Vista Could Ship Earlier Than Expected

UltimaGuy writes “With speculation of a ship date for Windows Vista ranging in the second part of 2006, word has surprisingly surfaced that it can be expected much earlier. BusinessWeek has received a copy of the internal blog of Chris Jones, who is a top Windows executive. The blog states that the code for Windows Vista will be completed by August 31, giving Microsoft the opportunity to place Vista on PCs for the 2006 Christmas season.”

Sounds like there will be a huge increase in the number of computer sales for next christmas. If you want to run this new OS you’ll definately need a fast computer. According to eWeek - “Not all PCs will gain a full view of Windows Vista.”

Although Microsoft has yet to finalize the minmum requirements, the OS will prefer high-end equipment for showing true colors. One of the biggest areas will be the graphics cards. Microsoft has already shown concern that some mobile computers, which tend to fall behind in graphics processing, will likely need to be upgraded or replaced. Microsoft has already said 128MB or 256MB will be enough system memory to run the new operating system, but recommended users leave room to upgrade their graphics card. Its likely computers running “Integrated Graphics” will need to use a legacy mode to operate. A final quote from Microsoft “As graphics support is still being finalized, customers who plan to purchase new PCs should consider specifying graphics cards with AGP or PCI Express interfaces, which are most easily upgraded.”

As an system / network administrator I would love to see a “cut-down” version of the operating system. Most of the people in our office only use a small group of applications. We already change users to a basic Windows look. The extra graphics really only hurt productivity. If they want a “pretty” version of windows for home users, then only sell it to home users. A workstation shouldn’t look like it was designed by a 12 year old with crayons.