Half of Windows Vista code needs to be scrapped?

[YKhan]

"SAN FRANCISCO (Business 2.0 Magazine) - Smarthouse, an Australian
trade publication, is reporting that more than half of Windows Vista
will have to be rewritten. The problems are so severe, Smarthouse
claims, that the newly reorganized Windows group is pulling in
programmers from Microsoft's Xbox game-console division. However,
blogger Alec Saunders doubts that the problems could be that bad -- if
so, he writes, Microsoft (Research) would be pushing Vista back to
2009, not 2007. Microsoft's own blogger Richard Scoble checked into the
story and got a denial from an executive at Microsoft's PR firm, who
says he's not aware of any Xbox programmers working on Windows.
Microsoft is now targeting next year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las
Vegas as the launch event for the consumer version of Windows Vista.
One reason for the delay, and for the possible involvement of Xbox
programmers: Microsoft now plans to include functions from the Media
Center edition of Windows, which can record TV shows and play photos,
music, and videos on a TV, into its mainstream operating system."
http://money.cnn.com/2006/03/24/technology/business2_browser0324/index.htm?source=yahoo_quote

 

[nobody]

"SAN FRANCISCO (Business 2.0 Magazine) - Smarthouse, an Australian
trade publication, is reporting that more than half of Windows Vista
will have to be rewritten. The problems are so severe, Smarthouse
claims, that the newly reorganized Windows group is pulling in
programmers from Microsoft's Xbox game-console division. However,
blogger Alec Saunders doubts that the problems could be that bad -- if
so, he writes, Microsoft (Research) would be pushing Vista back to
2009, not 2007. Microsoft's own blogger Richard Scoble checked into the
story and got a denial from an executive at Microsoft's PR firm, who
says he's not aware of any Xbox programmers working on Windows.
Microsoft is now targeting next year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las
Vegas as the launch event for the consumer version of Windows Vista.
One reason for the delay, and for the possible involvement of Xbox
programmers: Microsoft now plans to include functions from the Media
Center edition of Windows, which can record TV shows and play photos,
music, and videos on a TV, into its mainstream operating system."
http://money.cnn.com/2006/03/24/technology/business2_browser0324/index.htm?source=yahoo_quote

Looks like pure crap to me - throwing more headcount at the problem.
9 pregnant women will not produce the baby in 1 month. Much less
likely Xbox programmers will produce working Windows code. It will
take months just getting them up to speed. It's one thing writing
Xbox games, and quite another developing the OS as complex as Windows
that tries to be everything for everyone, deals with legacy apps,
etc.etc.etc. Besides, with M$'s war chest it'd be more practical to
hire extra programmers (if extra headcount is really needed, which I
doubt) rather than pull them from other projects risking to screw up
other deadlines.

NNN

 

[Yousuf Khan]

Looks like pure crap to me - throwing more headcount at the problem.
9 pregnant women will not produce the baby in 1 month. Much less
likely Xbox programmers will produce working Windows code. It will
take months just getting them up to speed. It's one thing writing
Xbox games, and quite another developing the OS as complex as Windows
that tries to be everything for everyone, deals with legacy apps,
etc.etc.etc. Besides, with M$'s war chest it'd be more practical to
hire extra programmers (if extra headcount is really needed, which I
doubt) rather than pull them from other projects risking to screw up
other deadlines.

Actually, I think the Xbox team would be very relevant. Microsoft's Xbox
team isn't writing any games, those are for other companies to do.
Microsoft only prepares the Xbox's operating system which last I heard
was a variant within the Windows NT line. Plus, it was a major Windows
variant running on a non-x86 architecture for the first time in a
long-time, so those guys have some experience in changing Windows code
and getting it to work.

Anyways, another recent story said that this delay has prompted
Microsoft to dump its long-time exec, Jim Allchin (going to "retire"),
and bring in a new Windows team lead previously from the Office side of
the company.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Jan Panteltje]

"SAN FRANCISCO (Business 2.0 Magazine) - Smarthouse, an Australian
trade publication, is reporting that more than half of Windows Vista
will have to be rewritten.

It will all have to be re-written.
But better not, just install Linux.

Microsoft now plans to include functions from the Media
Center edition of Windows, which can record TV shows and play photos,
music, and videos on a TV, into its mainstream operating system."
http://money.cnn.com/2006/03/24/technology/business2_browser0324/index.htm?source=yahoo_quote

Hell, I have been doing that on my Linux box since let's see: 2000
Even wrote much of the soft for that.
What a sad case of failure MS has become.
And BTW things like that should NOT be integrated into the OS, in my
experience.
Maybe the drivers....

More bloat to come from the richest man in the world.
There is a good article about the MS limitations, and a future prediction
[why] it will get worse on nytimes.com.

Old saying : Those who criticise Unix are destined to reinvent it.
Yes I am talking about the power of pipes.
No not crack pipes, Unix pipes.

 

[Raymond]

Bottom line: To do a truly secure OS, with
security policies enforced for all apps, they
need to break compatibility. But they don't
want to break compatibility. Can't have it
both ways! So instead they're trying fudge it,
working around the edges, putting in a little more
security here and there, and do a slo'mo transition
to secure OS..

It's delayed alright. There will be no truly secure
OS for at least 5 years. That was already decided
by MS years ago!

 

[YKhan]

In a few years, when virtualization features are more ubiquitous in the
chips, they should be able to create an OS that breaks all
compatibility but can run a compatible layer underneath it,
virtualized.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Keith]

In a few years,

Oh, that makes me feel *so* good!

when virtualization features are more ubiquitous

Come on! Even x86 has its protection rings, which M$ has decided aren't
worth the bother. These would protect the user if M$ wanted. Do you
really thin M$ cares? Do you really think M$ is going to allow Windows to
be virtualized to protect the user? ...and run as a client to Linux,
perhaps? Dream on! Windows will simply run in hypervisor mode, as does
OSX.

in the chips, they should be able to create an OS that breaks all compatibility
but can run a compatible layer underneath it, virtualized.

Good idea (and it's been done for forty years), but do you *really* think
M$ has any intention of giving up this kind of power?