14 DAY TRIAL // Expecting Vista has become somewhat of a status quo. One not without aspects of schoolgirl naivet? and fanatic enthusiasm? Yes, I am talking about Steve Ballmer! Now, now, he may be high on Windows Vista Lemon-Lime sparkling water or on a sugar rush, but the Vista trip has turned him into a prophet predicting the Third Coming, (is it third or is it fourth? whose counting, right?). Moreover Microsoft shows increasing signs of decrepitude. Gates went on a philanthropy spree in Africa. Do Bill and Melinda dream of a HIV/AIDS vaccine? And why shouldn't they? They have a whole continent available for beta testing. Bill is willing to sacrifice a couple of billions on an injection, and what's a few million plus or minus African beta testers? Am I right? But Bill is closer to reality than you may think. He proposed an estimated 20% chance that Vista won't ship at the scheduled dates, which actually makes him sound like he did boot a computer this year!!!
But what is the word from the Vista trenches? What's the perspective of the average OS Joe base-code developer from the Vista front? Well, how about Robert Wayne McLaws, President and Chief Software Architect of Interscape Technologies, Inc., a .NET consulting company, and an intimate Microsoft MVP. Although McLaws doesn't speak on the Redmond Company's behalf, "Vista needs more time" is his affirmation and he based it on argument intrinsic to Microsoft's inner workings policies.
"I've been defending Microsoft's ship schedule for Windows Vista for quite some time. Up to this point, I've been confident that Vista would be at the quality level it needs to be by RC1 to make the launch fantastic. Having tested several builds between Beta 2 and today, I hate to say that I no longer feel that way. Beta 2 was a disappointment on many levels. It was nowhere near as stable as it should have been, and was a huge memory hog. Later builds have improved stability and performance, and have introduced visual tweaks and enhancements that make Vista feel more like a finished product," stated McLaws on his Longhorn blog.
Microsoft readies an unfinished product for the rapping sacrificing quality for the sake of meeting deadlines. Because if Vista is to ship to RTM by November, the RC1 will have to be completed by the beginning of September at the very best. Under such circumstances, Windows Media Center won't reach final stage and will require post-launch updating. Other aspects of the operating system also require similar fine tuning in order for the whole to reach a lever befitting the standard of release candidate which Vista if far from. The OS's security is plagued with vulnerabilities; Microsoft has even locked out third party security solutions by implementing an innovative kernel management system. The general system stability and the display driver stabilization are issues yet to be addressed.
Microsoft is currently balancing on a very thin line trying to equilibrate potential long-term emerging issues with short-time impact in a "to launch or not to launch on time" Vista equation. Another delay would be a welcomed breath of fresh air for the development teams working around the clock to perfect the OS. But Microsoft faces massive pressure from the market and from shareholders to avoid additional delays and the inherent financial and stock options loses.
The line is drawn on what can and cannot Microsoft afford out of the two alternatives, or the lesser evil solution. My opinion is that Microsoft will decide to release the RC1 rather than push for another Beta. And I actually hope I'm wrong.