According to the information that can be extracted from the screenshots, Vista SP1 is now at build 6001.16549. In the About Windows image for example the version of the operating system is 6.0, however, the build is 6001 and Service pack 1 is reverenced with v.165. Additional information about the first beta builds of Vista SP1 reveal the fact that Microsoft is not releasing the refresh as an update but as an ISO image. In July Microsoft served SP1 ISO files weighing in at 3.07GB for Vista 32-bit edition and 4.3GB for Vista 64-Bit edition. Vista SP1 beta was delivered in both 6,000 RTM and 6,001 Windows Server 2008 kernel versions.

Still the Microsoft and beta participants are denying the program’s existence, as expected. We’ll have to suffer with our malfunctioning Windows Vista installs for just a tad longer.

[please click on the images to enlarge them]

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With Vista not bringing the expected bucks for Microsoft, The Redmond based company is bound to try new ways to “force” people to start thinking about “WOW”! Oh sorry Windows Vista. But sometimes one can really make a mess of things if its too eager to win a prize (even a consolation prize will do at this stage for Microsoft. Read how Bill Gates welcomes Microsoft software piracy in china).

See what (the rich) Microsoft wants you to do. In a new press release yesterday Microsoft wants its Windows Vista buyers to start preparing for Christmas from today itself. They have released a series of laptop options which Windows Vista lovers would love to give out as gifts (for the “SO CLOSE” December Christmas).

And to my surprise nowhere in this press release Microsoft talks about the Vista WOW factor. Instead they give you options to empty your pockets at these hot looking laptops:

Be Memorable:

Dell XPS M1330, from $1,299

Dell Inspiron 1720, from $769

Be Inspired:

Asus Lamborghini VX2, from $2,899

Be Connected

HP tx1000, from $999.99

Be Dynamic

Sony Vaio CR, from $1,140

Sony VGC-LS37E, from $1,899.99

Be Daring

Toshiba R500 Protégé, from $2,149

Wanna go on an “early” shopping, the “cheap” Microsoft style?

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Here Microsoft is not exclusively interested in the adoption of Windows Vista over Windows XP, but also in the replacement of Windows Server 2003 with Windows Server 2008. With the first service pack for Windows Vista to hit the market simultaneously with Windows Server 2008, businesses will profit to upgrade the client operating system. And Microsoft wants to make sure that it will also be the opportune moment for the swap between Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008. This is why, with the help of the Tolly white paper, Microsoft is connecting the dots between the enhanced TCP/IP networking stack and support and increased network performance and of course added productivity.

“Just upgrading client PCs to Microsoft’s Windows Vista can yield throughput and time-to-completion improvements of up to 2.5X over Windows XP. Complete migration of servers to Windows Server 2008 can yield throughput and time-to-completion improvements of up to 3.5X over Windows XP/Windows Server 2003,” reads a highlighted fragment from the Tolly Group’s study. Just click on the images at the bottom in order to access graphics from the white paper. The Tolly group has addressed both LAN (Local Area Network) and WAN (Wide Area Network) scenarios and the results of the tests are summarized below.

Source: softpedia

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Dale un vistazo a Windows Vista y tú también dirás “!Wow!”. Probable more and more people were answering “sí” to “do you want a copy of Windows Vista?”, which led Microsoft to create a dedicated Windows Vista website for Spanish speakers. Similarly as Google’s efforts of creating language specific searches engines has benefited it, Microsoft is also sure to get more and more dedicated customers with this effort.

Furthermore, Microsoft is also taking its own Hispanic employees to the center stage. Literally, because the company will debut a series of seminars designed to educate Hispanic parents in the intricacies of the Windows Vista parental controls.

As of softpedia Miami will be the main location of on-site Spanish-language demonstrations in June, because of the strong local Hispanic community. In addition to Parental Controls, Microsoft will also deliver insight into the Multilanguage User Interface, Windows Aero and Windows Media Center. “As a Hispanic father myself, I’m proud of sharing my technological knowledge with other Hispanic parents who can benefit from it,” said Luis Martinez, Windows Vista developer at Microsoft. “The parental control features built into Windows Vista will help families better manage how the PC is used and will help them protect their children.”

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Gildas revealed that he had registered the Vista trademark four years before Microsoft launched the operating system to the general public. The Frenchman plans to open a media outlet for the elderly under the Vista brand.

“I deposited the mark with the autumn 2003 in all the fields of the intellectual property of ‘entertainment’, and of the media: out of press, in TV, on the Web, etc Indeed, my chain ‘Vista’, that I launch on CanalSat and all the câblo-operators on November 15, is not a project left the hat,” Gildas explained as cited by PC Inpact. “One had already tried the blow four years ago. That loupé because we were not ready, but we had deposited the name”

It is hard to believe that after spending in excess of $500 million on the Windows Vista Wow marketing campaign and associating the three terms for the consumers, Microsoft will just roll over and play nice. Far from it in fact. The Redmond Company will look to silence Gildas as soon as possible, and it will go to court if necessary. Essentially, by the time Gildas could win an intellectual property infringement lawsuit against Microsoft for the use of the Vista trademark, the operating system could already be out of commission.

Gildas is not shy about threatening Microsoft with lawsuit, because the global launch of Windows Vista has interfered with his plans of opening the Vista TV channel. Microsoft has a similar precedent of the Forefront brand and the Redmond Company has failed to indicate signs of amiable settlement on behalf of the plaintiff. And of course that Microsoft can also argue that the operating system is labelled Windows Vista, and as such, trademark infringement would be harder to prove.

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Must Read:
Mac OS X vs Vista. The Fight Goes On

With an impressive rate of adoption Windows Vista is right on track to “become the standard version of Windows” as Gates put it. Microsoft’s Chairman and Co-founder also took a swing at rivals by claiming that just in the first five weeks on the market Windows Vista has surpassed the installed base of all other alternative operating systems.

Recent data made available by Market Share by Net Applications comes to confirm Gates’ claims for Vista. According to the Market Share statistics, Vista now controls no less than 3.74% of the operating system market. In this context, Linux was the first road-kill produced by Vista in the very first month on the shelves. However, in May, Linux’s market share dropped to 0.70% from 0.80% in April 2007.

Market Share by Net Applications separated in its statistics Apple’s market share according to platform. In this regard, both MacIntel and MacOS have experienced minuscule growth from April to May. MacOS jumped from 3.89% to 3.95%, just 0.06%, and MacIntel managed an un-spectacular growth from 2.32% to 2.51%.

The superb market performance delivered by Windows Vista has already led to an adoption rate superior to both Mac OS X and Linux put together. Before Vista was launched to consumers at the end of January, there had been voices forecasting the fact that Microsoft was alienating users with the operating system and that Apple and Linux would rip the benefits. Nothing could be further from the truth judging by what Vista has showed so far.
[thanks softpedia for the great article]

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Vista has hit the shelves since January 30, 2007, but XP is not going down without a fight. Even in the context of the general availability of Windows Vista, Windows XP is making the mother of all comebacks driven by customer demand. Just a few days short of three months following the release of Vista, Dell has announced that it will bring back XP on home systems. Dell has made it clear that customer input is the catalyst for the XP revival on some of the consumer machines the manufacturer is shipping.

Microsoft officially continues to ship Windows XP to OEMs and via retail until February 2008, and to System Builders until February 2009, but companies such as Dell have jumped at the chance of pre-installing Windows Vista on their computers. In this context, Windows XP was left to fade in the background and to follow an artificially induced expiration process.

Still, the customers were not ready to lose the XP option and managed to convince Dell to bring it back. “Starting now, consumers can now purchase Windows XP or XP Pro on Dimension E520 and E521 desktops, and on Inspiron 1501, E1405, E1505, and E1705 notebooks,” Lionel Menchaca, Dell Digital Media Manager stated yesterday April 19, 2007.

According to data made available by Market Share by Net Applications Windows Vista has been slowly eroding XP’s share on the operating system market. XP is down to 83.57% in March 2007 from 85.02 in January. In the same period of time Windows Vista got a hold of over 2% of the market in just two months.

Source: softpedia

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The more than 20 million copies shipped represent Windows Vista licenses sold to PC manufacturers, copies of upgrades and the full packaged product sold to retailers and upgrades ordered through the Windows Vista Express Upgrade program from January 30 to February 28.

“We are encouraged to see such a positive consumer response to Windows Vista right out of the gate,” said Bill Veghte, corporate vice president of the Windows Business Group at Microsoft. “While it’s very early in the product life cycle, we are setting a foundation for Windows Vista to become the fastest-adopted version of Windows ever. Working with our partners, we are helping our customers leverage new tools and programs to accelerate the transition and provide a great user experience.”

As of Microsoft Dell customers have given overwhelming preference to premium versions of Windows Vista. And on the other hand HP worked extensively with Microsoft to bring easy working PCs for its customers. Still I think HP needs to read this article of mine.

The “Certified for Windows Vista” logo program is designed to make it easier for consumers to recognize products that deliver premium experiences with Windows Vista. Hardware devices and software bearing the logos at retail help consumers make educated choices when purchasing devices and software to use with Windows Vista. You can find a exhaustive list of Windows Vista compatible softwares here.

NOTE: To check if Windows XP-based PCs can be upgraded to Windows Vista check the website WindowsVista.com. Windows Upgrade Advisor is a tool offered there for your convenience.

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Vienna is planned to be launched around end of 2009. That means around two and a half years of work whereas Vista took five years, but Vista was exceptional, said Ben Fathi, corporate vice president of development with Microsoft’s Windows Core Operating System Division.

So what will be the coolest new feature in Vienna?

According to Fathi, that’s still being worked out. “We’re going to look at a fundamental piece of enabling technology. Maybe its hypervisors, I don’t know what it is,” he said. “Maybe it’s a new user interface paradigm for consumers.”

“It’s too early for me to talk about it,” he added. “But over the next few months I think you’re going to start hearing more and more.”

Source: PCWorld
Image Source: Engadget

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Mockapetris claims that because Vista simultaneously supports the next-generation IPv6 protocol, as well as the current IPv4, it makes two DNS calls instead of one for every request. That means doubling the load on DNS servers, which in turn means far more sluggish reaction times, including brownouts.

Experts support Microsoft and suggest Mockapetris’ predictions are related to his role at Nominum, the Redwood City, Calif., vendor of DNS products where he is chief scientist. Nominum commissioned a survey of the DNS servers run by large broadband ISPs. “It looks like they are right at the knee and curve and if Vista was all of a sudden deployed everywhere, we’d be having rolling blackouts,” Mockapetris said. “For my home network, it is not going to matter, but for these people with millions of users, it is going to matter.”

Vista’s use of IPv6 will not disrupt the Internet at large, said David Ulevitch, chief executive at OpenDNS, a provider of free DNS services. “DNS can be improved, but predicting its collapse is just spreading FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt).”

While there are name servers that are running close to capacity, Dan Kaminsky (A Independent Researcher), in a preliminary scan, said he found most networks have quite a bit of spare capacity. “Vista cuts into some of the slack space already in place for shock load,” he said.

Source: CNet News

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