It was originally expected to ship in October 2003 as a minor step between Windows XP and 'Blackcomb', which was planned to be the company's next major operating system release.

Microsoft began work on Windows Vista, known at the time by its codename 'Longhorn', in May 2001, five months before the release of Windows XP. Main article: Development of Windows Vista Windows Vista was succeeded by Windows 7. Mainstream support for Windows Vista ended on April 10, 2012, and extended support ended on April 11, 2017. As of June 2023, 0.12% of PCs were running Windows Vista. On October 22, 2010, Microsoft ceased sales of retail copies of Windows Vista, and the original equipment manufacturer's sales for Windows Vista ceased the following year. However, Windows Vista usage did exceed Microsoft's pre-launch two-year-out expectations of achieving 200 million users, with an estimated 330 million Internet users in January 2009. Due to these and other issues, Windows Vista saw lower initial adoption and satisfaction rates than Windows XP, and it is generally considered a market failure. While these new features and security improvements garnered praise, Windows Vista received mixed reviews and was also the target of significant criticism, such as of its high system requirements, more restrictive licensing terms, lack of compatibility, longer boot time, and excessive authorization prompts from User Account Control.

Windows Vista removed support for Itanium and devices without ACPI. NET Framework, allowing software developers to write applications without traditional Windows APIs. Windows Vista included version 3.0 of the. Windows Vista aimed to increase the level of communication between machines on a home network, using peer-to-peer technology to simplify sharing files and media between computers and devices. Windows Vista introduced an updated graphical user interface and visual style dubbed ' Aero,' a new search component called ' Windows Search,' redesigned networking, audio, print, and display sub-systems, and new multimedia tools such as Windows DVD Maker among other changes. On January 30, 2007, it was released globally and made available for purchase and download from the Windows Marketplace, the first release of Windows to be made available through a digital distribution platform.

Development was finished on November 8, 2006, and over the following three months, it was released in stages to computer hardware and software manufacturers, business customers, and retail channels. At the time, this 5-year gap was the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft's Windows desktop operating systems. Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft as the direct successor to Windows XP, which was released in 2001.

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