Windows

The next version of the Windows client operating system will be Windows Vista, which could reach customers with volume license agreements before the end of 2006, but will not be generally available until early 2007. The next release of the Windows Server operating system, currently code-named Longhorn, is due to be generally available in late 2007 or early 2008, but its release could be affected by delays to Windows Vista.

In general, Microsoft hopes to release Windows versions more regularly than has been the case in the past. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has specifically repudiated the company’s “integrated innovation” design philosophy, in which major development projects in multiple groups were coordinated to produce a single integrated product. This approach led to severe delays in the development of Windows Vista, as teams tried to integrate new OS components, new database code, and new versions of the .NET Framework developer platform into the Vista release. Now Ballmer acknowledges that Microsoft needs to “innovate and integrate more than we will engage in integrated innovation.” If followed, the new philosophy could yield more Windows releases more frequently than every five years, the likely interval between Windows XP and Windows Vista.