Source: PC World
Written by Eric Dahl

With Microsoft’s Windows Vista finally released to manufacturers and on the verge of making its way to retail, we can at last get down to the business of examining precisely how well the new OS performs. In our first tests, we discovered that while Vista’s hardware requirements may be steep, it should run just fine–even with the Aero bells and whistles active–on machines that meet Microsoft’s Premium Ready specifications (1GB of RAM, and a DirectX 9-capable graphics board with at least 128MB of dedicated memory).
We installed the RTM (release to manufacturing) Vista Ultimate code on desktop and notebook systems of varying specs and ages, and then we ran a series of benchmarks to answer several key questions about Vista’s impact on performance. Our main findings:

• Vista is generally slower than XP, but it’s better at multitasking on dual-core PCs.
• Your PC should have 1GB of RAM at the bare minimum.
• Aero won’t slow you down if you use a discrete graphics processor and enough memory.
• Apps run slower on the 64-bit version of Vista, but adding RAM closes the gap.

Our conclusions here aren’t the last word on Vista performance, however: When we conducted our tests in November, graphics companies were still fine-tuning their drivers (for example, we decided to drop our Doom 3 gaming tests because ATI’s drivers didn’t yet support that game’s OpenGL graphics API).

Another note: Since we used updated, Vista-compatible versions of our Photoshop and multitasking tests from the beta of WorldBench 6, the results are not comparable with those for XP systems tested under WorldBench 5.
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Source: PC World
Written by Elizabeth Montalbano, IDG News Service

After five years and numerous delays, customers can now get their hands on the final version of the Windows Vista operating system.

Well, business customers can at least. Though Microsoft celebrated the launch of Vista–as well as Office 2007 and Exchange 2007–at events across the globe today, both Vista and Office 2007 won’t be generally available through retail in the U.S. until January 30, 2007. Today marked the day business customers could purchase those products through Microsoft’s volume licensing program.

And though business customers can begin ordering Exchange 2007 today, the new version of Microsoft’s messaging server software won’t be released to manufacturing until the end of December.

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Source: BetaNews
Written by Ed Oswald and Nate Mook

“It’s time!” And with that simple blog post, Windows head Jim Allchin has heralded the arrival of Windows Vista. Microsoft said Wednesday that it has released the next-generation operating system to manufacturing, capping a more than five-year development effort.

Volume license customers will get their hands on the final release -build number 6000- this month, while the public launch of Vista is scheduled for January 30, 2007. The release to manufacturing of Vista will allow PC and device makers as well as developers finalize work on hardware and software in preparation for its formal debut.

The release of Vista will initially come in five languages including French, Spanish and Japanese that have already received final approval. The English version was signed off Wednesday morning, Jim Allchin said in an afternoon conference call.

“Windows Vista is built to be our most reliable operating system yet,” release manager and director of program management Sven Hallauer said. “We used new development methodologies that helped us build more secure and reliable software.”

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Source: COMPUTERWORLD
Written by Elizabeth Montalbano

July 27, 2006 — REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft Corp. continues to give itself room to further delay the release of Windows Vista.

At its annual financial analyst meeting today, Kevin Johnson, co-president of Microsoft’s Platforms & Services Division, said that while Vista development remains on track for now, the company won’t ship the new operating system until it believes the product is ready.

“There is no data that says we’re not going to make the November business availability,” Johnson said, speaking to analysts and the news media on Microsoft’s campus. However, he said the company continues to evaluate Vista “milestone by milestone” and will ship the product “when it’s ready” rather than according to a hard and fast schedule.

Microsoft has said Vista will be available to business customers through volume licensing in November, with consumers getting the operating system in January 2007. However, in reports after Microsoft’s fourth-quarter earnings call last week, some financial analysts wrote that they are already counting on Vista’s consumer release to slip further into 2007 and have adjusted their earnings projections to reflect this prediction.

That said, Johnson said the next milestone for Vista, Release Candidate 1, should be available before the end of September.

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Parallels, a start-up whose software enables Macs to run Microsoft Windows and the Mac OS at the same time, says it is ready with a final version of its product.

Apple Computer made headlines back in April when it said it would offer its own software–Boot Camp–for loading Windows onto Macs. However, Boot Camp permits people to run only one operating system at a time, meaning either Windows or the Mac OS can be in use, but not both at once.

Around the same time, Parallels started testing for its Parallels Desktop program, which uses virtualization technology to have Windows programs operate alongside Mac applications. The Windows programs open in a separate window within the Mac OS.

Unlike past software that allowed Windows programs to run on a Mac, Parallels Desktop does not need to emulate the hardware that’s inside a PC. That’s because Macs and PCs now use the same Intel-based chips. As a result, the speed of Parallels is far better than past efforts at bringing together the two operating systems, the software start-up said. In fact, Parallels says Windows programs can run nearly as fast through its virtualization as running natively on a Windows PC.

“The difference in performance between Parallels and Boot Camp is negligible,” said Parallels marketing manager Ben Rudolph. “Things move very, very fast.”

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SEATTLE–If it is up to Microsoft, the omnipresent JPEG image format will be replaced by Windows Media Photo.

The software maker detailed the new image format Wednesday at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference here. Windows Media Photo will be supported in Windows Vista and also be made available for Windows XP, Bill Crow, program manager for Windows Media Photo said in a presentation.
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“One of the biggest reasons people upgrade their PCs is digital photos,” Crow said, noting that Microsoft has been in contact with printer makers, digital camera companies and other unnamed industry partners while working on Windows Media Photo. Microsoft touts managing “digital memories” as one of the key attributes of XP successor Vista.

In his presentation, Crow showed an image with 24:1 compression that visibly contained more detail in the Windows Media Photo format than the JPEG and JPEG 2000 formats compressed at the same level.

Still, the image in the Microsoft format was somewhat distorted because of the high compression level. Typically digital cameras today use 6:1 compression, Crow said. Windows Media Photo should offer better pictures at double that level, he said. “We can do it in half the size of a JPEG file.”

Not only does compression save storage space, which is especially important for devices such as cell phones and digital cameras, a smaller file can also print faster, transfer faster and help conserve battery life on devices, Crow said. “Making a file that is smaller has all kinds of benefits.”

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Source: CNET
Written by Daniel Terdiman

That could explain the Macintosh community’s surprisingly upbeat reaction to Apple Computer’s announcement of software enabling the running of Windows on Macs.

Normally, of course, Mac addicts are as likely to sneer at anything having to do with Microsoft’s operating system as they are to breathe.

But on Wednesday, when Apple announced Boot Camp–software currently in beta that will make it possible to run Windows XP on Intel-based Macs and will be incorporated in the next major upgrade to Mac OS X–the Mac community went against type, filling Mac forums with optimistic praise for the new software.

“As a Macintosh user for more than two decades, (I find) the announcement about Boot Camp…reassuring,” Ishan Bhattacharya, a doctor in Timonium, Md., told CNET News.com. “I do not like the Windows (graphical user interface), but there are applications available on that platform I would like to use at home without (having) to buy a dull beige box. Now I can do that, and so (I) have ordered an (Intel-based) iMac.”

Others who already have Intel-based Macs want to wait no longer, particularly because they think that by bringing Windows video drivers to their Macs, they will be able to run graphics-intensive, Windows-only games on them.

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Press Release: CUPERTINO, California—April 5, 2006—Apple® today introduced Boot Camp, public beta software that enables Intel-based Macs to run Windows XP. Available as a download beginning today, Boot Camp allows users with a Microsoft Windows XP installation disc to install Windows XP on an Intel-based Mac®, and once installation is complete, users can restart their computer to run either Mac OS® X or Windows XP.

Boot Camp will be a feature in “Leopard,” Apple’s next major release of Mac OS X, that will be previewed at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference in August.

“Apple has no desire or plan to sell or support Windows, but many customers have expressed their interest to run Windows on Apple’s superior hardware now that we use Intel processors,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “We think Boot Camp makes the Mac even more appealing to Windows users considering making the switch.”

Boot Camp simplifies Windows installation on an Intel-based Mac by providing a simple graphical step-by-step assistant application to dynamically create a second partition on the hard drive for Windows, to burn a CD with all the necessary Windows drivers, and to install Windows from a Windows XP installation CD. After installation is complete, users can choose to run either Mac OS X or Windows when they restart their computer.

Pricing & Availability
The public beta of Boot Camp is available immediately as a download at www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp , and is preview software licensed for use on a trial basis for a limited time. The final version of Boot Camp will be available as a feature in the upcoming Mac OS X version 10.5 “Leopard.” Apple does not provide support for installing or running Boot Camp and does not sell or support Microsoft Windows software. Apple welcomes user feedback on Boot Camp at bootcamp@apple.com.

System Requirements
Boot Camp requires an Intel-based Mac with a USB keyboard and mouse, or a built-in keyboard and TrackPad; Mac OS X version 10.4.6 or later; the latest firmware update; at least 10GB of free space on the startup disk; a blank recordable CD or DVD; and single-disc version of Windows XP Home Edition or Professional with Service Pack 2 or later.

Microsoft will step up its assault on Adobe Systems’ customer base with the release early next year of its Expression line of design and development software.

The three-product Expression suite, aimed at graphics designers and illustrators, will be available early next year–about 60 to 90 days after Windows Vista ships, said Forest Key, director of product management for Microsoft Expression designer tools.

Key also said the first version, or community technology preview, of Expression Web Designer will be available in June. That product is for building Web sites with JavaScript and other Web technologies.

Adobe has long supplied its programs, such as Illustrator and Photoshop, to designers and graphic artists. Through its acquisition of Macromedia, Adobe gained Web-authoring software, notably the Flash product line.

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Source: PC World
Written by Yardena Arar

Microsoft’s decision to delay the consumer versions of Windows Vista until early 2007 could encourage some holiday computer buyers to get Macs instead, industry analysts say.

“This gives Apple the biggest competitive advantage they’ve had in history from Microsoft,” veteran technology consultant Rob Enderle, founder of the Enderle Group, said of the delay announced earlier Tuesday by Jim Allchin, co-president of Microsoft’s Platform and Services Division.

Allchin told a hastily convened teleconference that Microsoft would release volume-licensed versions of Vista by year’s end, as previously announced, but that consumer versions–including those preloaded on new PCs–would not be available until January 2007.

Allchin said that Microsoft was not worried about competition from Apple, but Enderle said that Microsoft may be underestimating Apple’s potential, especially since the company is expected to introduce some appealing new products in time for the holiday season.

“I don’t think anybody over there is really taking the Apple stuff seriously,” Enderle said. “That’s a mistake.”

IDC analyst Bob O’Donnell agreed that a Vista-less holiday season would benefit Apple. But he added, “You have to keep it in perspective. Even if they [Apple] gain a full percentage point of market share because of this, that still only moves them to three-and-a-half, four-and-a-half percent market share.”

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