Microsoft Corporation announced today that while it plans to roll out its next major operating system, Windows Vista, to volume licensees in November 2006, Vista won’t be available to everyday consumers until January 2007, after the end-of-year buying season has concluded.
At the same time, Microsoft confirmed it plans to begin consumer beta releases of Vista during the second quarter of 2006.
Explaining the decision to delay Vista to consumers, Jim Allchin, Microsoft’s co-president for the Platforms & Services Division, said, “The industry requires greater lead time to deliver Windows Vista on new PCs during holiday. We must optimize for the industry, so we’ve decided to separate business and consumer availability.” Although public support for the Vista delay is on display from Microsoft partners like Hewlett-Packard and Best Buy, some channel partners have to be disappointed they will not be able to offer Windows Vista on new machines sold during the end-of-year holidays. As computers embed themselves further into functionality and lifestyle areas traditionally dominated by consumer electronics, the holiday buying season becomes more important for computer makers, especially those targeting consumers.
In additional to consumers, the decision means delaying the availability of Windows Vista to small businesses and others who purchase Windows through retail channels or upgrade when they buy a PC.
Allchin declined to comment on whether Microsoft or its partners might provide Vista upgrade vouchers for consumers or businesses purchasing computers during the latter half of 2006.
Microsoft currently plans six editions of Windows Vista, two aimed at home users, one at business users, one at the enterprise market, one “ultimate” edition with everything plus the kitchen sink, and a “starter” edition aimed at markets in developing nations. Two additional releases are planned for the European Union without Windows Media software included by default.
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.