Microsoft’s named their new version of Windows something other than the code name of Longhorn. Vista’s the name of the new Windows, due out sometime in late 2006. I think liked Longhorn better.
John Wall of Vista Software would probably have preferred that too. His Redmond, Washington company took the Vista name back in 1999 and Wall, a respected name in the industry, wasn’t too happy when Microsoft grabbed the name. Vista is known for business software and services. What does Microsoft do again?
Wall is considering his options, as Microsoft’s use of the word Vista may just be a copyright infringement. Wall’s tone didn’t seem one of a litigious nature but he said it depends on how this goes. “If people call it Windows Vista, that’s not a problem,” he said in PC World. “If people call it ‘Vista,’ that confuses it with our business and what we do.”
The beta for Vista will be available in the next week or so according to Microsoft saying it will be available by August 3rd. At this stage, it’s being targets at developers and IT folks to work through. Microsoft will eventually send out a second beta but they’ve mentioned no details on that one yet.
Vista marks the first new version of Windows in 5 years since Windows XP hit the market back in 2001. With Windows on more than 90% of the world computers and making up roughly 30% of Microsoft’s revenue, Windows remains the foundation for the world’s largest software maker.
There are some significant changes in this version of Windows over the last XP. First, the program was much delayed due to major security issues in the XP platform. Microsoft worked vigorously to correct all those programs but they had to pull most of the Longhorn crew to get it done. The security should be much stronger in this version of Windows.
The Seattle slew also look to be adding a lot of features they’ve already talked about including 64 bit capacity and RSS feeds and a whole host of features in between.
John Stith is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
