Windows Vista Will Ship on Time

Although Microsoft’s forthcoming operating system, Windows Vista, has slipped from its proposed ship date several times, a Wall Street analyst is now predicting Microsoft will be able to remain on schedule from this point forward.

Goldman Sachs analyst Rick Sherlund, who has closely monitored Microsoft for years, said in a note to clients that the rollout of Microsoft’s preview versions is an indication that Vista will ship as planned.

The new OS is due to be released to business customers in November and consumers in January.

Sherlund told clients that the Vista team seems to be making “great progress” in addressing issues surrounding reliability, performance, and compatibility, according to news reports.

Slipping and Sliding

Despite numerous minor schedule changes, the notable slip occurred last March, when Microsoft revealed that consumer versions of Vista would not be available in the fourth quarter of 2006.

The setback caused concern about new PC sales in the holiday season, according to Gartner analyst Michael Silver.

“PC hardware vendors would use Vista as the basis of big ads to piggyback on Microsoft’s to get people to buy new hardware with Vista preloaded,” he said.

It is possible that PC vendors will find a workaround, he added, by issuing coupons for Vista for any computers purchased during the holiday season.

Microsoft has not confirmed such plans, but if a coupon initiative does go forward, it would allow those buying computers with Windows XP Professional and Windows Media Center on them to upgrade to Vista at no cost.

Aboard the Enterprise

For businesses, the schedule changes were not much of a worry, Silver noted.

Most companies plan to test Vista on their systems for at least 18 months, leading to a 2008 deployment at the earliest, so a few months’ delay is inconsequential.

“Companies on Windows 2000 will have the most additional pressure, because they need to start moving relatively early anyway,” said Silver.

Since upgrades to Vista are based on Windows XP, those still running the old Windows 2000 operating system are already more than a few steps behind.

// October 7th, 2006