MS OS NEWS: Windows Vista

[confus-ed]

Gee, -ed! Sounds like you have some reservations about Microsoft's Next Great Thing..

I'm just remembering I guess .. windows 95 was promised with most of win98's features, 98 with most of xp's, & xp seems to be what 98 was supposed to be ..

Vista was originally supposed to ship in 2003 - so I guess I'm inadvertently making the point, that what's promised & delivered are definately different stuff & that Mr Jones statement is already BS !

As for your concerns about DRM - oh yeah baby , that is one of the things stopping them rolling it out

[TechZ]

Microsoft plans to market several versions of Vista but will distribute all of the OS bits with every product shipped so users can easily unlock and step up to more full-featured versions using electronic keys, sources said. "No matter which edition you buy you get all the bits and a key to unlock it. Everyone will have all the bits," said one source familiar with Microsoft's plans. "Right now we maintain master images for each version of Windows XP and it's a lot of work. Now there's just one master image."

Having a master Windows Vista operating system means customers that buy PCs preloaded with one Vista SKU, Home Basic, for example, will be able to punch their credit card into a Microsoft Web site to unlock Vista Home Premium and more speedily deploy media center features without an on-site visit or requiring a wipe and reload of the system. The impact on the channel will be "huge" since partners will no longer have to support multiple Windows images for each customer or do reloads, sources familiar with Microsoft's plans said this week. It will also make up-selling much easier and vastly expand channel opportunities, the sources said.

Full story: CRN

[confus-ed]

.. oh no, more activation ? :-

..the installation and WPA [Windows Product Activation] process will match the product key to the version you paid for..

[TechZ]

Microsoft silently announced that the x64 version of Windows Vista will require all kernel-mode code to be digitally signed. This is very different than the current WHQL program, where the user ultimately decides how they want to handle unsigned drivers:

Vista driver developers must obtain a Publisher Identity Certificate (PIC) from Microsoft. Microsoft says they won't charge for it, but they require that you have a Class 3 Commercial Software Publisher Certificate from Verisign. This costs $500 per year, and as the name implies, is only available to commercial entities.

Also, drivers must be signed for devices that stream protected content. This includes audio drivers that use Protected User Mode Audio (PUMA) and Protected Audio Path (PAP), and video device drivers that handle protected video path-output protection management (PVP-OPM) commands.

[confus-ed]

M$ are making the least noise they can about this & with good reason, & its all to do with DRM or more correctly, them implementing full systemwide DRM control & not you as an individual making your own choices ..

XP is pretty much a pirate's dream as you can untangle any DRM stuff without too much problem, but if we start getting device drivers signed & desined for the 'trusted computing platform' that we'll get shortly when EFI (extensible Firmware Interface) replaces bios, then getting around any DRM restrictions will be far harder, if possible at all ..

The net effect of this change will be to change DRM from you 'should be doing this' into 'you can't do that, or that, only what we allow ..' .. ! BAD but sadly inevetible methinks

[TechZ]

Allchin willing to delay Windows Vista for quality

Microsoft Corp. has finished development on Windows Vista and expects to ship the product by the end of the year, around the same time venerated Windows development leader Jim Allchin said he will retire from the company. But Allchin said Friday he is willing to put off both of those events if Windows Vista doesn't reach a standard of quality with which he is comfortable.

"Where we sit today, things are going according to plan, and we’re feeling very good," Microsoft's Co-President of the Platforms, Products & Services Division said during an interview in San Francisco. "But I always like to preface that as I did with Windows 2000, Windows XP: quality is the thing that will dictate if we’re ready to go. So if we have any problems in quality, I'll slip this product. It's the thing that is at the top of my mind."

Full story: InfoWorld


Windows Vista editions will not ship on the same media

Following previously reported articles that Windows Vista editions will ship on the same media, this has been corrected by Jim Allchin, Copresident of Microsoft's Platform Products & Services Division: Allchin said that—contrary to some published reports—Microsoft will not be shipping the bits for all of its different Vista packages on a single CD. Microsoft would like to be able to do so, but "timing" is holding the company back, Allchin said.

Instead, the company will be making Vista available under a new "Windows Anytime Upgrade" plan, which will allow customers to move more easily between different SKUs of the product when they are ready to upgrade. Allchin did not offer further details on that licensing mechanism.

News source: Bink.nu


Microsoft revamps Vista testing schedule

Microsoft has tweaked its testing schedule for Windows Vista as it tries to get the operating system update out by the end of 2006. Rather than have a formal test version labeled "Beta 2," the company is now aiming for a series of test releases this year. Each will be aimed at getting feedback from a specific audience, Windows chief Jim Allchin said in an interview this week with CNET News.com.

An update to the current Community Technology Preview program, set for release sometime this quarter, will serve as the version that Microsoft wants corporations to test. The software maker said in December that it was targeting February for the next CTP release. Next quarter, the company will release a "customer preview program" that will give early-adopter consumers a chance to get their hands on Vista, though Microsoft has not said how broad that program will be.

Full story: C|Net News


Allchin: Buy Vista for the security

Microsoft has already touted the bells and whistles it is putting into Windows Vista, the operating system successor to XP that's due out by the end of the year. There will be flashy new graphics, a spiffed-up user interface and advanced search features. Other changes include improved touch-screen support and a Windows sidebar that can display all kinds of information such as upcoming appointments, just-in e-mail messages and a clock. But if none of that strikes your fancy, Vista will still be worth getting, thanks to its better defences against phishing attacks, spyware and other malicious code, Allchin said.

"Safety and security is the overriding feature that most people will want to have Windows Vista for," the co-president of Microsoft's platform, products and services division said in an interview with ZDNet Australia sister site CNET News.com. "Even if they are not into home entertainment or in any of the specialty areas, they are just going to feel safer and more secure by using it."

Full story: ZDNet AU

[confus-ed]

Following previously reported articles that Windows Vista editions will ship on the same media, this has been corrected by Jim Allchin, Copresident of Microsoft's Platform Products & Services Division: Allchin said that—contrary to some published reports—Microsoft will not be shipping the bits for all of its different Vista packages on a single CD. Microsoft would like to be able to do so, but "timing" is holding the company back, Allchin said..

Bah - corporate double talk b.s !

M$ woke up to the fact that shipping full copies of vista & allowing those to get loose on machines where they can't control DRM fully, was kind of asking for trouble, but oh no they can't just 'cough to that', because it might highlight just how powerful & restrictive their intended DRM regime will be ..

[TechZ]

We need a viable alternative to DRM...they are scared to bits of letting software out without sufficient control, and they tend to over do it, but can we blame them? I dont think so, BUT there is a fine limit in control, and going overboard...

[confus-ed]

Yeah I think what you just said is bang on the money ... but I just can't shake that 'big brother will be watching everything' feeling ..

The trouble is only Geeks are in a position to understand just what all of this means in personal freedom terms - the mass market won't, but they'll soon be bitchin' when they can't make their favourite tracks play in the car or wherever without getting M$'s 'approval' first via some 'spies in the sky' ..

The whole notion is about protecting commercial copyright considerations, & not about making anything better for any individual or even corporation in 'betterness' terms & I just think that sucks !!

[rgharper]

Forget crabbing about DRM and Microsoft's right to make a profit - what about the fact that Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 went public today?

[TechZ]

Microsoft confirmed to TG Daily that it will "encourage" system builders to use Error Checking and Correction (ECC) memory modules for Vista computers - rather than the standard DDR devices common in desktop and notebook computers today. Currently, ECC is mainly used in servers and workstations and will not be a Vista requirement, but the technology may increase the stability of the OS.

Microsoft's next-generation Windows has still a few months and pre-releases to go before we will have a good idea what benefits and drawbacks the operating system will offer to users. But details trickling out of Redmond, already suggest that the transition from XP to Vista won't be as easy as from Me or 2000 to XP. Users intending to upgrade have to learn about VDDM (Vista Display Driver Model) drivers, make sure that there is enough CPU and GPU horsepower to run the software and be convinced that a wave of digital rights management (DRM) features isn't as scary in everyday use as on paper.

Full story: TG Daily

If nothing else, it'll help bring down the ECC RAM price, and manufacturers will put more into its R&D

[TechZ]

Microsoft has finalized the members of its next-generation desktop line-up. As expected, standalone Tablet and Media Center Editions are no more. After months of maintaining that it had not yet finalized its Windows Vista line up, Microsoft seems finally to have decided upon a half dozen core Vista versions. According to a posting on its Web site, Microsoft is readying six core Vista packages, or SKUs, plus two additional releases customized for the European Union that won't bundle in Windows Media Player, as ordered by European antitrust regulators.

On the line up are:

Windows Starter 2007;
Windows Vista Enterprise;
Windows Vista Home Basic,
Windows Vista Home Premium,
Windows Vista Ultimate,
Windows Vista Business,
Windows Vista Home Basic N and
Windows Vista Business N.

The "N" releases are those which do not include Media Player. It's not clear whether the Starter release mentioned on Microsoft's site is the same as the current Windows XP Starter Edition product, which is a cut-rate, less fully featured version of Windows tailored for developing countries.

News source: Microsoft Watch

[TechZ]

Instant Windows Vista upgrades are on the way

Today at Ed Bott’s Microsoft Report on ZDNet, I listed some of the upgrade scenarios that will be possible when Windows Vista ships. All three consumer versions - Home Basic, Home Premium, and Ultimate - will be included on the same CD or DVD.

You don’t need to go to the store and purchase a new shrink-wrapped box to upgrade; all you have to do is go to Control Panel and run the Windows Anytime Upgrade program. I’ve just installed Windows Home Basic on a test computer here and snapped some screen shots to show what the process looks like.

Full story: ED Bott's Blog


Why Windows Vista Won't Suck

There's a lot of confusion about Windows Vista these days. Many online discussion forums have a great number of users who express no desire to upgrade to Vista. Sure, we've all seen the screenshots and maybe a video or two of Vista in action, but for many it only seems like new tricks for an old dog. Yeah, it's got some fancy 3D effects in the interface, but OS X has been doing that for years now, and it's still Windows underneath, right? The sentiment seems to be that Vista is another Windows ME—an avoidable upgrade that isn't really going to breathe new life into your computer.

Perhaps part of the problem is that people just don't know what Vista has in store for them. Microsoft has gone big on the very high-level marketing with slogans like "Bringing Clarity to Your World" and has delivered detailed nitty-gritty explanations of the underpinnings to the enthusiast press, but it has done so in a slipshod fashion. We're here to pull it all together and tell you why we're excited about Vista. Here's a list of what's new and improved in Microsoft's next generation OS and why you should care about it.

Full story: ExtremeTech

[confus-ed]

..Windows Vista editions will not ship on the same media
..

..Today at Ed Bott’s Microsoft Report on ZDNet, I listed some of the upgrade scenarios that will be possible when Windows Vista ships. All three consumer versions - Home Basic, Home Premium, and Ultimate - will be included on the same CD or DVD. ..

Errr so which one is it Techz ? I do 'confus-ed-ness' on purpose from time to time .. but I'm sure you ain't suppos-ed to be playing too !

[TechZ]

It seems I'm as confus-ed as you are or more!