After 5 years of development, Windows Vista has gone gold and it will be available to the public by 30th January 2007.

REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 8, 2006 ” As Windows Vista is released to manufacturing (RTM) today ” a significant milestone for Microsoft and its partners ” anticipation is building around that all-important question: How good is it really?

Microsoft says Windows Vista is its most heavily tested operating system ever, with deep investments made to ensure greater security, reliability and usability. But after all the time, expense and effort to get it right, does Windows Vista meet the quality bar? For answers to this and other questions about the quality of Windows Vista, PressPass spoke with Sven Hallauer, release manager and director of program management at Microsoft.

» Windows Vista RTM Screenshots Gallery
» Windows Vista RTM Q&A

In related news, Microsoft Office 2007 has also RTMed on 6th November 2006.

REDMOND, Wash. ” Nov. 6, 2006 ” Microsoft Corp. today announced the completion of the 2007 Microsoft® Office system code and confirmed its release to manufacturing (RTM). This gold code milestone concludes the largest Microsoft Office beta program to date, with more than 3.5 million people downloading Beta 2. The unprecedented quantity of feedback from beta testers and customers helped the Office development team effectively validate product quality and optimize performance. Microsoft Office RTM also marks a critical step toward worldwide business availability of the 2007 Office system, Windows Vista„¢ operating system and Exchange Server 2007 on Nov. 30, 2006. To underscore the significance of this new day for business, Microsoft executives will participate in events around the globe, including an event with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in New York. General availability of the products will follow in early 2007.

» Office 2007 RTM Screenshots Gallery
» Office 2007 RTM Press Release

Right after Microsoft launches Windows Explorer 7, Mozilla launches FireFox 2.0. The launch was suppose to be tomorrow (24th October 2006) but the file is already uploaded to their FTP. The Windows installer weighs 5,568KB in size, and was uploaded at 08:19GMT today.

Download:
» FireFox 2.0 EN-US
» FireFox 2.0 EN-GB
» Browse The FTP

The final version of Microsoft Windows Internet Explorer 7 is now out. It is available for Windows XP SP 2, Windows 2003 32-bit, Windows 2003/XP 64-bit and Windows 2003 ia64. Windows XP SP 1 users, I think you need to upgrade to SP 2 before you can install IE7.

Download:
» Windows XP SP2
» Windows 2003 32-bit
» Windows 2003/XP 64-bit
» Windows 2003 ia64

The next version of Windows will be named Windows Vista, whose previous codename is called Windows Longhorn.

Personal preference I still prefer the name XP than Vista. I think in 2006 we will see a series of software that ends with Vista. For example Office Vista.

Official Windows Vista Site | Press Release

Horizontal Logo | Vertical Logo

Copy + Paste from Neowin.

Neowin has learned of shocking and potentially devastating news. It would appear that two packages are circulating on the internet, one being the source code to Windows 2000, and the other being the source code to Windows NT. At this time, it is hard to establish whether or not full code has leaked, and this will undoubtedly remain the situation until an attempt is made to compile them. Microsoft are currently unavailable for comment surrounding this leak so we have no official response from them at the time of writing.

This leak is a shock not only to Neowin, but to the wider IT industry. The ramifications of this leak are far reaching and devastating. This reporter does not wish to be sensationalist, but the number of industries and critical systems that are based around these technologies that could be damaged by new exploits found in this source code is something that doesn’t bare thinking about.

We ask that for the wider benefit of the IT community that members and readers support Microsoft by forwarding anything they know about the leak to the Microsoft’s Anti-Piracy department.

Microsoft’s Tom Pilla has confirmed the leak stating: “Today we became aware that incomplete portions of Windows 2000 and NT 4.0 source code was illegally made available on the Internet”

Click here to view Microsoft’s Official Response.

It looks a trend leaking source code, first it was Half-Life 2, now it is Windows.

Winamp 5.0 has been released. It is the next version of Winamp after version 3.0. I have been using it since beta stages and I must say it rocks. Winamp 3.0 skinning with almost as little resources used as Winamp 2.0. Recommanded to download for all users since it is free.

» Download Winamp 5.0 Full
» Download Winamp 5.0 Lite

Winamp Office Site has also been redesigned for the release of Winamp 5.0.

Next in the Microsoft Office line after XP will be Office 11, it will be out sometime next year, but it can only work on Windows 2K and XP. Click here for some Office 11 screenshots.

Also, next in the Microsoft Windows line, rumoured to be called Windows 2004, and Longhorn is the code name for its alpha and beta stages, just like Whistler is the code name for Windows XP alpha and beta stages. Click here for some Windows Longhorn screenshots.

For more information about the 2 softwares, click on the more link below. Read More (487 More Words)