Microsoft announced in a conference call on Tuesday that no Windows Vista CTP would be released for November, with the development focus shifting to a "quality based schedule, rather than a calendar date one." Instead, a December CTP will be issued before the Christmas holidays.
Amitabh Srivastava, who heads up Microsoft's Windows engineering efforts, explained that the company was endeavoring to finish the code for all Windows Vista features by the end of December, with a feature-complete build of Vista shipping "early next year."
Although Srivastava characterized the Vista development schedule as accelerated, he refused to comment on what the previous roadmap looked like. Officials would also not disclose what new features to expect in the December CTP build, but said many notable additions will have been made since the October CTP.