Jason

Microsoft claims it is still on track to deliver the Longhorn next generation of the Windows operating system during the second quarter of 2006 despite knock-on delays from XP Service Pack 2, and has dismissed Apple's claims of the iPod "halo effect" denting the PC market.

While Microsoft execs have declared the OS is due out before mid 2006, the catalogue of delays that held up XP SP2's release have provoked a degree of skepticism about the roadmap among users. But Cynthia Crossley, head of Windows client at Microsoft UK, said the Redmond behemoth's hardware partners are cracking the whip to keep the company on the straight and narrow timeline, with the box-shifters demanding the OS be ready for the consumer spending that accompanies the September start of term and Christmas.

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9590_22-5653054.html