Microsoft: No PC-to-PC Sync in Vista

In the seemingly never-ending list of features to be stripped from Windows Vista, yet another has fallen by the wayside. Microsoft made a decision to remove PC-to-PC synchronization from Windows Vista, Microsoft Watch reported on Wednesday.

The feature, which would have allowed a user to synchronize files between two Vista computers, was removed from Beta 2 in late May when it was first shipped to industry partners and developers.

Microsoft officials are saying that PC-to-PC sync was removed out of quality concerns. The company said that the application was not "at the quality level our customers demand" and thus was dropped. However, Microsoft is still interested in eventually providing the functionality, but did not specify as to when this would occur.

Vista is expected to be released to manufacturing sometime in the fall, likely October, with availability to volume licensees in November. A wide-scale release is planned for January 2007. However, the results of the Beta 2 release could change this timetable, and Vista's launch date could potentially slide again.

Cutting functionality from Vista is nothing new. In August 2004, Microsoft announced that its WinFS file system would not ship with the operating system. Last year Microsoft cut its scripting shell "Monad" -- now branded Windows PowerShell -- from both Vista and Longhorn Server.