Windows Vista Beta 2 is expected this week for WinHEC attendees, but is it going to be enough for testers? Some believe that Microsoft will not be able to step up and deliver what is expected at this point.
If Microsoft wants to stay on schedule with a January 2007 release then Beta 2 of Vista needs to be usable as an everyday operating system. If testers are unable to use Beta 2 each day then bugs will never be found.
Even though the latest build, 5381.1, runs a lot smoother than previous builds there are still some things that prevent me from using it everyday. Mary Jo Foley brings out the truth when she says “Even long-time Vista testers and Windows community members, who know the intricacies of Microsoft products as well as the Redmond, Wash.-based software makers own developers and testers, are having problems with the latest builds.”
I am looking forward to Beta 2 but I won’t expect to see any drastic improvements over the 5381.1 build. I guess we will see what WinHEC brings us when it starts tomorrow!
News Source: Microsoft-Watch
I’m still looking for a spare hard disk so I can give Vista a mess around – how long before the actual release do M$ usually stop releasing these builds to the public?
After beta2? It SHOULD be an OS you can use day-to-day and massive testing begins. After bugs are fixed Vista is ready. I think that they try too hard to make it ready on JAN 2007 and they need to release massive service packs right away on summer 2007. Just like with xp and its 250mb service pack 2… It’s not an option to delay Vista any more.
But more opinions?
I believe XP was sent to the manufacturer about 3 months before its release. I would imagine that Vista would be about the same way.
I agree that Vista should not be delayed anymore with over 2 years of delays under its belt already. However, I don’t believe Microsoft would release a product that they would have to create a service pack for after just a few months of its release. This might give consumers the impression that it is insecure and unstable.
-Ryan