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Haven't you heard, let your yes be yes and your no be no.
And may 2006 mean 2006, oh you in a house of glass Windows!
Its just silly to think Microsoft would do a 60% code re-write just before Beta 2 hits when they are also suppose to RTM Vista sometime in the fall.
Personally, this kind of thing always appears when Microsoft announces something folks don't want to hear like a delay. What I don't get is Microsoft is getting more feedback with Vista than with any other Windows release - feedback that may have played a part in the delay - why is this a bad thing? Microsoft is listening to us finally by wanting to take in our feedback. For me, if taking in my feedback means a bit of a delay and more stable OS, I'm all for it.
The idea that we are gonna rewrite 60% of Windows in a few months is just hogwash. If we could do that we'd already have shipped.
You should be comfortable that you don't need to acknowledge this idiot and just move on. And don't be surprised at some hysteria and conspiracy theories.
"But you know, at this point I’ve been unable to succesfully install and use any version of the Windows Vista CTPs, or IE 7. If Vista was really six months away from shipping, it would be a lot more finished, the way that any of those previous versions of Windows were at this stage. Anybody who had tried Vista would have been able to come to the same conclusion I did."
This is especially true, given how you've promoted Vista's features (over XP) to the extent that you have. Is XP that bad?
With that said, I think the 60% quote is pretty ridiculous, given the 6-month timeframe. On the other hand, the timeframe's we've been given in the past, in retrospect, seem pretty ridiculous, Alex's post seems to point this out (and it sounds like you may agree).
It would be really great to see MS underpromise and overdeliver, instead of the other way around. Has that happened, with any MS product (schedule OR features), and I missed it? XP? SQL Server? MSN? Origami?
The closest I can find is the IE7 beta, which brought with it such horrible misbehavior in Outlook Express that I promptly uninstalled it. As others have suggested, it might be nice to see Apple/Linux perform better in the marketplace, simply because MS always seems to respond best when pushed by a serious competitor.
At the moment, you have no serious competitor (economically speaking) in the OS space, and the results speak for themselves. You compete only against yourself, and as others have observed, if you push the ship date back 6-12 months... nothing (signficantly) negative happens to your company.
Oh... to have a business model where this is possible.
Tim
I think most of us were ignoring that story as you suggested until it got picked up by The Inquirer and posted on dozens of news sites with absolutely zero basis in fact.
Robert if you want Creative to work, here is a document about which files to use... When it actually works it is better than in XP!
http://neosmart.net/blog/?p=104
Hope it helps!
-CG
Somehow I'm sure you won't dig further into the issue. You are nothing more than a PR schill, plain and simple. This whole Vista episode proves it beyond a doubt.
This blog has become completely worthless over the last 3 months. Mini Microsoft goes overboard on the vitriol, but at least a reader can gain some insight.
You are nothing more than a troll, plain and simple. Are you here looking for answers, or just want to prove how macho you are?
What else is there to say on the slip? I said it was done for quality reasons. That matches what I've heard since then. I haven't seen any incorrect reporting that I needed to reply to. But today I wake up and see a totally factually incorrect story at the top of Memeorandum.
I guess you just want to stick up for incorrectness?
As to Mini-Microsoft, what, exactly are you learning there? I'm learning that there's a bunch of pissed off people. Surpise, suprise.
w2ed: I hear there are no Xbox programmers who've been moved to Windows. Hope that helps.
Robert, if the slip was for quality reasons, then it should be applauded by anyone with a vested interest in Microsoft, whether they are stockholders or end users. The only people who should be upset that Microsoft is giving themselves more time to build a quality product (giving MS the benefit of the doubt) are their competitors.
Btw, I'm Australian and have never heard of that 'smarthouse' site before and gotta say it looks pretty dodgy. Have you looked at the other articles they've got? I think they've been just screaming for attention for a while and finally got it.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/03/24/76795...
You can't expect to get complete candor in that situation. You're not really on the inside any more.
And not to be a snark, but are you really still psyched about the Origami boxes? Cuz if you are, you're the only one I can think of.
I appreciate your enthusiasm though.
And "not being on the inside?" Bullshit. Absolute bullshit. And, anyway, in a world of anonymity anyone can post here and provide facts to the otherwise. It's very easy to verify whether an OS is getting rewritten. Talk to Neowin. They tear apart every build of Windows Vista looking for changes in the compiled code.
That's sorta like the difference between saying:
Bonch won a million dollars
Or
It's possible that Bonch won a million dollars
Now, just because this Australian report seem to lack credibility, doesn't mean Vista is in trouble. Already we are hearing the release dates may not be as firm as the pr folks would like you to believe. But this is multiple sourced and has a higher level of credibility.
The Microsoft Ultra-Mobile PC booth was busy even when almost all attendees were in sessions. This was the first opportunity I had to see many of the models, although I've been pulling information as I could for my Web site devoted to UMPCs.
Vista will be judged by how good it is. Windows 2000 was even later than Vista (I was on the beta) and it went on to be one of the best versions of Windows ever and that's how it's remembered.
I'm using Vista on my Tablet PC now and I like it a lot. I can't stand using XP anymore, even though Vista is a bit rough on some machines due to lack of driver support.
Basically, it's another way of saying that the project has failed. You'll ship SP4 and call it "vista", and you'll probably fool a lot people, but we know how throughly the Evil Empire screwed the pooch on this one.
"Windows 2000 was even later than Vista"
Nope. Longwind is six years late, and that doesn't change just because you admitted it last year and announced a new, later ship date.
Saying "have to be" is totally false too. Vista is running just fine on my Tablet PC. If that much code needed to be rewritten then my machine wouldn't even work.
This is far more than a new service pack. A service pack doesn't have a new networking stack. It doesn't have new UI. It doesn't have a new audio stack. It doesn't have sizeable kernel changes.
You know what? I think you all are being paid by a competitor just to try to cause crap in my comments. That's OK. You're not trustworthy NOR are you credible. Have a nice evening.
This story just has no basis in fact, as soon as I saw it I ran it through several people before writing what I did on BetaNews. I don't have the source list that some people may have inside Microsoft, but those I talked to who do say this is just impossible by the amount of work it would take to rewrite that code.
It's a shame more outlets in the tech media aren't calling this out for the BS that it is. To those who are coming on here and just spewing the anti-Microsoft line... before you do, think of what you're saying. What SmartHouse is saying is fact could not possibly true. It's taken 5 years to get the code right for Vista.. rewrite 60 percent of it.. and Vista wouldn't be out until 2008, if not later.
Six years late? You thought Longhorn was going to ship before XP?
Seriously dude, put down the crack pipe.
What's less credible than a journalist? A PR flack!
Mr Raymond Vardanega, the Marketing Director, of Acer Australia has confirmed independently of SmartHouse Magazine that Microsoft is having major problems with its Vista operating system. He said "The decision to delay Vista into the consumer market will have an impact on hardware sales particularly in the Media Centre market. We have been told that Microsoft has bought in programmers from the Xbox team to work on the problems. We have also been told that up to 60% of the code will have some form of re writing or changes made. We are told that Microsoft is concerned at the impact that the delay will have on hardware manufacturers. We have raised our concerns directly with Microsoft".
http://www.smarthouse.com.au/Computing/Software...
If only the same standard were held to doctors... and presidents...
> Sidebar: this is irresponsible journalism. The journalist who wrote this should
> be fired. Plain up.
>
> Comment by scobleizer
doodoo, this Australian report which loosed a whirlwind was not journalism as I define it. No second sourcing, no attempt to get a MSFT exec, or even a PR flak, on the record.
The Wash Post, back in the days, spent a few sleepless nights because woodstein's scoops weren't being followed by the NYT or anyone else. I'm certainly not comparing this Australian bunch with the Wash Post, but there is some comfort in moving within a pack. If next week this rumor remains unconfirmed by any other news organization, we can safely put this "story" to rest.
Let's not take rumor-mongering and pass it off as journalism. We have enough problems maintaining a level of public credibility.
I'm not really too bothered one way or another on this story, but if the best Scoble can do to refute is to refer to an individual who:
A. Is a PR operative, and
B. Doesn't actually work inside MS
..the it's Scoble whom I can't believe!
They may not be moving Xbox programmers to move over to the Window's team, but, do they not need someone to program the 360's Media Center upgrade which is currently not included in the CTP?
Sure, 60% of code may not need to be re-written, but, isn't it said that alot of code is 'tweaked'?
Looking over all the feedback on Microsoft's beta site, I notice there are alot of small things here and there. A spelling error here, duplicate icons there, MSN not rendering right in IE7 (that was an OLD problem, which is resolved). But, I can see where this idea of a large amount of code being changed stems from. But, I do not see it at 60%, that is just outright stupid.
For the installation of the CTP as one person mentioned, are you using Staged (sysprep'd) builds or unstaged? If you are using a Staged build, there could be problems. Try using the unstaged, which are slower, but are bound to work better.
On another note... my town needs to fix a pothole on main street before the parade this weekend. In response the town said that the state is going to re-pave every road in the state tonight and be done before the parade starts tomorrow.