“Up to 60% of the code in the new consumer version of Microsoft new Vista operating system is set to be rewritten as the Company ‘scrambles’ to fix internal problems a Microsoft insider has confirmed,” David Richards reports for Smarthouse News. “In an effort to meet a deadline of the 2007 CES show in Las Vegas Microsoft has pulled programmers from the highly succesful Xbox team to help resolve many problems associated with entertainment and media centre functionality inside the OS. The team are also working closely with engineers from the Intel Viiv team. and it is now expected that the next version of Viiv could be delayed to line up with the launch of the consumer version of Vista at the 2007 CES Show in Las Vegas.”
“One of the key components of the consumer version of Vista is the Media Centre code. This will be an optional package in the same way that Microsoft currently sell a Professional and Home version of XP. With Vista there will not be a seperate Media Centre SKU,” Richards reports. “Microsoft has also admitted that it has major problems in it’s Windows division and has has immediatly initiated a total restructure of the division, a move that comes after a costly delay in rolling out its Vista program.”
Full article along with the text of an internal memo written by Kevin Johnson the Co-President of the Windows division here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “mango” for the heads up.]
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And 40% of Vista will be varying percentages of animal fat, cereal filler, brewer’s rice, chicken meal, corn gluten, mechanically separated beef, semisolid soy protein, particles of rat feces, software engineer’s fingernails, ground up office furniture, raw skeletal monkey muscle meat, chopped up little birdie’s feet, stolen code, bacteria listeria, ammonia, bile, urea, polysorbate 60, modified corn starch, cellulose gum, whey, sodium acid pyrophosphate, baking soda, monocalcium phosphate, salt, cornstarch, corn flour, corn syrup solids, erbium (for additional flavor and tracking purposes, Jimmy Hoffa, stem cells, vanilla extract, and the lyrics to “I Love the Nightlife.”
I find it suspicious that the “consumer” version is the version requiring all that code to be rewritten. It’s common practice in the software community to write code for ONE version. Depending upon what version you buy, certain features of the code are simply turned off. Considering the monolith that is Vista (Longhorn), their programmers don’t have the time to write so many separate versions. Bottom line is that the “professional” version is also screwed up.
Reorganize the Windows division??? The concept of reorganization at Microsoft will be to hire even more incompetent management and to physically move their development personnel from one end of the building to another. Vista is a disaster from top to bottom. Bill Gates’ “Waterloo” is at hand.
This thought just struck me—if the consumer has to wait until January and people are wondering how it can possibly be ready by then, what about the statement that businesses will get it by November? Let’s think about this for a moment:
The big businesses that are the financial backbone of our country and upon which many of our daily lives depend will be running an operating system cobbled together in this fashion. If I remember correctly, Microsoft changed the subscription contract policy such that these businesses HAVE NO CHOICE but to upgrade.
Am I the only one worried about more than just my personal computing experience when Vista comes out?
The real story: Longhorn was originally going to be mostly .NET based code, with 60% of it complete for release. Realizing that the .NET framework is convoluted and poorly designed, not to metion terrible performance as well for an OS to be writtne in, the decision was made to rewrite that 60% of the code for Vista.
It’s funny, I live about 8000 miles away from Infinite Loop, but if I turn off the TV and listen very carefully at the window I swear I can hear hysterical laughter.
But curiously, I think I can also hear what sounds like a Herman Miller chair flying through the air.
Wha!! 60% of the Vista code to be rewritten, that can’t be, and release date is in Jan 2007. How about just changing the name to Windows Delay Pro and forgetting all the official release dates.
News Flash!!!
Microsoft has pulled personal from the janitorial staff to help clean-up the mess with Vista.
I think I just heard a toilet flush.
It won’t be long now — Microsoft, the 8 pound gorilla of the software world.
Vista is in bad shape but you guys might be reading the numbers wrong. It’s up to 60% of the consumer version of Vista. In other words, not 60% of the entire OS, just the consumer bits, specifically the Media Center code.
I read the article in the link, and other than the initial statement, in the openning paragraph, there is no further evidence put forward to back up this “60% Re-write” claim.
I am not saying there aren’t problems at M$ — clearly evident by their restructuring — but without any real details, the writer is blowing smoke!
The author throws out this wild claim, but does nothing to back it up. Choosing to publish an internal M$ email that only discusses the re-org.
I am no fan of Windows, Gates, Ballmer or M$, in general, but this is just FUD.
What’s happenning to journalism these days?
This can’t be right 60% rewritten to the consumer release! Wasn’t this the same great company that had problems with the Date: 00, because nobody thought at the time that the os software would be around for that long. But as I remember it’s the corp / gov that paid out the nose to patch it and who made a win then.
In a related story, Bill Gates has admitted that all previous versions of Windows were also poorly written, resulting in bugs, instability, confusing UI design and user frustration. The current Windows XP and the upcoming Windows Vista inherited many of their problems from these earlier releases.
To fix the problem, Mr. Gates is demanding scrutiny into how Windows 1.0 went so wrong in setting the trajectory of later developments. DOS will be rewritten and reintegrated into current projects in an effort to reshape history and avert the expected domination of Mac OS X in the near future.
“The new focus and reorganization of Microsoft will pave the way for Windows X, our new concept of an operating system that just works”, says Mr. Gates, adding that the expected release date for Windows X is next Thursday.
MDN should not rely on second-hand reports of personal blogs. This story is complete fiction. See http://www.betanews.com/article/Microsoft_No_Vista_Code_Changes/1143232877
Throw out the other 40% and start over.