Exclusive: Microsoft Hits Windows Vista Beta 2 Delays

Sources at the company told me this week that Microsoft will soon delay the release of Windows Vista Beta 2 from December 7, 2005 to sometime in January or February 2006. However, because the Vista development schedule is extremely time constrained, the company will try and make up lost time by eliminating one of the planned release candidate (RC) milestones that were planned for later in the process.

A Microsoft representative told me that the company remains on track for shipping Windows Vista in the second half of 2006. "We are on schedule and committed to shipping on time and ensuring a high-quality product," I was told. "Microsoft sets internal targets for the development team around milestones, but these are not commitments to specific dates. We do not comment on these internal milestones and we have not announced a specific timeframe for our next major Windows Vista milestone. "

"That said, customers have told us repeatedly they prefer more frequent code drops through our Community Technology Preview (CTP) program [which] provides a great avenue for real time feedback and testing from our customers--feedback we formerly received only through the beta process. You should expect Microsoft to continue their focus to deliver CTPs in the coming months given how successful this program has been."

Previously, sources had revealed to me that Microsoft would at least delay the release of Windows Vista Beta 2 until late December. This more recent delay suggests that the company is having a difficult time meeting its internal shipping criteria for Beta 2, which is considered a major milestone release and will be made widely available to testers and the public. It's not known at this time whether the delay will affect related product releases such as Internet Explorer (IE) 7.0 Beta 2 and Windows Media Player 11 Beta 1, both of which were also originally set for a December 7 public release.

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Great.

Along with the delay of the OS itself, is the delay of the API documentation and other information that developers need. (Information that other teams with MS most likely have access to.)

PatriotB6007 November 10, 2005 (Article Rating:

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Oh, and thanks for fixing the bug that was preventing comments from being posted with IE6. (I was getting tired of switching to a computer with IE 5.5 just to post a comment!)

PatriotB6007 November 10, 2005 (Article Rating:

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Vista is planned for release in summer of 2006? Yeah right. Beta 2 won't even be out till several months before that, who do they think they're kidding. It would be better to just come out honestly and give a more accurate release date, like fall or Christmas of 2006. That's if all goes well as it is, and no more push backs.

DerekTraver November 10, 2005 (Article Rating:

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Any word if the CTPs might become public since Beta 2 is delayed?

Jason Cox November 10, 2005 (Article Rating:

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This makes me think that Microsoft won't have Vista ready for the Holiday 2006 season. Eliminating an RC milestone also makes me worry. And so far, Vista looks like a minor to evolutionary upgrade to XP, and not the revolutionary change that MS promised. Perhaps Beta 2 will debut some features and updates that change my mind.

mwrisner November 10, 2005 (Article Rating:

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"This makes me think that Microsoft won't have Vista ready for the Holiday 2006 season. Eliminating an RC milestone also makes me worry. And so far, Vista looks like a minor to evolutionary upgrade to XP, and not the revolutionary change that MS promised. Perhaps Beta 2 will debut some features and updates that change my mind."

Well, one of the major "upgrades" won't be visual per say. That feature is security. At least that's what MS says. I guess only time will tell.

MorfiusX November 11, 2005 (Article Rating:

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Despite Microsoft's insistence, I've long suspected that Vista might get delayed to early 2007. I began to think it really might come out on time, but this furthers my doubts.

bonch November 11, 2005 (Article Rating:

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There's no doubt about it, this is to delay the release of Windows Vista for sure.

darrenstraight November 12, 2005 (Article Rating:

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I have spent a considerable amount of time with Beta 1 and although I havent drilled down to the kernel level, the only real enhancements that I can see thus far are all graphical and location of resources. There are also a surprising lack of drivers.

Also being server side, I have seen and heard very little about a vista server side OS.

nickmaccombs November 12, 2005 (Article Rating:

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Don't panic. Life will go well whether Vista RTMs in 2006 or 2007. Actually, all things considered, a 2007 release date is probably better than a 2006. Lets' math:

WinXP came out in 2002. 2007 is about 5 years .. which is about right for a commerical OS run. Furthermore, the bloody things should have a "life relevancy" for at least ten years.

Time periods less than that causes "upgrade fatigue" and market place chaos. So it does not bother me one iota that Vista might not see store shelves until 2007 - as a matter of fact I hope that is the case.

msgstephen November 14, 2005 (Article Rating:

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