Lack of bandwidth limits SA Vista testing

By Paul Vecchiatto for Microsoft

Cape Town, 27 Sep 2006

South African consumers` enthusiasm for participation in Microsoft`s testing of its Windows Vista operating system is severely constrained by bandwidth capping in this country, says Jonathan Hatchuel, of Microsoft SA.

The US software giant recently made available "Release Candidate 1", the near-final version of the Windows Vista operating system. The final versions for enterprises are due to be released in November, and the final business and home versions will be available in early February.

"Downloading Vista online is no joke. It is a 6.2Gb file that requires a lot of bandwidth. Because it is so large, we [Microsoft SA] have to wait for the DVD kits to be printed and then delivered, which is a time-consuming process," says Hatchuel, head of Microsoft`s Windows Business Group.

Currently testing the beta versions of Vista in SA is a large commercial bank, a major retail operation, a telecommunications utility, four medium-sized firms and one small business.

Hatchuel estimates there are about 12 independent software vendors and between 15 000 to 20 000 individual South African developers testing Windows Vista in terms of how they can port their current applications to it, or exploring what opportunities it offers them.

"Many are very excited about the .Net Framework 3 (formerly WinFX), which is future-proofing their applications to enable them to run on Vista," he says.

Extra tools

Windows Vista will come in three versions for the home, namely Home Basic, Home Premium and Ultimate. A user will have the option to buy either the basic version and then update by purchasing upgrades online from their original vendor for a fee. If necessary, a home user can also buy the top-level pack straight away.

For businesses there are two versions, Windows Business and Ultimate. There will be an enterprise version for large organisations that will have extra tools for network administration and security.

Microsoft has been criticised for letting the release dates of Windows Vista slip. However, says Hatchuel, the software group is committed to its latest timetable. Microsoft SA has scheduled an official launch of the operating system and Microsoft Office 2007 on 2 November and plans to announce the general availability of the home and small business versions in February.

Stability of the Windows Vista operating system has also been criticised, but Hatchuel has dismissed these claims.

"Release Candidate 1 is the most stable test operating system I have ever encountered and the people using it have agreed," he says.