Odds on On-Time Vista Ship: 80 Percent, Gates Says

Published: July 12, 2006

by Alex Woodie

Windows Vista has an 80 percent chance of shipping on time, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates told a gathering of partners in Cape Town, South Africa, on Tuesday. The new desktop operating system is currently slated to start rolling out to businesses in November, and to be available to consumers starting in January 2007.

While Gates' comments may have been intended to reassure business partners that Vista is on track, they nevertheless cast light on the 20 percent possibility that there will be another delay in the new operating system, which has been beset by setbacks almost from the beginning.

Microsoft originally targeted a 2005 launch for the new version Windows, then pushed the release to the fall of 2006. Earlier this year, the company announced that quality issues would prevent it from shipping Vista in time for the all-important holiday shopping season.

Gates' comments were reported by Reuters, which says Gates comments were delivered via a spokesperson.