Last week Microsoft executive, Ben Fathi, blabbed that we should expect a new Windows operating system, code-named Vienna, in 2009 and that Vista was a compromise because XP Service Pack 2 soaked up precious resources that should have gone into making Vista better.

Now Microsoft’s corporate PR machine is trying to hose down speculation about Vienna, with the company issuing a curt statement effectively telling the world to forget about Vienna, and to focus on Windows Vista.

“The launch of Windows Vista was an incredibly exciting moment for our customers and partners around the world, and the company is focused on the value Windows Vista will bring to people today,” wrote Kevin Kutz, Director, Windows Client, on Microsoft’s web site. 

“We are not giving official guidance to the public yet about the next version of Windows, other than that we’re working on it. When we are ready, we will provide updates.”

Speaking at the recent RSA Conference in San Francisco, Ben Fathi, corporate vice president of development of Microsoft’s Windows Core Operating System Division, said that the original plans for Vista included a reinvented user interface and a new file system.

When asked what the best new features in Vienna would be, Fathi said that it was really too early to say, but it could be hypervisors or a new “user interface paradigm”.

It is very refreshing when company executives “tell it like it is”, but if this statement form Kevin Kutz is anything to go by, Microsoft is not quite ready for that. While I admire Fathi’s candor, I just hope he wasn’t counting on this year’s bonus.

Related:

Entry was posted on Tuesday, February 13th, 2007 at 2:46 pm under Microsoft, Technology, Vista.

Read more entries by John Pospisil.
Stumble It!