Windows

Microsoft is pushing hard to get its next-generation Windows operating system ready for a public launch in January, but now it has a new hurdle: the European Commission has raised concerns about Vista. The Redmond company said a delay may occur if the EU demands changes to the product.

Microsoft has had a tumultuous relationship with the European Union after being found guilty of violating antitrust laws in March 2004. The Commission long accused the company of not complying with the ruling, while Microsoft has responded by publicly chiding regulators for ignoring key information.

Microsoft on Tuesday further elaborated on its plans for RC1 of Windows Vista, including a confirmation of its planned retail pricing for the next-generation operating system and plans to expand the Customer Preview program (CPP) to five million testers.

The long holiday weekend also gave testers and pundits a chance to pour over Redmond's latest build of Vista, and some of Microsoft's biggest supporters had harsh words for the software maker.

Microsoft's long, strange trip with Windows Vista came closer to an end Friday as the company released the first release candidate of its next-generation operating system. Windows client vice president Jim Allchin, who plans to retire after Vista's release, made the announcement in an e-mail to TechNet subscribers.

"It's official -- RC1 is done," Allchin said. "We could not have achieved this milestone without your support. The quantity and quality of feedback and data we received from you has been essential to helping us progress."

Online retailer Amazon.com has begun to accept pre-orders for Windows Vista, which it says "will be released on January 30, 2007." The company is charging $399 USD for the Ultimate Edition of Vista, $239 USD for Home Premium and $199 USD for Home Basic. Vista Business is priced at $299 USD.

While Amazon frequently lists products before they become available and shipping dates are often an estimate, the pricing usually does not change. Microsoft also appears to be planning a new "Additional License" pack to go along with Vista, which includes just a Product Key and enables customers to use Vista on a second computer. On Amazon, however, pricing for the license pack is only $10 to $20 less than the full retail Vista packages.

Despite initially saying it wouldn't be made public, Microsoft late Monday released Windows Vista Build 5536 for download by those who had signed up for the Beta 2 Customer Preview Program. The catch: only 100,000 visitors will be able to download before the links are deactivated.

5536 is a pre-RC1 build, which was released last week and received rave reviews from even Vista's harshest critics. The decision to offer public downloads was seemingly made in order to test the infrastructure before RC1 makes its official public debut. After being unable to handle the demand for Vista Beta 2, Microsoft has tapped Akamai to host the first release candidate.

A glitch on the Microsoft Canada Web site has apparently let slip Microsoft's planned prices for Windows Vista, indicating the Redmond company intends to charge as much as $299 CDN for its top-of-the-line upgrade to Ultimate Edition, and $499 CDN if users wish to purchase the full version.

Canadian prices are typically higher than their American equivalents. Thus, it can be expected that Windows Vista pricing in the United States would be lower. However, it does show that Microsoft stands to make considerably more money if it can convince computer users that upgrading to higher-end versions is worthwhile.

Microsoft on Friday announced a new beta build of Windows Vista, which serves as an interim update while the company finalizes Release Candidate 1. Build 5536 is available to technical beta testers and MSDN subscribers, and includes a number of quality improvements.

"This interim build is not widely distributed (you'll have to wait for RC1) but does serve to underscore the progress the Dev and Test teams have made since Beta 2, while also confirming that we're still on track for the release of RC1 in the near future," wrote Microsoft product manager Nick White on the Vista Team Blog.

Microsoft is endeavoring to put out fires caused by what it says was a misstatement by a senior program manager who claimed 32-bit versions of Windows Vista would not support high-definition protected content, including HD DVD and Blu-ray. Nothing has changed, the company says.

At a session during TechEd 2006 in Sydney Thursday, Microsoft's Steve Riley asserted that because 32-bit versions of Windows must support unsigned drivers being loaded into the kernel, the company could not ensure that HD movies would be copy protected. In turn, only x64 versions of Vista would support commercial movies, he said.

Microsoft disclosed at TechEd 2006 in Sydney Thursday that 32-bit versions of Windows Vista would never support high-definition protected content, including HD DVD and Blu-ray movies. The new formats will require 64-bit systems running the x64 edition of Vista.

The news, first reported by Australian tech publication APC Magazine, may come as a surprise to many Windows users looking to take advantage of the high-definition support with their current hardware. For example, Intel's Core Solo and Core Duo chips -- included in many laptops -- are not 64-bit compatible.

Although Microsoft is fond of saying that Windows Vista is the most secure operating system ever, a member of the operating system's security team disclosed this week that the OS will be the first beta product to be serviced by security updates. At least two of the patches from this month's Patch Tuesday are also intended for Vista.

Fix MS06-042, the cumulative patch for Internet Explorer, and the fix for MS06-051, concerning a vulnerability in the Windows kernel, have been updated to include a version of the patch for Vista Beta 2 systems. Both flaws are rated "critical."

Brushing off feedback from testers and pundits to push back the first release candidate of Windows Vista and issue a third beta instead, Microsoft confirmed Thursday that RC1 was on the way. Product Manager Nick White says Microsoft will re-open the Vista beta program for the release.

In addition, customers who participated in the Customer Preview Program for Beta 2 will automatically receive RC1, and those who missed the opportunity will have another. "I know you're excited. So am I -- and I'm using a newer build (5505)!" said White. "More news when it's available." Windows Vista RC1 is expected in the coming weeks.

Microsoft announced Tuesday that it would ship Windows Speech Recognition in eight languages as part of Windows Vista, the first time its flagship operating system would include the technology. Vista users will be able to issue commands and dictate text in applications.

The Redmond company also plans to integrate Speech Server 2007 into Office Communications Server 2007, canceling the individual product. However, Microsoft says it will continue to support current Speech Server 2004 customers until 2014.

The annual Black Hat conference in Las Vegas plays host to the world's top hackers and security professionals, who come together to discuss the industry and delve into code. Microsoft is playing a major role at this year's event, inviting attendees to find holes in Windows Vista.

A Vista beta build was handed out to about 3,000 experts on Thursday in hopes they will uncover flaws before the operating system is completed later this year. Microsoft's director of security outreach, Andrew Cushman, also gave a talk about the security enhancements added in Vista, telling the crowd, "We're here to show our work."

With Windows Vista nearing its first release candidate in preparation for a final launch early next year, Microsoft is providing more details about possible upgrade paths. Of note: Windows 2000 cannot be upgraded to Vista.

While Windows 2000 Professional customers may purchase a cheaper "upgrade" copy of Microsoft next-generation operating system, Windows Vista must be "clean installed," which means users will need to back up their files and data manually and then copy everything into place. Applications will also need to be re-installed.

At its annual financial analysts meeting, Microsoft would not commit to shipping Vista in the January 2007 timeframe it had announced in March. The uncertainty caused the Redmond company's already lagging stock price to drop another two percent Thursday, although it had recouped some of those losses Friday.

Platforms & Services co-president Kevin Johnston, while saying there was nothing to prevent Vista from shipping in January, responded to questions of possible future delays by saying Microsoft was taking it "milestone by milestone." Seemingly echoing earlier comments by Bill Gates, Johnston told attendees "we will ship Windows Vista when it's ready."