Windows Vista Overview

Windows Vista was originally expected to ship sometime early in 2006 as a minor step between Windows XP and Windows Blackcomb. Gradually, Vista assimilated many important new features and technologies of Blackcomb.

In August 2004, Microsoft announced that it was making changes to what was then only known as "Longhorn". Microsoft basically started development afresh, building on the Windows Server 2003 codebase. This decision was reached in the wake of Windows XP Service Pack 2. As part of this decision, Microsoft announced that it is delaying the release of WinFS so that Vista could be released in "a reasonable timeframe". Due to this, WinFS will not be included in Windows Vista.

Two beta versions of Windows Vista have been planned, the first released on July 27, 2005, and the second planned for release in Q4 2005, with release candidates to be released throughout 2006. The projected release date is more than five years after the release of Windows XP, making this the longest time span between releases of desktop versions of Microsoft's Windows operating system.

Vista Beta 1 (build 5112) is currently available to Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) subscribers as well as a select group of Microsoft Beta testers and at select Microsoft developer conferences such as the Professional Developers Conference (PDC) and WinHEC. The preview release is classified as a beta version at the moment, although its feature set is not representative of the release product. Like many other products (including all Windows releases since Windows 98), it has since been leaked onto popular networks (file sharing or otherwise) such as IRC, BitTorrent and various newsgroups.

A beta refresh is being given to 2005 PDC attendees and has been released to Microsoft Beta testers with the build number 5219. This refresh contains the Windows Sidebar, which had been removed from previous builds without explanation. Build 5219 is expected to be the closest to Beta 2 the public will see before the actual release of Beta 2 later this year. It is expected to be released December 7th. Microsoft will however release less publicized monthly interim releases to developers during this time.
Posted by Hunt3rke, Wednesday, September 21, 2005 8:26 AM

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