Vista launched delayed to 2007

Microsoft Corp. the world's largest software maker announced today that the launch of next version of its much-anticipated Windows Vista operating system is delayed to January 2007. Microsoft had previously targeted Vista's launch in the second half of this year. Microsoft shares fell nearly 3% in evening trading following the news of the delay. However, a version for corporate customers will be available in November this year following which Microsoft will roll out Windows Vista for consumers after the Christmas shopping season.

“Product quality and a great out-of-box experience have been two of our key drivers for Windows Vista, and we are on track to deliver on both,” said Jim Allchin, co-president for the Platforms & Services Division at Microsoft. “But the industry requires greater lead time to deliver Windows Vista on new PCs during holiday. We must optimize for the industry, so we’ve decided to separate business and consumer availability.”

Vista is the first major overhaul of Windows since Microsoft rolled out Windows XP nearly five years ago. Improvement in overall security of the operating System is the major reason for delay as per a Microsoft spokesman. But analysts said this could throw some PC manufacturers and retailers into turmoil. "It's not the optimal situation, to be launching the next-generation version of Windows right after the big holiday sales season," said analyst Joe Wilcox at Jupiter Research.

Microsoft has planned six core offerings of the Vista operating system, based around the way computers are used instead of PC hardware specifications. Three versions of the software will be for home users, two will be for businesses and one will be for emerging markets. No details have been given about the pricing of the separate versions. When Vista eventually hits the market it will be the longest gap between releases of Windows systems.