Microsoft Watch from Mary Jo Foley opines that Microsoft Needs to Come Clean About Vista. “Before Beta 1 went out, Microsoft officials would say little about the next Windows release. But now it’s time to talk turkey… What is Microsoft gaining from hiding the fact that some of the features originally slated for Vista and Longhorn Server have been pulled from the products?”
As I pointed out last week, it’s not a beta until it’s feature-complete. Microsoft is showing off a prototype, a demo. When they have the new UI in place, and lock down the features they plan to actually ship, then it is time for beta evaluation and testing. At this point, it’s just idle promises from a company that might ship something 16 months in the future…