Vista coming for Holiday 2006

Windows Vista, formerly Longorn, is due to hit in the Holiday season next year, according to a quote attributed to Microsoft senior VP Will Poole.

'During the holiday period' could mean anytime from late October to late December, but we'd put our money on the beginning of November.

Poole later appeared to correct himself, going back to the company line that the OS was scheduled for the second half of 2006, but this correction has led to speculation that he jumped the gun a little in revealing the holiday time frame (although to launch in such a period is hardly rocket science).

Top tech pundits Ars Technica are speculating about the time between Beta releases and Release Candidates, suggesting that now Beta 1 is out, we could see Beta 2 in February and RTM in August, with the marketing machine working up from there.

It's all feasible. For now, you'll have to wait for our hands on Vista playtest very, very soon.

Have you had a go on Vista? Or are you dying to find out what's in it? Let us know your thoughts...