Development of Windows Vista How to Find Build and Revision Number of Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 Installed Development of Windows Vista Development of Windows Vista occurred over the span of five and a half years, starting in earnest in May 2001, prior to the release of Microsoft's Windows XP operating system, and continuing until November 2006. Microsoft originally expected to ship the new version sometime late in 2003 as a minor step between Windows XP (codenamed "Whistler") and Windows 7 (codenamed "Blackcomb" and "Vienna"). Vista's original codename, "Longhorn", was an allusion to this plan: While Whistler and Blackcomb are large ski resorts
Windows System Assessment Tool in an interview with GameSpot that Microsoft intended to focus on improvements to the PC gaming experience as part of a new gaming initiative for the next version of Windows, Windows Vista, then codenamed "Longhorn." Lester stated that as part of this initiative the operating system would include a games folder that would centralize settings pertinent to gamers and, among other features, display driver streamlining, parental controls for games and the ability to start a Windows game directly from optical media during installation—in a manner similar to games designed for a video game console. Microsoft would also require a new