VISTA is nice! 1613

Um. What? This is just incredibly wrong. The major Windows rewrite (re-implementing a big chunk of the system on top of .NET and replacing the UI model first introduced with Windows 95) was supposed to come with a system code-named Blackcomb, in 2002-2003. Blackcomb was pushed back several years, and Microsoft inserted an intermediate release called Longhorn (Vista's codename) between XP and Blackcomb, originally set to ship in 2002. Vista itself was never supposed to be a major re-write, and has, in fact, turned out to be even less than what Microsoft was originally planning, as significant features have been cut to try to stop the release date from slipping further.

In January, Blackcomb was renamed "Vienna", and its estimated release is 2009-2012. Microsoft had added an additional interim release, codenamed "Fiji".

Vista is Windows XP with a new graphics engine, a new skin, some new security-related features, and .NET bundled, instead of only available as a separate download. It is *not* in any sense a brand new operating system. The difference between XP and Vista is more like the difference between OS X 10.2 and 10.4.

-- "Those who enter the country illegally violate the law." -- George W. Bush in Tucson, Ariz., Nov. 28, 2005