Microsoft Delays Windows Vista Debut Again
Microsoft Corp. announced a delay in its long-awaited Windows Vista operating system, and people familiar with the matter said the company is planning a major management shake-up in its Windows group.
The Redmond, Wash., software company said it will begin broadly selling a version of Vista for consumers in January, compared to its earlier plan of offering the product in time for the holiday selling season.
A version of Vista for large business customers will be available in November, said James Allchin, co-president of Microsoft's platforms and services division. He said the company needs more time to improve the quality of the product, which Microsoft has already postponed once.
The delay comes as Microsoft this week is expected to name Steve Sinofsky, a senior vice president, as head of the division that oversees Windows, according to people familiar with the matter.
The delay and management appointment highlight a broader effort by Microsoft to inject more management oversight into the Windows group, Microsoft's largest contributor of revenue and profit.
Tapping Mr. Sinofsky, 40 years old, adds an executive from Microsoft's Office group to the Windows division. Mr. Sinofsky, who joined Microsoft in 1989 and served as a technical assistant to Chairman Bill Gates, has earned a reputation in his current role as head of the Office product group as a no-nonsense manager willing to push back against engineers, according to people familiar with the executive.
Microsoft's expected reorganization partly reflects an effort by Chief Executive Steve Ballmer to instill management rigor at the company, which has been marked by slower growth, an increasingly diverse product line and a new array of competitive threats.
Mr. Ballmer took a major step in that direction in September when he merged seven business units into three and appointed three top lieutenants -- managers from the sales and marketing side of the company -- to head the groups.
As his first major step, Kevin Johnson, the head of the division that includes Windows and MSN online services, is overseeing the broader restructuring of the Windows group, which in addition to tapping Mr. Sinofsky, could include merging certain parts of the unit with other Microsoft divisions, these people said. Microsoft executives were meeting late yesterday to hammer out final details of the plan, they added.
People familiar with the matter said the restructuring is not directly tied to the Vista delay. Still, Mr. Sinofsky is expected to eventually assume duties that have been handled by Mr. Allchin, who last year announced that he would retire after what had been expected to be the Windows Vista shipping date later this year.
Microsoft's Office group is known for a more disciplined management style, and has tended to pump out new products on a timely, predictable schedule. By contrast, the Windows group has always valued engineering prowess over management oversight.
As the Windows software got increasingly complex, that model in recent years spun out of control: Problems with Vista forced Microsoft in 2004 to stop development of the software, remake large portions and add more controls over its engineering ranks.
WINDOW TO THE PAST
Here's a look at some major Windows releases.
Operating System Year
Windows Vista 2007*
Windows XP 2001
Windows ME 2000
Windows 2000 2000
Windows 98 1998
Windows 95 1995
Windows NT 1993
Windows 3.1 1993
Windows 3.0 1990
Windows 2.0 1987
Windows 1.0 1985
* ExpectedVista is still widely expected to be a major event for the industry, perhaps the biggest technology transition since the Windows 95 operating system arrived more than 10 years ago. More than 90% of PCs world-wide use some version of Windows. Any delay that affects the crucial fall selling season is a blow to the company and to the legions of hardware and software companies that follow its lead.
The shift to January for the consumer version of Windows -- the second major delay for the product -- is particularly troublesome, said Roger Kay, an analyst at Endpoint Technologies Associates Inc. That's because consumers, who account for about 38% of total PC sales, buy a greater proportion of computers in the fourth quarter than businesses do, he said.
Suppliers to the PC industry, such as chip makers Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc., have also been betting on Vista to boost sales. "This is going to mess up the whole Christmas selling season for the hardware companies," Mr. Kay said.
Mr. Allchin said that the major reason for the delay is to give Microsoft more time to test the security and other "quality" aspects of the product. He said that since Microsoft needed the extra time, certain partners asked that the consumer version of the product be delayed until January and not sold in November. Though Mr. Allchin didn't identify the partners, analysts noted that retailers need time to set up their sales channels and would want to wait until after the Christmas season.
Microsoft shares traded at $27.74, off 15 cents, in 4 p.m. composite trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market before the late-afternoon announcement and subsequently fell to $27.02 in after-hours trading.
微软再度推迟发布Windows Vista
微软(Microsoft Corp.)称，将推迟发布其备受期待的Windows Vista操作系统。这一决定可能会给价值2,000亿美元的个人电脑行业带来麻烦。
微软原定于今年10月份开始发售Vista，不过眼下它表示将于11月份推出Vista的企业版。微软平台和服务子公司联席总裁James Allchin表示，消费版将于明年1月份全面上市。
微软此番已是二度推迟发售Vista，此举有可能在公司内外激起千层浪。全球90%以上的个人电脑都在使用Windows的某种版本。微软上一次对现有的Windows操作系统进行大幅修改还是在2001年。
CNBC电视频道最早报导了微软宣布将Vista操作系统消费版的发售时间推迟到2007年的消息。市场普遍预计Vista的推出将成为个人电脑行业的大事件，也许是自10年前Windows 95操作系统横空出世以来最重要的科技转型。
这样的软件转型将带动硬件销售，促使用户考虑购买新机器或者增加内存和硬盘空间。比如说，Vista预计将引发对配置复杂图形芯片的电脑的购买热潮，因为它融入了三维效果，而三维效果将在Vista操作系统得到更好的展示。
Allchin称，推迟发布－－比原定时间延后几周－－的主要原因是微软希望有更多时间来改进Vista的“质量”。 他称，微软还需要几周时间来测试Vista的安全性及其他质量问题。
Allchin表示，由于微软需要更多的时间，部分合作伙伴要求将消费版推迟到明年1月份、而不是今年11月份发售。他并没有具体说明是哪些合作伙伴，但表示其中一些合作伙伴需要更多时间管理其个人电脑的海外生产。
Allchin说，微软只是试著对他们的顾虑作出回应，同时也毫不隐瞒自身的进展，公司确实需要几周的时间来完成质量测试。“我们只是想对我们的产品负责任。”
尽管如此，任何的延迟发布都会影响到关键的秋季销售季节，这对于微软和大量唯微软马首是瞻的硬件和软件企业都是一次重创。
