Oct 19, 2006 | blog
Here is Paul Thurrott’s second installment in his Road to Gold series.
In the first part of the series, Paul talked about the 2001 to 2002 timeframe where Longhorn emerges from the secret corners of Microsoft engineers.
In part 2, 2003 is covered talking about leaked builds, the beginnings of delays, adding of features, troubles of WinFS, and more.
It really has been a long road to RTM for this Windows release and the more I think about it, the more I ask if current and past approaches to Windows (and Mac OS, and Linux) are valid any longer. With the potential of Web 2.0 coming to fruition by many, many new talented people – do we need a fat legacy client any more?
That said, Windows Vista is an impressive piece of code, and its history detailed in Paul’s articles are a fun read.
Paul Thurrott’s Windows SuperSite – Road to Gold: The Long Road to Windows Vista Part 2: 2003
Oct 19, 2006 | blog
Looks like Microsoft is unfortunately postponing Windows XP Service Pack 3 until 2008. For me, at least, this was a complete surprise.
The disappointing part is the sheer number of patches that will need to be applied to Windows XP Service Pack 2 machines. As one reader points out, there are already several dozen patches that need to be applied to a fresh XPSP2 install.
“As of yesterday, if you install XP with SP2 slipstreamed in, you firstly get 2 updates (Windows Installer and WGA [Windows Genuine Advantage, anti-piracy software]) and then a huge 73 critical updates. I dread to think how many updates I’ll have to install in 2008 — and knowing my company, it’s not certain we’ll be on Vista by then!”
Via TechWeb – Microsoft Postpones Windows XP SP3 To 2008
Oct 18, 2006 | blog
I’ve stopped using Pluck a few weeks ago, and finally have removed the last vestiges of it from my machines. Did IE7 cause this? Not exactly.
While the RSS/ATOM support in IE7 and Firefox contributed to this, it really is Google Reader that drove home the last nail in the coffin. The simplicity, performance, and accessibility of GReader just can’t be beat for my needs at this time.
So, it is with sadness that I am currently removing Pluck from my last machine before installing the IE7 gold release. I’ve used Pluck for 2 years and will remember it fondly.
Oct 18, 2006 | blog
Ah, the moment we’ve been waiting 5 years for! Download now and help clog Microsoft servers!
JUST KIDDING!
Be aware that download times may/may not be affected by a large number of people downloading.
IEBlog – Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP Available Now
Oct 18, 2006 | blog
Paul Thurrott has posted his first piece in his series Road to Gold.
Paul has always had great opportunities to review early versions of products from Microsoft. He enthusiastically does this with an eye for detecting the not-so-finished features that would trip up the average user.
Since I’m an avid technology buff working in IT, I regularly read his reviews, and this one should be another great retrospective of the process of getting from the Longhorn concepts to Vista the product.
Thanks Paul!
