Due for delivery on Nov. 1, new OS may not arrive until several weeks later; Microsoft responds.
PC manufacturers that expected to get their hands on the final version of Microsoft's Windows Vista OS on Nov. 1 may have to wait several weeks for the OS, according to sources familiar with the company's plans.
Microsoft originally targeted next Wednesday for Vista's release to manufacturing, but a last-minute bug that "took most of the Vista team by surprise," caused an unexpected delay, said Ethan Allen, a quality assurance lead at a Seattle high-tech company that tests its products for Vista. Allen also oversees the Web site TheHotfix.net.
Allen said that the Vista team discovered the bug, which "would totally crash the system, requiring a complete reinstall," in Vista Build 5824 on Friday, October 13. The team fixed the bug a week later in Vista Build 5840, he said, but work on the correction has delayed delivery of the operating system to PC makers.