The Reasons for the New Windows 95 Ship Date

Recently Microsoft announced that retail availability for the Windows 95 operating system will probably be delayed until August 1995. The main reason for this delay is the need to ensure hardware and software compatibility with the millions of existing Windows installations. There are no significant architectural issues that have caused the delay, according to Brad Silverberg, Microsoft senior vice president.

Concurrent with the scheduled shipment of Windows 95, Beta 3, to technical evaluators in March, the Microsoft Developer Network will ship Beta 3 with the associated software development kits (SDKs) and device driver kits (DDKs) to all Level 2 members. (Note: You will need a 32-bit compiler to develop applications for Windows 95.)

Microsoft is disappointed about the delay and understands that this may impact your planning. The company extended an apology to Windows 95 software developers, stating that it was committed to keeping all developers informed of its progress on Windows 95.

Below are answers to some questions about the status of Windows 95.

Q. What are the main reasons for the delay?

A. Feedback from our second round of beta testing has been extremely positive, but it also showed that we needed a little more time to get the product right. The biggest hurdle we still face is achieving compatibility with the huge combination of software and hardware on the market today. The challenge of providing innovation, ease of use, speed, and compatibility with more than 60 million machines and tens of thousands of programs is something that has never been encountered before.

This has delayed us a bit, but we have also come up with some innovative ways to achieve our goals. To ensure that we meet our quality goals for Windows 95, we are undertaking huge beta and internal testing efforts. We are working with third-party testing houses. We are taking our testers and developers to homes and to small, medium, and large businesses to run through real-life installations and to record the data.

The next major milestone for Windows 95 is called M8, or Beta 3. We expect to release Beta 3 in March 1995.

In the final development phase after M8, we will incorporate feedback from Beta 3 users. The final release to manufacturing of Windows 95 is planned for June 1995. This will mean that Windows 95 will be available in retail channels in August.

Q. When did you find out about the delay?

A. The M7 beta (Beta 2) was released in the COMDEX time frame. Since then, we have been accumulating the test results from this beta. With this data, we recently started working on a revised schedule that was approved by Bill Gates.

Q. I hear installation is a problem. Is this true?

A. The biggest hurdle we face is ensuring compatibility. That said, installation is an area that is still improving, too. We want to make installation a simple, foolproof operation to users with a wide range of hardware and with wide-ranging experience levels.

Q. This is the second announced delay for Windows 95. Why aren't you better at predicting the ship dates?

A. Predicting the ship date for a project the size of Windows 95 is extremely difficult. This is the first time we've done a major upgrade to Windows with such a huge installed base of customers and gigantic array of hardware and software configurations. The compatibility and installation goals are challenging, to say the least.

Q. What makes you sure you will make this new date?

A. We have had the opportunity to analyze the feedback from our second beta, and given that the product is further along in the development process, we have solid information with which to revise our schedule.