In a move likely to quell speculation on whether Microsoft will meet its November target for the release of its upcoming Windows Vista operating system, the company confirmed Tuesday the pricing for the product and announced wider availability of the test version.

The test version of Vista, known as Release Candidate 1, was made available to some 100,000 testers on September 1. But the company said its target is to reach at least 5 million testers worldwide.

After multiple delays Microsoft said in March it will release Windows Vista in November for businesses and make the consumer version available in January 2007 (see Microsoft Delays Vista, Again).

Microsoft said it will reopen its Windows Vista Customer Preview Program, a popular pre-release testing program, to new enrollees in a bid to get more testers to try out Vista.

“Now that we’re expanding the Windows Vista Customer Preview Program, an even broader audience will get to experience just how much Windows Vista has to offer,” Mike Sievert, Microsoft’s corporate vice president for Windows Client Marketing, said in a statement.

“The expansion of the CPP program really sends a strong message to the industry and our customers: the time to prepare for Windows Vista has arrived,” he added.

Shares of Microsoft fell $0.14 to $25.70 in recent trading.

Amazon Leak

News of Vista’s pricing, a signal that Microsoft is close to the finish line for the product, leaked out last week through Amazon.com. The online retailer started taking pre-orders from eager Windows enthusiasts on August 29 for different flavors of Windows Vista DVD-ROMs (see Order Your Copy of Vista).

Microsoft did not confirm the pricing then, but its latest announcement shows it to be in line with Amazon.com prices. Upgrades will cost between $100 for the basic version and $259 for the “ultimate” version. Without an upgrade, the software will sell for $199 to $399.

Vista is estimated to have more than 50 million lines of code and has a complete overhaul of key components of the operating system.

“Windows Vista makes a whole lot of plumbing changes—kernel, graphics, etc.—that are almost certain to require some tweaking somewhere,” said Joe Wilcox, an analyst with JupiterResearch. “It’s one reason why I suspect Microsoft provided the pre-RC to 100,000 volunteer testers before issuing the release candidate to potentially millions of people.”

It could also be the reason why Microsoft’s race to the finish line with Vista has opened up the program to 5 million testers.

Microsoft’s commitment to Vista ship dates has often been questioned. In May, the research firm Gartner released a note saying Vista is unlikely to be out until April 2007, three months later than its intended ship date (see Vista’s Outlook Gets Cloudier).

The release of Vista RC1 will lead to a rethink, said Mr. Wilcox. “If Microsoft released RCI on September, it could get to gold code in plenty of time to make its release dates,” he said. “But that timeline assumes that Microsoft encounters no major problems.”

Contact the writer:PGanapati@RedHerring.com

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