New version of Windows planned for 2006
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Microsoft Corp., world&#39;s largest software maker, announced yesterday that it will release the next version of Windows operating system, code-named Longhorn, in the second half of 2006.
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Updated OS, new consumer products expected to be introduced next month.
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Microsoft seems to be on track to release the next version of Windows on schedule.
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Microsoft vows to release the next version of Windows by the end of 2006 - but  without some key components.
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Microsoft is targeting late 2006 for the release of Longhorn, the long-awaited and ambitious successor to Windows XP. A server version is slated for 2007.
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Microsoft is in a throw-it-off-the-train state of mind these days in regard to its Windows operating system features. It&#39;s announced that Longhorn will ship by 2006 -- but without its much-ballyhooed WinFS subsystem.
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AT&amp;T&#39;s chief information officer Hossein Eslambolchi has set up a team to assess Windows operating system alternatives and will make a final decision by 2006.
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SilentChris writes &quot;According to CNet, Microsoft is revising their plan for Longhorn. In addition to scaling back WinFS, they will also have separate releases of Avalon (the new graphical system) and Indigo
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Microsoft has announced that start shipping its next version of its Windows operating system in 2006. However to meet the new tight deadline a number of technical innovations will have to be dropped from the OS.
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Windows XP users have until early next year to update business systems and applications before the operating system&#39;s Service Pack (SP) 2 is fully unleashed.
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Microsoft has announced plans to deliver Longhorn, the next version of the Windows desktop client, in 2006. But to meet this deadline, Longhorn will not include some previously announced features, such as the WinFS storage subsystem.
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The next version of the Windows operating system, Microsoft Corp.&#39;s (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) flagship product, will ship in 2006, the world&#39;s largest software maker said on Friday.
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(InfoWorld) - AfterÂ several delays, it appears Microsoft may get theÂ next generation of its Windows operating system to customers according to its current schedule. As was expected, the company made Windows Vista Release Candidate 1 available on Friday, which means the OS is in its final round of bug fixes and tweaks before it will be ready for release to the general public. Windows Vista RC1 is available to TechBeta and Technology Adoption Program (TAP) program subscribers Friday, but MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network) and TechNet subscribers won't get the OS until next week, Microsoft said. Microsoft has said since March that Vista will be available to business users in November and consumers in January 2006. With the last major upgrade to Windows, Windows XP, it was about two months between RC1 and the product's release to manufacturing. If Vista follows a similar schedule, with RC1 out Friday, the release to manufacturing -- and a release to business customers -- could happen as soon as early November. OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) typically need about six weeks to get the OS installed and tested on PCs before putting those machines on the market. If Windows Vista makes it to manufacturing by the end of November, it could hit its January release date for consumers. Online retailer Amazon.com isÂ already taking pre-orders for Vista, and has listed availability of the OS as Jan. 30, 2007 on its Web site. In a letter to TechBeta subscribers on Friday, Jim Allchin, Microsoft co-president of the Platforms and Services Group, thanked them for their support and feedback, and mentioned several improvements to the OS that have been made since Beta 2 was released in May. "Weâve made some UI [user interface] adjustments, added more device drivers and enhanced performance," Allchin wrote in the letter. He added that Microsoft will continue to work on Vista's "application compatibility, as well as fit and finish" until its release to manufacturing, which is yet to be determined. Allchin also advised ISVs (independent software vendors) to use RC1 to certify its applications to run on Windows Vista, and asked for more feedback from testers to improve the OS before its final release. "Windows Vista is going to touch hundreds of millions of lives all around the world," he wrote. "Thanks for everything youâre doing to help us give them the best experience possible." Allchin's letter is available on theÂ Windows Vista team blog .
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The next version of the Windows operating system, Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT.O) flagship product, will ship in 2006, the world's largest software maker said on Friday.
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Also: Microsoft plans new BizTalk release for this year. [News.com Extra]
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(InfoWorld) - Forget the "7" code name, which was already out there, or the 2010 release date, which was also neither new nor -- based on Microsoft's lately abysmal record with hitting major release dates -- exactly set in stone. The most concrete news to come out of Microsoft's well-executed leak of a few sparse details about the next version of Windows is that it will continue to come in both 32- and 64-bit editions. That will cause many Windows users, primarily businesses, to sigh with relief. PC vendors and large software makers, who see more-powerful 64-bit PCs as key to driving demand for both hardware and software in an increasingly Web-centric world, are likely to have a very different reaction. Bits of the solution The number of bits determines how large the chunks of data a component of the PC can process, which determines how much data it can handle and ultimately howÂ  fast it can perform. For instance, '80s-era PCs with hybrid 8/16-bit architectures were limited to a maximum of 64KB of RAM. In contrast, a modern PC running a 32-bit version of Windows XP can utilize up to 4GB of RAM. Meanwhile, 64-bit versions of Windows XP and Vista can support up to 128GB of physical RAM and 16TB of almost-as-fast virtual memory. Combined, the two techniques can offer steep performance boosts for software ported from 32-bit to 64-bit. And they enable software such as database-driven or multimedia applicationsÂ  that were formerly infeasible on 32-bit PCs. Since 2004, 64-bit processors for desktop PCs have been available from Advanced Micro Devices and Intel. Microsoft followed, releasing 64-bit versions of XP and Windows Server 2003 in the middle of the following year. But while 64-bit server adoption roars along, the process has been much slower on the desktop side. 32-bit software and drivers can be buggy or demonstrate scant performance improvement in 64-bit environments. Those problems can arise even if users are simply moving from 32- to 64-bit editions of the same version of Windows, such as XP. When under-the-hood changes don't result in better performance, customers will be happy tweaking what they already have. For instance, during Microsoft's quarterly financial forecast last week, the company lowered its year-ahead forecast for Vista shipments vs. XP, from 85 percent/15 percent to 78 percent/22 percent. From 16 to 32, a smooth move The last time around, Microsoft was gentle in moving users from 16-bit to 32-bit, taking a decade to complete the transition. Starting with 1990's Windows 3.0 and finishing with 2000's Windows ME, Microsoft released five versions of Windows supporting both 16-bit and 32-bit. In comparison, Windows 7 will be only the third Windows version, after 64-bit XP's arrival in 2005, to sport dual 32/64-bit compatibility. Apple has a similar hybrid strategy. Its upcoming Mac OS X 10.5, a.k.a. "Leopard," is a true 64-bit environment that will ostensibly also offer full compatibility with 32-bit applications on, for instance, older PowerPC-based Mac hardware. Companies, especially those running esoteric or in-house-written applications, will be the happiest to hear that Windows 7 will still support 32-bit software, since it will allow them to avoid expensive rewrites if they decide to upgrade. It will also be welcomed by Microsoft salespeople, systems integrators, and value-added resellers, who will have more options to offer cost-conscious customers. PC makers and big independent software vendors who may have hoped that Microsoft would push customers harder to 64-bit will be the least happy. 64-bit enables developers to add features and let desktop applications run much faster. Those are much-needed differentiators, now that users are taking serious looks at software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications such as Google Office. Similarly, because SaaS applications' performance is more dependent upon the Web site's architecture and the user's broadband link, they don't require ultrapowerful PCs. That could remove the need for users to upgrade -- hurting the PC market, or so fear vendors.
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Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) will drop a much-touted new technology for organizing and storing data when it releases the next version of its Windows operating system as expected in 2006...