Microsoft unveils Windows Vista Beta 2
Windows Vista moved a big step closer to completion this week as Microsoft formally released Beta 2 of its next-generation flagship operating system.
"I just came from Redmond and I brought something for you," Jim Allchin, co-president of Microsoft's Platforms and Services Division, brandishing a box of Beta 2 DVDs before attendees at the end of a day-long reviewers' workshop in downtown Seattle on Monday. The workshop was held the day before the start of WinHEC--the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference--an annual gathering of hardware developers involved in products that support Windows.
While other recent builds have been labeled Beta 2, Microsoft officials have said those versions were part of the development process leading to today's formal release to between 500,000 and 750,000 developers and IT professionals. Allchin said Vista, which originally was supposed to ship by year's end, remains on track for a planned November release to enterprise customers only, to be followed in early 2007 by its appearance on new PCs and at retail.
