Microsoft Releases Windows XP Beta 2

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March 27, 2001 (12:00 AM EST)

ANAHEIM, Calif.—Microsoft Corp. took the next step toward unifying its operating systems under a single code base by releasing Beta 2 of its upcoming Windows XP.

Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect of Microsoft (stock: MSFT), unveiled the release of Beta 2 at the WinHEC conference, held here this week.

"Windows XP represents the realization of a dream of Microsoft for a long time," Gates said. "Take the code base of Windows NT and make it the code base of the entire PC."

Windows XP will be available in several versions, including Windows XP Home Edition for consumers and small businesses and Windows XP Professional for larger versions.

A third version, Windows XP 64-bit Edition, will be available for technical workstation users.

Also included in the XP family is the embedded server version, code-named Talisker, and the server version, which Microsoft has yet to name.

The schedule for the Home, Professional and 64-bit editions of XP calls for release candidate 1 to be released in early June, said Brian Valentine, senior vice president of Microsoft's Windows Division.

The editions are expected to be released to manufacturing early in the third quarter of this year, he said.

The server version of Windows XP will be released later, says a Microsoft executive.

While the client and server versions originally were expected to be released at the same time, the server version needs more stress testing and will be released either late this year or next year, he said.

Referring to the "blue screen" that indicates Windows has crashed a user's PC, Valentine said new features in Windows XP will help reduce the chance of problems.

Key to stability is getting third-party developers to have all of their drivers signed, said Valentine. Signed means that they have been tested by Microsoft to ensure compatibility with Windows XP and that they have not been modified since they were signed.

Such developers also will keep copies of their drivers and all updates and related applets on a single website run by Microsoft to ensure ease in finding them, he says.

Users can sign up to be notified when updated versions are available, or can have their applications automatically downloaded and updated with such patches as they become available in the background while connected to the Internet, using what Valentine calls "dead modem time."

Windows XP also will allow Microsoft technicians to remotely look at a user's system in the event of a crash to determine the problem and see if a fix is available.

If not, a fix will be made and posted for others to update their systems automatically, so that in theory, the only people to see a blue screen are the first users who experienced a particular problem, said Valentine.

To ensure maximum compatibility, Microsoft is asking third-party vendors to test all PCs shipped since January 2000, all peripherals shipped since January 1998 and all mainstream software against the new operating system.

"This lets us find and patch problems and have drivers ready," Valentine said.