Seattle: Microsoft Corp. has said that it will not release the consumer version of its new Windows operating system until January 2007, after previously saying it hoped to release the software in time for the holiday season.
Windows Vista is Microsoft's first major update to the company's flagship operating system since Windows XP was released in late 2001.
The company will release some versions of the new operating system for big businesses by November as planned, but the consumer version would be held until January, Jim Allchin, co-president of the Microsoft division, said on Tuesday.
Allchin said the decision to delay the release came after Microsoft realised that Vista would be completed several weeks later than originlly planned, in large part becuse of efforts to improve security in the new system.
That was enough for some retailers, computer makers and other corporate partners to say they would have trouble preparing for the holiday season.
"The fact is that we wanted everybody in the industry to be ready for this," Allchin told journalists and analysts in a conference call.
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