With build 6000, Microsoft ended its traditional bug hunt party, finalized Vista and shipped it off to its manufacturing facilities. This was on the 8^th of November, but yet the average consumer can’t get their hands on it until the end of January. What happens during this time interval?

The worldwide retail availability is currently set for January 30^th of 2007. This is the date that you should be looking for if you want to get your copy of Windows Vista. However, the business and developer markets can already get their hands on it. Vista has been available to developers since the 17^th of November and to volume subscribers since the 30^th. Why is there such a major release date discrepancy between the professional and consumer markets if Vista is essentially finished and release ready?

The average consumer has to wait a little longer for two main reasons: Microsoft needs time to get Vista on its distribution media, and third party developers need time to make their products compatible.

For paying members of the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) as well as for volume customers, such as major corporations and businesses, physical availability is not an issue. Everyone in these market sectors is deeply involved in technology, and as such they will have no problem locating and downloading the image files needed to install the new operating system. Not only do they have the know-how, they most likely also have access to the network bandwidth needed to download the multi-gigabyte install files. The ISO image for the 32-bit version of Vista Ultimate is about 3.2GB, and the 64-bit version weighs in at a hefty 4.2GB—I would assume that the Business and Enterprise versions are just as big.

The difference in release dates is not only due to the fact that an install media is necessary for the masses, but also because software and hardware developers need time to create drivers that will play with Vista’s game. It would be a nightmare, not only for Microsoft, but also for every other computer and software vendor out there if no third party software or device worked right.

Imagine all of the questions and complaints that each of these companies would receive for days, if not weeks, on end. The customer service departments would be flooded with countless calls and e-mails from customers wondering why their five year old printer no longer works, or why their brand-name digital camera is not being recognized by their new machine.

By simply waiting for two months, Microsoft is allowing enough time to pass for enough physical copies to be manufactured and for a good majority of companies to release compatible drivers.