Tag: Windows Vista

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Who’s running Vista? Trek Bikes

Want to know some of the companies moving to Vista? Here’s a look at one well-known company, Trek Bikes. There’s a new case study now available, just posted on the Microsoft Case Studies site.  If you don’t know Trek, they are a major manufacturer and marketer of bikes and accessories with 1,800 employees worldwide. The company ships around a million bicycles each year. (Disclaimer: my 8-yr-old son has a Trek, and so does my wife: she’s been a Trek fan all her adult life). And now they’re an early pilot adopter of Windows Vista in their shop:



Trek Bicycle Corporation“Known for its innovation, Trek Bicycle Corporation stays aware of new products that can further its ongoing business-improvement efforts. Trek recently upgraded to Windows Vista to help support its goal of bringing products to market more quickly and securely. After a smooth deployment, both technical and business users have streamlined their workflows for greater productivity and enhanced agility—all within a more protected environment.


“The Windows XP operating system was a solid performer for us, but Windows Vista will be a tremendous upgrade,” says Douglas Kotulski, Network Services and Support Manager for Trek. “It has multiple enhanced user and security features that work really well in our environment.”


I’ll be interested to hear more details as Trek moves to deploy Vista RTM broadly in their offices.

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Microsoft’s Windows Vista OS released to manufacturing

It’s official: Windows Vista has been released to manufacturing:



“As Microsoft Windows Vista is released to manufacturing (RTM) today — a significant milestone for Microsoft and its partners — anticipation is building around that all-important question: How good is it really?


“Microsoft says Windows Vista is its most heavily tested operating system ever, with deep investments made to ensure greater security, reliability and usability. But after all the time, expense and effort to get it right, does Windows Vista meet the quality bar? For answers to this and other questions about the quality of Windows Vista, PressPass spoke with Sven Hallauer, release manager and director of program management at Microsoft.”


For more, see the following links:



As Sven Hallauer put it: “So yes, everything is on track and we’re very excited about it.”


The Seattle PI reports the announcement here…



“This is a good day,” said Jim Allchin, co-president of Microsoft’s Platforms & Services Division, in a conference call announcing the operating system’s release to manufacturing. “It’s rock solid, and we’re ready to ship.”


Computerworld reports that Windows Vista is done and released to manufacturing… gotta love the press.



“Microsoft today officially finished the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) version of its upcoming Windows Vista operating system. The RTM release is the first step toward the widespread availability of the operating system, which is slated to be available to corporate volume license customers via the Web or on CD sometime before Nov. 30, and to general consumers on Jan. 30, 2007.


“The RTM version will be offered first to system manufacturers, who use it as the basis for their installations of Windows Vista on new PCs. It is not yet available for consumer download, although Microsoft has said that it will be available to MSDN and TechNet subscribers some time this month.”


Jim Allchin also left this note on the Windows Vista Blog this morning…









“It’s time!” Posted by Jim Allchin on Wednesday, November 08, 2006 11:53 AM


Tags: Windows Vista, Jim Allchin, Annnouncement, Featured News, RTM, Release-to-Manufacturing 


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ZDNet: a look behind the scenes at the Windows Vista release

Wonder what life is like in the days prior to release of Window Vista? ZDNet has a look at life in Redmond in their article, “Vista: Behind the scenes.” Inside Redmond



“Down the hall from shiproom, Windows unit employees can pick up the latest builds. About 500 people pick up a DVD with new code in person each day, with many more getting the code over the network, and some even bringing their home machines into the office.


“That list includes rank-and-file Windows employees, as well as some of the company’s top brass. Allchin and his technical assistant, for example, are still trying to find bugs that the servers and development teams have missed.


“Elsewhere, Allchin is testing a multimonitor set-up with four displays, including some in portrait mode. Paul Donnelly, who manages part of Microsoft’s Vista test operation, has been doing the same thing for some time. As the finalization deadline has neared, he has added more systems to his office. As of last week, he had nine machines crammed into his office. He is among those who nearly always picks up the daily build.”


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Changes announced today in Windows Vista transfer limits

CNET News reports today the changes in Windows Vista transfer limits. This was reported in the news last month (see this story link on InternetNews), when it was reported that in “customers will only be able to reinstall Vista on a new machine once. After that, they will have to buy a new copy of Vista.”


Not so. 



“Reversing a licensing change announced two weeks ago, Microsoft said on Thursday that it will not limit the number of times that retail customers can transfer their Windows Vista license to a different computer. On Oct. 16, Microsoft issued the new user license for Vista, including terms that would have limited the ability of those who buy a boxed copy of the operating system to transfer that license. Under the proposed terms, users could have made such a switch only one time.


“However, the new restriction prompted an outcry among hardware enthusiasts and others. Microsoft is returning the licensing terms to basically what they were in Windows XP–users can transfer their license to a new PC an unlimited number of times, provided they uninstall and stop using it on the prior machine.


“The software maker said it paid attention to the response both directly to the company and on blogs and decided to reverse course.


“…Microsoft product manager Mike Burk (said) “At the same time, after listening to the feedback that came in, (we) felt that we needed to make this change.”


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Of Interest: Jim Allchin blogging on Vista

If you haven’t seen it on the http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/, Jim Allchin (Co-President of the Platform and Services Division) is blogging now. From Jim:



“Welcome to the new and improved Windows Vista blog.  A few months back, I pushed our team to bring the blog from the blogging Dark Ages into something a little more modern.  The blog back then wasn’t quite doing the job.  Postings were infrequent, and the site wasn’t particularly helpful.


“In May, the team really turned the corner and today we’re launching the newly updated look and feel.  I hope you’ll agree it’s a big improvement.  It incorporates some key parts of the Windows Vista visuals.  We’ve also improved the organization of the site, so things should be easier to find.  The team’s providing great information, and I’m happy to see the comments and feedback from the community through the comments on the site.  I read these regularly, as do many others in the Windows leadership team, so please keep the feedback coming.”


The feedback is heard, circulated, shared and acted upon. I think that you’ll see more concrete examples in the weeks and months to come as Vista roles out.


Of further interest: see the interview with Jim on channel9.


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