Update: Microsoft Vista Goes Gold

[GomJabbar]

Microsoft has released its Windows Vista operating system to manufacturing, the company has announced.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/ZDM/story?id=2639246


EDIT: Also, in case you missed it:

Microsoft Corp. said Monday it has wrapped up work on its delayed Office 2007 suite and released the code to manufacturing.

http://www.forbes.com/business/commerce ... 50217.html

[jdhurst]

My prediction is that within business, it will be a huge non-event. Who cares. Vista does not run critical business software (VPN issues being one of the largest). So businesses will have to test carefully, and so far, if you strip away the needless Aero interface, you are left with XP very lite (i.e, with an OS that does less than XP). ... JD Hurst

[christopher_wolf]

.....So. I am not getting any more of Vista, certainly not anything lower than Home or any of the lower 6 versions of it, until it comes with a new Thinkpad or I get a coupon, that cuts costs significantly, for it. It will take at least a year, probably more, for business to even start using it, much less take to it easily.

[GomJabbar]

Here are the suggested retail prices for the various Vista editions:
Computerworld: Microsoft's Vista OS released to manufacturing

1) Windows Vista Home Basic is $199, with an upgrade price of $99.95.
2) Windows Vista Home Premium is $239, with an upgrade price of $159.
3) Windows Vista Business is $299, with an upgrade price of $199.
4) Windows Vista Ultimate is $399, with an upgrade price of $259.
5) Volume pricing for Windows Vista Enterprise not yet announced.


Here is a link to Microsoft's site comparing Vista editions:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/g ... fault.mspx

Note that the Aero interface is not included in Home Basic.

[DIGITALgimpus]

If you use an upgrade (which is requiring to install over XP if you use an XP image like thinkpads ship with), your going to get stuck with a lot of problems. Clean install? Yup, pay the full price.

What a mess.

[Kyocera]

Quote from Christopher:

It will take at least a year, probably more, for business to even start using it, much less take to it easily.

It will be a novelty for a while, MS will have to come up with a way to ween people off XP I would think. Maybe offering big discounts for thinkpad users across the globe.

[jdhurst]

If you use an upgrade (which is requiring to install over XP if you use an XP image like thinkpads ship with), your going to get stuck with a lot of problems. Clean install? Yup, pay the full price.

What a mess.

It depends. I have a full NT4 Workstation CD, and that serves as a base for a Windows 2000 or Windows XP upgrade. That is, I can format, install the upgrade OS, and when it says "I need a license", I stuff in my NT4 CD and away I go. Whether this works with Vista remains to be seen. BTW, I verified with my vendor that this approach is legal for an upgrade process and it is. ... JD Hurst

[christopher_wolf]

IRT global discount, isn't that essentially what the coupon for the upgrade to Vista is for?

Or is that just for an "Upgrade" and not an actual fresh install?

[arni]

It depends. I have a full NT4 Workstation CD, and that serves as a base for a Windows 2000 or Windows XP upgrade. That is, I can format, install the upgrade OS, and when it says "I need a license", I stuff in my NT4 CD and away I go. Whether this works with Vista remains to be seen. BTW, I verified with my vendor that this approach is legal for an upgrade process and it is. ... JD Hurst

I don't think so. When you look at Paul Thurrots Winsupersite Review http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/wi ... pgrade.asp only systems > Windows 2000 will qualify for an upgrade. MS is really trying to force businesses skip XP and go for Vista.

But maybe a direct upgrade from your installed Win 2000 will do the job.

[GomJabbar]

For those of you with time on your hands, here is an 18-page review of Windows Vista from Computer World.

Hands On: A Hard Look at Windows Vista
Now that it's gold, here's an inside look at the best and the worst of Windows Vista

[arni]

good link.

very interesting.

[jjesusfreak01]

My prediction is that within business, it will be a huge non-event. Who cares. Vista does not run critical business software (VPN issues being one of the largest). So businesses will have to test carefully, and so far, if you strip away the needless Aero interface, you are left with XP very lite (i.e, with an OS that does less than XP). ... JD Hurst

How do you suppose Vista will be light? From what I have heard, there is more under the hood than on the outside, from the networking perspective, etc.

[jdhurst]

<snip>How do you suppose Vista will be light? From what I have heard, there is more under the hood than on the outside, from the networking perspective, etc.

I keep hearing that as well; however, Vista does not run Juniper Netscreen Remote and no fix in sight. Symantec Client Security needs revisions that Symantec said it will do, but are not out yet so far as I know. UltraEdit works but wrongly with respect to the basic user interface. Some drivers I have are somewhat beta for Vista but do work.

Some of what Microsoft has said are improvements are just changes to appearance and where the tools are loctated. IPV6 is not yet a basic reality, so I don't see those improvements as any compelling reason. Indeed, it took me a while to find where everything is, even with the classic interface, and the wireless networking was difficult to edit once set up. Some of this latter stuff works, but turns me off upgrading, because even if I did, the stuff in the first paragraph would preclude it being a production machine.

Cool doesn't cut it with me and never did. I want a machine that runs everything I need (everything, 100 percent) without quibble. XP Pro does that; Vista does not. Will it sometime? Certainly. Will I move sometime? Certainly. My point was, Not yet.
... JD Hurst