In November 2005, Microsoft disappointed testers and technology enthusiasts when it explained that it would not issue a Community Technical Preview (CTP) of Windows Vista that month. Instead, the company would ship next its next CTP in December (see my review). That CTP was of much higher quality than previous releases, but it also came with an explicit promise: The next CTP, ultimately released in February 2006 as build 5308, would be the first "feature complete" version of Vista that the company would deliver to testers.

The term feature complete is often misunderstood. When I spoke with Jim Allchin back in January (see my showcase), he told me that feature-complete didn't mean that everything would be working. For example, Microsoft added the ability to upgrade Windows XP systems to Vista in this build, but that doesn't mean that the feature is fully functional or as good as it will be in the final product. Performance is another issue. Over the next several months, Microsoft will work to fine tune Vista, and add those features that are still missing. Ominously, there is always the possibility that features could be removed as well if the project slips further off schedule.