Microsoft News Tracker

Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc reports that Microsoft has released Windows Search 4.0 which replaces Windows Desktop Search in Windows XP and Instant Search in Windows Vista as well as the relevant applications in Windows Server 2003, 2008, and Windows Home Server. Downloads of Windows Search 4.0 are now available and if you can wait a bit, it will show up on Windows Update.

Some notable enhancements in the new version include cross system searches (as long as they all run Windows Search 4.0) and improved Group Policy management for large organizations, but I expect that the greatest initial interest will be in ordinary desktop search. XP’s Windows Desktop Search was a resource hog that produced such mediocre results that disabling it figured prominently on most lists of XP performance improvement tips and had me pining for my old copy of Lotus Magellan. Vista’s Instant Search is certainly improved in both form and function so it will be interesting to kick the tires. Early reviews of Windows Search 4.0 indicate that there are still some rough edges and while it beats Google Desktop search in function, it still lags in speed.

In April, Microsoft gave Windows XP Home a reprieve on low-cost mobile computers until at least June 30, 2010 and today they extended it to low cost desktops:

Today at Computex, Microsoft Corp. announced that following the success of Windows on netbooks, the Windows offering is being extended to include nettop devices. Netbooks are commonly referred to as ultralow-cost PCs (ULCPCs) and were originally intended for students and other first-time PC customers in emerging markets. Nettop refers to desktops that are ultralow-cost.

I guess some head shaping for the PR staff went on after the April announcement which prominently mentioned Windows XP Home. Today’s announcement confusingly mentions only generic Windows except for one partner quote. So what’s the reason for the enlarged reprieve?

Customers are asking for Windows on these devices because the experience is familiar to existing PC users and easy to learn for customers who are new to computing. Customers want to be able to take advantage of the wide range of applications, devices and online experiences supported by Windows today. Microsoft partners also appreciate Windows-based solutions for these computers because they already know how to build and support high-quality systems that are powered by Windows.

And they can’t do any of those things with Vista apparently, presumably because of its considerable heft, and don’t want Linux sneaking in. One would also guess that the definition of ultralow-cost PC is subject to some negotiation.

So, here’s what the end of life plan for Windows XP currently looks like based on today’s announcement and the Microsoft Volume Licensing Brief, the Royalty OEM Reference Sheet, and the License Availability Roadmap:

- No XP retail availability after June 30, 2008

- No XP OEM (large PC manufacturer) availability after June 30, 2008 except:

• OEMs can downgrade Vista Business or Vista Ultimate licenses to Windows XP Professional or Tablet PC versions for customers indefinitely.
• OEMs building "ultralow-cost" PCs can deliver XP Home licenses until June 30, 2010.

- No XP volume purchase licenses after June 30, 2008, but volume purchasers and System Assurance subscribers can always downgrade to XP as long they have the appropriate media.

- No System Builder (smaller PC assemblers) XP availability after January 31, 2009.

Sometimes I think that what Microsoft’s Vista operating system really needs is an exorcist given the amount of unnatural occurrences plaguing it, but what it got this week was a disorderly rollout of Service Pack 1:

[Y]ou can now download Windows Vista SP1 via Windows Update. For those of you eager to receive the benefits of Windows Vista SP1 - you can now do so! We’ve seen quite a bit of questions in our comments so we want to communicate as much as possible surrounding Windows Vista SP1 and today’s release to Windows Update as we can.

For those of you happy to wait - sit tight because SP1 will start downloading to PCs automatically beginning in mid-April (Remember, this happens only if you have your Windows Update configured to automatically download updates and SP1 will automatically download but not automatically install).  But if you want to get the benefit of a year’s worth of improvements right now, go check Windows Update today…(Hit the Start Menu, All Programs, and select Windows Update).

If in running Windows Update you do not see Windows Vista SP1 listed, there are a number of good reasons for this (Eight in fact, see the whole list).

And there’s the rub as everything from an installation of a wrong language to a troublesome device driver could potentially hold up the parade. Microsoft says they are working on these problems and have recalled last month’s prerequisite Servicing Stack Update (KB937287) which caused some Vista systems to continually reboot, but the whole thing has a chancy feel when what Microsoft wants out of SP1 is an impression of solidity.

Adding to to the uncertainty were the mixed messages concerning retail availability of SP1 in boxed copies of Vista and on OEM hardware. It appears that Vista with SP1 is now available at some retailers including Amazon, but OEM PCs with SP1 won’t start showing up until April. As for current users that don’t want or whose connectivity can’t take a huge download from the Internet, the plans for a DVD copy are still up in the air.

The puzzling thing is that Microsoft knows how to do this right, but can never seem to put it all together for Vista. As for SP1 being what it takes to get the vaunted enterprise customers on board the Vista train, add at least 6 months for them to qualify Vista with SP1 for internal use.

Update (March 23): See “So Microsoft, Why Can’t I Get Windows Vista SP1?” for an example of some SP1 driver incompatibility pain and yes, PC OEMs share the blame with Microsoft.

One of the novelties with Vista was supposed to be the Windows Anytime Upgrade which involved providing all consumers with a single DVD containing multiple versions of Vista and allowing them to upgrade their system to a pricier version by purchasing an electronic key online. Apparently the program hasn’t worked too well and Microsoft is discontinuing Windows Anytime Upgrades on Feb. 20:

Microsoft has now decided to stop distributing product keys online, it said on Thursday. Starting Feb. 20, customers who want to upgrade will have to buy a Windows Anytime Upgrade kit from a local retailer, or via postal mail from Microsoft. The kit will include a Vista DVD and a product key for the version they are upgrading to.

Microsoft said it was making the change based on feedback from users. The new system means customers won’t have to worry if they lost their original Vista DVD and now want to upgrade.

However, it also means that people will now have to visit their local retailer or contact Microsoft via post (an option not available in Japan).

I’m sure there’s a problem with consumers having trouble locating their Vista DVDs, but I also wonder how much demand there is for version upgrades in the first place.

Microsoft was sued last April over its ill-conceived Windows Vista Capable program and now the fruits of legal discovery are coming out with likely more amusing revelations than Microsoft would like:

Quoting extensively from internal Microsoft Corp. e-mails, plaintiffs’ lawyers argued Friday that the company knowingly misled consumers by allowing PC makers to emblazon “Windows Vista Capable” stickers on PCs that could run only the most bare-bones version of the operating system.
…

During his opening presentation, plaintiffs’ lawyer Jeffrey Tilden of Gordon Tilden Thomas & Cordell quoted from numerous internal e-mails that appeared to show that employees within Microsoft had misgivings about the “Windows Vista Capable” campaign. The documents are under seal pending a ruling by Pechman.

“Even a piece of junk will qualify” for the “Windows Vista Capable” designation, wrote one employee in an e-mail that Tilden read out loud.

Another employee, Mike Nash, currently a corporate vice president for Windows product management, wrote in an e-mail, “I PERSONALLY got burnt. … Are we seeing this from a lot of customers? … I now have a $2,100 e-mail machine.”

Jim Allchin, then the co-president of Microsoft’s Platforms and Services Division, wrote in another e-mail, “We really botched this. … You guys have to do a better job with our customers.”

Microsoft unsurprisingly says these are just “just snippets of a broad and thorough review that took place during the development of the Windows Vista Capable program.”  I still say what I said at the time which is that the Vista Capable marketing goofiness was just trouble waiting to happen and detracted from the real Vista hardware logo program.