your money on it, you can use it at home to make a jpg though. Nerdfest
Microsoft doesn't care if you buy it and are happy or you buy it and wine- fact is most of you will buy it regardless or you could go back to dos or use one of the other O.S. choices and get left in the wind. Kinda like all the unemployed Novell engineers.
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Moore said 11:05AM on 11-09-2006
Count Clamula, as I gay man, I object to your pejorative use of the word "queer."
Also... the word is "whine," not "wine."
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Moore said 1:34PM on 11-09-2006
I still object, Clamula, to your usage of "queer" and "gay."
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Fabulo said 6:35PM on 11-09-2006
Mr. Clamula sounds like he is 16. Or maybe has some brain function altering disorder.
Unfortunately for Microsoft, waiting 5 years for a lukewarm update to XP is not going to be good for busimess. Just as adding more MHz does not add a lot of value anymore (I do remember how slow my 486 was. yet, it was so much faster than my 386~!), Windows 2000 and Office 2000 are, for most people, good enough.
And if it was not for the spectre of virus and crapware, and the dreaded threat of being "not supported" anymore, most people would not have any incentive to update.
Transparent window frames? Support for huge icons? Is there any earth shattering new feature in Vista? Honnestly, the 3 year old Longhorn preview looks alot nore exciting.
Of course, Vista will be a huge succes, just from OEM/Corporate licenses (94% of all windows sales) since manufacturers will have Vista pre-installed before shipping. The consumer, us, won't have a choice. (except maybe nagging dell until they ship some hardware with no OS installed. That would be a boon)
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