Longhorn Becoming Compelling Vista?

The first Vista beta in July, combined with the technology preview release given to attendees of the Sept. 2005 Professional Developers Conference (PDC), gives customers and partners their first real glimpse at changes and new features in the next Windows client. Although Vista will change substantially before the final release, which is scheduled for the second half of 2006, customers need to begin evaluating Vista now to estimate its impact on their existing applications and determine whether they will want to deploy Vista when it is released.

Windows Vista Goals

Windows Vista is the successor to the current mainstream client version of Windows, Windows XP SP2. According to Microsoft, the vision for Windows Vista is “to bring clarity to your world, so that you can focus on what matters to you.” To support this vision, Microsoft says Vista will provide the following:

• New levels of confidence in personal computers
• Clear ways to organize and use information
• Seamless connections