I name thee, Windows Vista

Connected Clear Confident

The advertising tagline for Vista is "Clear, Confident, Connected: Bringing clarity to your world," according to a video of the announcement posted by Microsoft.

The company also said Friday that the first beta, or test release, of Vista is slated for release on Aug. 3. That release will be targeted at developers and IT professionals, said Brad Goldberg, general manager of Windows product development.

The Vista moniker breaks with the company's tradition of using version numbers or acronyms for new Windows releases. The current version of the operating system, Windows XP--short for "experience," according to Microsoft--debuted in October 2001.

Vista's three design goals include better security, new ways to organize information, and seamless connectivity to external devices, the company said. Microsoft will provide more detail on Vista features Aug. 3, Goldberg said.

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Reply #3 Top
I like it.

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Reply #4 Top
Yea, I saw the blurb on Cnet.  It is supposed to be ground breaking from the hype, but so far, I have not seen a lot of innovative new stuff.
Reply #5 Top
I think they may be trying to get away from the bad ju-ju that is associated with Windows. Even though it's an embedded brand name, I wouldn't be suprised if Microsoft started downplaying the 'Windows' part of the OS name.

-- B
Reply #6 Top
When you release operating systems twice as often as you need to, it's twice as hard to come up with names, I guess. I think they don't want to use year numbers any more because it highlights the fact that they shuffle "old" operating systems off within a couple of years of their birth.

I mean, when did 2000 come out? (Checked, the launch party was Feb 2000) Then XP comes out when? (Checked NY speech by Gates for launch: Oct 2001) They might have better luck with Vista since most businesses never upgraded to XP. It also shows that they could have just skipped XP and waited until they could offer us a significant upgrade.
Reply #7 Top
Vista isn't bad. At least it isn't windows extreme edition or something hip/stupid like that.

It also shows that they could have just skipped XP and waited until they could offer us a significant upgrade.


I was on windows ME before XP. I am a pretty happy customer wih XP. As long as the upgrades are better I don't care how often they come out. Xp has been good to me. Any problems I have had with XP have been my fault, Norton AV, or minor isssues with windows update. The OS has been solid. With the help of Stardock I was able to get rid of that stupid green Start button.
Reply #8 Top
I went from 98SE to 2000, so, oddly enough, I didn't see the point in upgrading to XP less than a year after I got 2000.

I always swore I wasn't going to switch to XP, but I lied. Adobe Encore requires it, and once you open that package the software pimps in my neck of the woods won't take the stuff back. SO, it was an upgrade to XP or a nice $300 doorstop. That'll teach me to notice the OS section of the 'minumum requirements'.

I think it is telling, though, that using a wide array of new games and software, I got within a year and a half of XP's successor without needing to upgrade to XP.
Reply #9 Top
I guess this also means we can count on a whole slew of "Vista" skins trickling in all through August...
Reply #10 Top

went from 98SE to 2000, so, oddly enough, I didn't see the point in upgrading to XP less than a year after I got 2000.

2k was a vast improvement over everything before, but for the home, XP sure was nicer than 2k!  Vista is going to have to be come kind of great to wean me from XP.

Reply #11 Top
I think the name is pretty good. It definitely signals a new direction. Although on the other hand, those not in computer circles won't have any clue what it is or where it falls in the order of things. Many computer users just use their computer with whatever OS it has, they are not even aware of which version. I have a friend who recently got a new PC with XP and she hated it. She wanted to go back to 98. Most of that is because XP felt foreign to her, even though I felt overall the changes were minor. The changes were enough to knock her off her comfort level with Windows.
I think to go along with the new name they also need new ways to sell it. Some way to ease the transition better. I hate to say it, but a forced tour of the operating system, showing a few examples of the "old" way and the "new" way.

I suspect more that we will now start seeing Vista wallpapers rather than skins for the short term. At least until there is a specific Vista related theme shown.
Reply #12 Top
I suspect more that we will now start seeing Vista wallpapers rather than skins for the short term. At least until there is a specific Vista related theme shown.

I dunno, with the piddly difference in 'look' that came from XP, we had a deluge of skins in the weeks after the beta was released. If the UI is much different, I think we can expect as least as many "Vista" or "Avalon" skins.

Reply #13 Top
XP has been good to me. There's nothing that's been wrong with the operating system, only user errors. It's been the most customizable for me, and I love tweaking it. I played around with ME but XP was so much better IMO. Vista sounds interesting, but I think I'll wait till the year after to buy a laptop with it (I'll be going to college in a year, so). That way some of the bugs can be figured out and I can start learning about it ahead of time.
Reply #14 Top
oops, lol..

"By naming the next version of Windows "Vista," Microsoft may have stepped on the toes of another software company just down the road in Redmond.

That would be Vista, a business software and services company founded in 1999 by John Wall."

You'd think as predatory as Microsoft is over their trademarks they would have thought twice about using a trademark from another tech company. This might bleed over into your piracy discussion, re: the company with the deepest pockets...

Reply #15 Top
Windows 95 is an improvement over ME
Reply #16 Top
Windows 95 is an improvement over ME


How can 95 be an improvment over me when 95 was released in 1995 and me was released after this, so how can they improve it when it was already around?
Reply #17 Top
How can 95 be an improvment over me when 95 was released in 1995 and me was released after this, so how can they improve it when it was already around?


Because people say ME was a really bad OS all around and in essence 95 worked better. I never had any issues with ME.
Reply #18 Top

Windows 95 is an improvement over ME

It ain't hard....anything is better than ME....

Oh, and 'ME' stands for....lobotoME [in a phonetic sense]...

Reply #19 Top
Because people say ME was a really bad OS all around and in essence 95 worked better. I never had any issues with ME.


That's one.
Reply #20 Top
On one pc I ran the gammit from 95 - 98 - ME - 2000
Believe it or not it is a 433mhz sys with 256meg ram. Took a bit of tweaking (eMachine) but 200 has been good on it the last couple of years.....

The other I started with XP.. went to 2000 and then back to XP. XP seemed a bit more stable for my vb development.....

as for ME... yow! should have skipped it. Bled like a stuck pig and never was really stable...

Either way, having played with a few of the LH 4x and 5x out there, I am one who is looking forward to Vista....
Reply #22 Top
I kinda like it mostly because "WinVista" has a nice ring to it.