Microsoft looks beyond Vista, sees Vienna

Although Microsoft is hard at work trying to ship Windows Vista this year, the company is beginning to set its sights on the next horizon, Vienna.

Vienna, once labeled Blackcomb, is the new code name for the successor to Vista. It is not clear when Vienna might ship or what features it might contain. Microsoft confirmed the name change on Friday, but declined to comment on Vienna's stage of development.

"The 'Blackcomb' code name has been changed to 'Vienna,' but we do not have any other details to share on timing or focus," Microsoft said in a statement to CNET News.com. "This does not reflect a big change for us; we have used city code names in the past, which are derived from cities/locations in the world known for great 'vistas'--the kinds of places we all want to see, experience and that capture the imagination. Vienna fits with this concept."

The code name for Windows XP was Whistler, a Canadian ski resort. Blackcomb was also a ski resort, while Longhorn (Vista's code name) came from the Longhorn Saloon, which was about halfway between Whistler and Blackcomb.

Microsoft evangelist Robert Scoble first confirmed the new code name in a posting to the company's Channel 9 developer site.

Directions on Microsoft analyst Michael Cherry said that Microsoft is looking to speed up the frequency of its Windows releases, but cautioned not to read too much into the name change.

"It's just a morale thing," Cherry said. "The other names have been kicking around so long. It's much more about trying to keep focused and keep some excitement around where they are going."

As for Vista, Microsoft is slated to ship it in the second half of this year, roughly five years after it shipped Windows XP. The Vista update promises to have better search, a new graphics engine and other improved features.

However, there are several features that were pulled out of Vista that could conceivably become part of Vienna, most notably a new file storing mechanism known as WinFS.

[206538395198018178908092208948]

Whistler is in the US?

Uh, one clear error in this article is that Whistler or Blackcomb is located in the United States. They are not. They are both situated two hours north of Vancouver, British Columbia (not Washington) and are two ski resorts that sit directly next to one another. Whistler/Blackcomb is the largest ski area in North America.

[Paco Rosso]

Whistler is in the US?

Take route 5 from Seattle, CROSS THE CANADIAN BORDER and keep heading north.

[KarenSaid]

Thanks for the catch

You're correct, Whistler is in Canada. We've now fixed this editing error. Thanks for keeping a close eye on our stories.

[jimbooie]

Uh...read it again

Article cleary states it's a Canadian Resort. So settle down little doggie...

[206538395198018178908092208948]

Whistler is in the US?

Uh, one clear error in this article is that Whistler or Blackcomb is located in the United States. They are not. They are both situated two hours north of Vancouver, British Columbia (not Washington) and are two ski resorts that sit directly next to one another. Whistler/Blackcomb is the largest ski area in North America.

[Paco Rosso]

Whistler is in the US?

Take route 5 from Seattle, CROSS THE CANADIAN BORDER and keep heading north.

[KarenSaid]

Thanks for the catch

You're correct, Whistler is in Canada. We've now fixed this editing error. Thanks for keeping a close eye on our stories.

[jimbooie]

Uh...read it again

Article cleary states it's a Canadian Resort. So settle down little doggie...

[hotwheel16]

Interesting geography and other such unforgivable offenses

"The code name for Windows XP was Whistler, a U.S. ski resort"

I know us Canadians are but a blip on most technology radars, but come on. Give us credit for more than just the Blackberry - Whistler is purely Canadian.

- A concerned Vancouver citizen

[assman]

unforgivable? dont cry

look, it was a simple mistake that has been corrected, yes, its true that no one cares about canada (i had no idea the blackberry came from there), but that doesnt have anything to do with this article.

[hotwheel16]

Interesting geography and other such unforgivable offenses

"The code name for Windows XP was Whistler, a U.S. ski resort"

I know us Canadians are but a blip on most technology radars, but come on. Give us credit for more than just the Blackberry - Whistler is purely Canadian.

- A concerned Vancouver citizen

[assman]

unforgivable? dont cry

look, it was a simple mistake that has been corrected, yes, its true that no one cares about canada (i had no idea the blackberry came from there), but that doesnt have anything to do with this article.

[Goose]

Didn't release Vista and already working on a new one?

Bugs and design flaws are common. Of course all 'issues' with MS
software will be dealt with in the next release.... but not right now.
That's the whole point: instead of fixing bugs, Microsoft actually
uses these flaws as an excuse for an aggressive update policy.
Microsoft doesn't fix bugs, but continuously releases new versions.
They call this "innovation", but in truth the only purpose of this
strategy is to inflate Microsoft's already obscene profits even
further."

[HawaiiBob]

Actually

Actually they call them(bugs or flaws) features.

[chrismichaelgardner]

How is this any different from Apple?

Yes, features slip. Bugs stay in the current release and are fixed later. How is this any different than Apple?

In OS X, support to connect to a Windows domain was horrible. If they focused their resources on this, it would've been fixed in 10.1. It wasn't -- it still sucked. 10.2 sucked. 10.3 sucked. Finally in 10.4 they got it right.

These companies do what they have with the time they're given. MS is no different than any other company in that respect. Every new Mac OS release, Linux distro, etc. prioritizes certain things and leaves the others on the wayside. Windows is no different.

[metman4u]

Whistler&Blackcomb

It is interesting that Microsoft has changed its beta notifications from euphoric to the city of Vienna...full of water, slime, and raw sewage. Whistler and Blackcomb are resorts that are the meca of all skiers and snow boarders, the most beautiful and best in the world. What's in a name? Not much, but I sure don't like pond scum.

[Goose]

Didn't release Vista and already working on a new one?

Bugs and design flaws are common. Of course all 'issues' with MS
software will be dealt with in the next release.... but not right now.
That's the whole point: instead of fixing bugs, Microsoft actually
uses these flaws as an excuse for an aggressive update policy.
Microsoft doesn't fix bugs, but continuously releases new versions.
They call this "innovation", but in truth the only purpose of this
strategy is to inflate Microsoft's already obscene profits even
further."

[HawaiiBob]

Actually

Actually they call them(bugs or flaws) features.

[chrismichaelgardner]

How is this any different from Apple?

Yes, features slip. Bugs stay in the current release and are fixed later. How is this any different than Apple?

In OS X, support to connect to a Windows domain was horrible. If they focused their resources on this, it would've been fixed in 10.1. It wasn't -- it still sucked. 10.2 sucked. 10.3 sucked. Finally in 10.4 they got it right.

These companies do what they have with the time they're given. MS is no different than any other company in that respect. Every new Mac OS release, Linux distro, etc. prioritizes certain things and leaves the others on the wayside. Windows is no different.

[metman4u]

Whistler&Blackcomb

It is interesting that Microsoft has changed its beta notifications from euphoric to the city of Vienna...full of water, slime, and raw sewage. Whistler and Blackcomb are resorts that are the meca of all skiers and snow boarders, the most beautiful and best in the world. What's in a name? Not much, but I sure don't like pond scum.

[HawaiiBob]

Seems to me

It seems to me that Microsoft would be better advised to
concentrate all it's energies on getting Vista right. Yeah fat chance
of that happening. Oh well Vista might be a good product after the
230th service pack.

[Thrudheim]

Agree

Couldn't help but laugh upon reading the story. Don't they have
enough on their plates at the moment, like an major upgrade that
is already way, way overdue?

On the other hand, given the track record, maybe its a good idea to
start now so that it will be ready five years after the release of
Vista.

[HawaiiBob]

Seems to me

It seems to me that Microsoft would be better advised to
concentrate all it's energies on getting Vista right. Yeah fat chance
of that happening. Oh well Vista might be a good product after the
230th service pack.

[Thrudheim]

Agree

Couldn't help but laugh upon reading the story. Don't they have
enough on their plates at the moment, like an major upgrade that
is already way, way overdue?

On the other hand, given the track record, maybe its a good idea to
start now so that it will be ready five years after the release of
Vista.

[Klar]

Irony

I found it a little ironic that the name is the same as an open source
RSS client for Mac OS X, which I happened to find the story with.

[Earl Benser]

When MS can claim to trademark 'Windows'....

... they can use any name they want and get away with it.

[Klar]

Irony

I found it a little ironic that the name is the same as an open source
RSS client for Mac OS X, which I happened to find the story with.

[Earl Benser]

When MS can claim to trademark 'Windows'....

... they can use any name they want and get away with it.

[aabcdefghij987654321]

Clamor from those who know so little of how things work

To those of you who criticize MS for working on the next version while the previous one is still in progress I submit that this is a standard operating process for all large software projects.

For example go and look at the roadmap for the excellent Firefox browser and you'll see that they've got several future releases on the map and an idea of what features they want to add in each of those releases.

It would be more worrisome if a software producer didn't have an idea about where they'd be going next with their product.

So please try to stick with real issues and not get all hyped up over such a total non-issue, it only makes you sound ridiculous.

[Blito]

Bad advertising gas

Please, evrytimne MS breaks an advertising wind were suppose to run up and follow?
It's called vaporware.

[aabcdefghij987654321]

Clamor from those who know so little of how things work

To those of you who criticize MS for working on the next version while the previous one is still in progress I submit that this is a standard operating process for all large software projects.

For example go and look at the roadmap for the excellent Firefox browser and you'll see that they've got several future releases on the map and an idea of what features they want to add in each of those releases.

It would be more worrisome if a software producer didn't have an idea about where they'd be going next with their product.

So please try to stick with real issues and not get all hyped up over such a total non-issue, it only makes you sound ridiculous.

[Blito]

Bad advertising gas

Please, evrytimne MS breaks an advertising wind were suppose to run up and follow?
It's called vaporware.

[rcrusoe]

Vienna's features were promised in Vista

which is what, three years late and is now little more than
Windows XP SP3?

Based on the latest news, Vista is just as vulnerable as XP, and
will basically be a GUI upgrade with much greater hardware
requirement.

If you are a Windows fan, great. But what you've got, is all you
get.

[open-mind]

Just wait for Braunschweiger

That will contain the features dropped from Vienna.

;-)

[Hernys]

Wrong

"Based on the latest news, Vista is just as vulnerable as XP"
Wrong, absolutely wrong. If you are talking about a specific, single and isolated vulnerability like the WMF flaw (which you'll agree is a ridiculous metric for judgng an operating's system security) that precise issue shows some of the biggest security improvements in Vista. LUA in Vista lowers the impact of an issue such as the WMF vulnerability significantly, and what is an absolutely devastating attack on an XP machine is a much more serious threat on Vista. Also, improvements on AntiPhishing, Firewall and download manager technologies in Vista greatly reduce the impact of such a bug.
Don't get me wrong, a vulnerabiolity such as the WMF one is still a serious issue, but the key in Vista is reducing the impact of such vulnerabilities even if they are still there (and Microsoft is not Naive enough to imagine Vista, or any other piece of software, will ever be bug free). That's precisely something that has been criticized about previous Windows versions, and it's something that's specifically and effectively being handled in Vista.

[rcrusoe]

Vienna's features were promised in Vista

which is what, three years late and is now little more than
Windows XP SP3?

Based on the latest news, Vista is just as vulnerable as XP, and
will basically be a GUI upgrade with much greater hardware
requirement.

If you are a Windows fan, great. But what you've got, is all you
get.

[open-mind]

Just wait for Braunschweiger

That will contain the features dropped from Vienna.

;-)

[Hernys]

Wrong

"Based on the latest news, Vista is just as vulnerable as XP"
Wrong, absolutely wrong. If you are talking about a specific, single and isolated vulnerability like the WMF flaw (which you'll agree is a ridiculous metric for judgng an operating's system security) that precise issue shows some of the biggest security improvements in Vista. LUA in Vista lowers the impact of an issue such as the WMF vulnerability significantly, and what is an absolutely devastating attack on an XP machine is a much more serious threat on Vista. Also, improvements on AntiPhishing, Firewall and download manager technologies in Vista greatly reduce the impact of such a bug.
Don't get me wrong, a vulnerabiolity such as the WMF one is still a serious issue, but the key in Vista is reducing the impact of such vulnerabilities even if they are still there (and Microsoft is not Naive enough to imagine Vista, or any other piece of software, will ever be bug free). That's precisely something that has been criticized about previous Windows versions, and it's something that's specifically and effectively being handled in Vista.

[Mister C]

Vienna?

Like the sausage? How appropriate!

[Seaspray0]

My thoughts exactly

Hopefully it will "taste" better than those little weinies in the can. What I can't understand is all the hype over a "code name" change. That would be like walmart changing the name from "Super Walmart" to "Walmart Signature Store". Whooptie doo. I mean, has anything been accomplished by altering the code name? Even so, I bet there's a microsoft executive somewhere in redmond right now being congradulated for his/her outstanding contribution and effort that resulted in this memorable occasion. Kinda makes ya want to throw up or something, doesn't it? If not yet, then go eat a few of those vienna sausages.

[Mister C]

Vienna?

Like the sausage? How appropriate!

[Seaspray0]

My thoughts exactly

Hopefully it will "taste" better than those little weinies in the can. What I can't understand is all the hype over a "code name" change. That would be like walmart changing the name from "Super Walmart" to "Walmart Signature Store". Whooptie doo. I mean, has anything been accomplished by altering the code name? Even so, I bet there's a microsoft executive somewhere in redmond right now being congradulated for his/her outstanding contribution and effort that resulted in this memorable occasion. Kinda makes ya want to throw up or something, doesn't it? If not yet, then go eat a few of those vienna sausages.

[assman]

..i had no idea the windows code names were cities

longhorn is a city?? i always thought it was name based on bulls..

[Michael G.]

Texas Longhorns

I live in Texas, and here "Longhorn" means one thing---The Texas Longhorns, which are a college football team. Longhorn IS a type of Bull...which is where MS may be headed with all of this.

Longhorn: "One of a breed of long-horned cattle formerly bred in the southwestern United States." The Texas Longhorn mascot "Bevo" is one of these types of cattle.

[br77575]

Longhorn Saloon

The article did not state that Longhorn is a city. It said that Longhorn is a saloon.

[nightveil]

Not always, but often

Previous versions of Windows were code-named Chicago and
Memphis.

Memphis, by the way, is a city in both Tennesee and Egypt. So is
Cairo, though the U.S. version is pronounced Kay-ro.

[assman]

..i had no idea the windows code names were cities

longhorn is a city?? i always thought it was name based on bulls..

[Michael G.]

Texas Longhorns

I live in Texas, and here "Longhorn" means one thing---The Texas Longhorns, which are a college football team. Longhorn IS a type of Bull...which is where MS may be headed with all of this.

Longhorn: "One of a breed of long-horned cattle formerly bred in the southwestern United States." The Texas Longhorn mascot "Bevo" is one of these types of cattle.

[br77575]

Longhorn Saloon

The article did not state that Longhorn is a city. It said that Longhorn is a saloon.

[nightveil]

Not always, but often

Previous versions of Windows were code-named Chicago and
Memphis.

Memphis, by the way, is a city in both Tennesee and Egypt. So is
Cairo, though the U.S. version is pronounced Kay-ro.

[Michael G.]

When One Thinks of Vienna, Austria...

One thinks of (nostalgic) elegance. Johann Strauss waltzes in the moonlight with one's chosen partner. Gilded halls and structures in white and gold. Museums and Art Galleries. The best old-style Europe has to offer, in terms of culture.

When One Thinks of Microsoft Vienna:

Microsoft has plenty of history to offer, but lacks sophistication and elegance when it comes to making operating systems gracefully dance. It is like the BIGFOOT of the dance floor in Vienna's Ballroom.

[LordKalthorn]

Have you seen Vista?

If you can find me an operating system with more sophisticated tools, and more graceful elegance, I'll give you a cookie. Windows has to be Big Foot, if it wasn't it would be impossible to sustain itself in marketshare its less sophisticated and graceful competitors could not imagine let alone put up with. Although I am sure Tux does ponder it in his wildest fantasies after some fun with the Misses, the BSD Devil.

Mac OS X is white, and can be no other colour. Windows Vista is black, and can be white, purple, blue, anything you want, gracefully mixed into your desktop background.

Not that I like the Vienna Codename; Vienna is sinking, I thought that with the AMD Viennas. I have no doubt however Microsoft will finally give Vienna-codenamed projects a victory.

[Michael G.]

When One Thinks of Vienna, Austria...

One thinks of (nostalgic) elegance. Johann Strauss waltzes in the moonlight with one's chosen partner. Gilded halls and structures in white and gold. Museums and Art Galleries. The best old-style Europe has to offer, in terms of culture.

When One Thinks of Microsoft Vienna:

Microsoft has plenty of history to offer, but lacks sophistication and elegance when it comes to making operating systems gracefully dance. It is like the BIGFOOT of the dance floor in Vienna's Ballroom.

[LordKalthorn]

Have you seen Vista?

If you can find me an operating system with more sophisticated tools, and more graceful elegance, I'll give you a cookie. Windows has to be Big Foot, if it wasn't it would be impossible to sustain itself in marketshare its less sophisticated and graceful competitors could not imagine let alone put up with. Although I am sure Tux does ponder it in his wildest fantasies after some fun with the Misses, the BSD Devil.

Mac OS X is white, and can be no other colour. Windows Vista is black, and can be white, purple, blue, anything you want, gracefully mixed into your desktop background.

Not that I like the Vienna Codename; Vienna is sinking, I thought that with the AMD Viennas. I have no doubt however Microsoft will finally give Vienna-codenamed projects a victory.

[ipfresh]

Vista

Windows Vista brings clarity to your world, so you can more safely and easily accomplish everyday tasks and instantly find what you want on your PC.

David
Shopping Center
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://store.media-press-release.com" target="_newWindow">http://store.media-press-release.com</a>
Uk Store
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://ukstore.media-press-release.com" target="_newWindow">http://ukstore.media-press-release.com</a>

[Earl Benser]

How often do you think for yourself???

We already have a surplus of MS press releases - some even true.

[gmycyk191]

clarity to your world?

clarity to your world? Ok, tell me why we went to war with Iraq? That's the kind of clarity I need, not more crapware...

[ipfresh]

Vista

Windows Vista brings clarity to your world, so you can more safely and easily accomplish everyday tasks and instantly find what you want on your PC.

David
Shopping Center
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://store.media-press-release.com" target="_newWindow">http://store.media-press-release.com</a>
Uk Store
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://ukstore.media-press-release.com" target="_newWindow">http://ukstore.media-press-release.com</a>

[Earl Benser]

How often do you think for yourself???

We already have a surplus of MS press releases - some even true.

[gmycyk191]

clarity to your world?

clarity to your world? Ok, tell me why we went to war with Iraq? That's the kind of clarity I need, not more crapware...

[Earl Benser]

RElax, folks.....

Wait until Vista actually comes out, and maybe until after Vista SP1,
and then spread the word on what and what not Vista can do.

Right now, Vista is MS smoke, surfacing only in press releases
which have a tough time being consistent. Since VISta is in
development, any claims are necessarily vaporware. No problem -
just quite claiming that Vista's wonderful features are cast in stone.

We'll see what Vista is when Vista gets here. Until then, Vista is BS.

[LordKalthorn]

The December CTP Build

The December CTP Build is a little more than smoke :P Sure it uses 840Megs of RAM and installs in little under a day on my dreadfully lackluster testing machine but it is a fantastic piece of software which quite honestly is in GUI terms decades ahead of Linux which seems still quite contentedly stuck in what Windows and Apple haven't had to use since 93/95. Security is a little over tight actually, it calls up alerts opening Control Panel subWindows. But if you can find me a better working Beta, I'll give you a cookie.

Vista is more than smoke. It is on the Bit Torrents I am told if you are really interested and don't have an MSDN.

[Andrew J Glina]

Apple is no better

I am still waiting for a new Apple OS. They have not released one since 1999.

[Earl Benser]

RElax, folks.....

Wait until Vista actually comes out, and maybe until after Vista SP1,
and then spread the word on what and what not Vista can do.

Right now, Vista is MS smoke, surfacing only in press releases
which have a tough time being consistent. Since VISta is in
development, any claims are necessarily vaporware. No problem -
just quite claiming that Vista's wonderful features are cast in stone.

We'll see what Vista is when Vista gets here. Until then, Vista is BS.

[LordKalthorn]

The December CTP Build

The December CTP Build is a little more than smoke :P Sure it uses 840Megs of RAM and installs in little under a day on my dreadfully lackluster testing machine but it is a fantastic piece of software which quite honestly is in GUI terms decades ahead of Linux which seems still quite contentedly stuck in what Windows and Apple haven't had to use since 93/95. Security is a little over tight actually, it calls up alerts opening Control Panel subWindows. But if you can find me a better working Beta, I'll give you a cookie.

Vista is more than smoke. It is on the Bit Torrents I am told if you are really interested and don't have an MSDN.

[Andrew J Glina]

Apple is no better

I am still waiting for a new Apple OS. They have not released one since 1999.

[BMR777]

Microsoft can barely get one OS right, why focus on two?

Microsoft is like the little kid who is never happy with the new toy. They get a new one and seconds later they want something else.

Before releasing Vista, they should focus on making XP better and then they should focus on making Vista BULLETPROOF. Vista should be so secure that out of the box the dumbest user can turn it on, leave it connected to broadband forever, download whatever they want and never get a virus, spyware, or hacked. Of course this will never happen because PC makers make money whenever you buy a new PC, clueless people get a new PC to remove viruses, and in the end M$ double charges users because they couldn't get Windoze right in the first place and their users suffer for their deal with the devil.

The fact that they are thinking of a new OS after Vista makes me think they may be intentionally leaving out some great features, (such as security) just to get you to buy another OS three years down the road.

Come on M$, get one thing right for once.
BMR777
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.rusnakweb.com" target="_newWindow">http://www.rusnakweb.com</a>

[LordKalthorn]

The answer is obvious

If they released Vista as an SP3 right now for XP; everybody would say eh its only a Service Pack who cares, even though it would be free like SP2. If they kept trying to build it with all the features they plan t have in it two years down the line it will never be released and you will never use it. Now, after everybody moans that Vista has been too long in the making and they try and get it out as fast as possible with as many features as any software team on earth would be proud to have done with the concerns Microsoft has to face, copyrights, use by practically a billion people if not more, anti-trust; you moan because they aren't putting features in it they know, you know, everybody knows they cannot do until another release cycle?

What would you have them do? What they are doing now which you are moaning at for not not being enough, release a Service Pack that you will moan about because it can't possibly be enough because it is only a Service Pack as so many did with SP2 falsly I may add, or push it back until the planned release of Vienna which you will then moan about because it is too long to wait.

There is no code in the world more than a few thousand lines long that is bulletproof, you get more than one person writing something and wholes will appear. Linux isn't bulletproof, Mac isn't bulletproof; a lot of common sense often shows both can be worse than Windows in the hands of the sort of Word Processing E-Mail sending people who are Microsoft's number one customer. You can happily leave Broadband on on any supported Windows PC properly Updated for ever and a day; but on no computer can you download whatever you want and never get a Virus. For this firstly Windows would need a full Anti-Virus kit, if Microsoft included this I am sure a lot of people would be mad; the Anti-Virus features in Vista are quite enough however for somebody who at least thinks before downloading that large DVD Zip and running it.

Wait until the Moon meets the Sun, Apple is a viable alternative to a proper Computer and Linux has a Licence that isn't a Software Virus for a Bulletproof Operating System if you will. I think I will use the best we can expect as much as I can.