Vista Likely to Suffer Another Delay

In spite of the assurances made by Microsoft's representatives that Windows Vista would be available to users in January 2007, Gartner's analysts warn of a possible new delay.

The software company had announced in March that Vista would be available in November 2006, but only for businesses, this measure being aimed at giving them time to implement the new operating system, while users will get their hands on the new OS starting January 2007.

Gartner believes that Windows Vista will be available somewhere in the second quarter of 2007, this being due to the necessary time after the Beta 2 is released.

"Don't tie your future too close to Microsoft's expected release dates for Windows. Microsoft cannot accurately predict them more than a few months out, and organisations that are too reliant on Microsoft' making shipment dates are leaving themselves open to excessive risk," Gartner analysts say.

The same analysis company mentions that for Windows XP, it took five months from the second beta to the RTM (ready to manufacture) version, and that Vista is far more complex than that. Gartner gives Windows 2000 as an example, this OS requiring 16 months since the Beta 2 was released.

Microsoft doesn't agree with the forecasts made by Gartner and states that Vista will be available as planned.

"We respectfully disagree with Gartner's views around timing of the final delivery of Windows Vista. We remain on track to deliver Windows Vista Beta 2 in the second quarter and to deliver the final product to volume license customers in November 2006 and to other businesses and consumers in January 2007," the Redmond company says in an e-mail sent to BetaNews.