Bill Gates, Microsoft’s chairman, on Tuesday said there is an 80 percent chance that the software giant’s long-awaited—and often delayed—operating system, Windows Vista, will launch in January as the company previously stated, the Associated Press reports via the New York Post.Gates told the news to a group of Microsoft software partners in Cape Town, South Africa, but he also specified that he wouldn’t hesitate to delay Vista’s release again, should beta testing find bugs or other necessary fixes, the AP reports.“We got to get this absolutely right,” Gates said, according to the AP. “If the feedback from the beta test shows it is not ready for prime time, I’d be glad to delay it.” Bill Gates Gates also said the Redmond, Wash.-based firm is investing between $8 million and $9 million in the development of Vista and its upcoming Office software suite, which Gates said could be ready in December, the AP reports. Vista will feature beefed-up security measures, including a shift from simple passwords to visual identification technologies, as well as speech-recognition capabilities, Gates said, according to the AP.On a separate note, Gates stressed the importance of the company’s recent and upcoming efforts to gain more market share in China, which he predicted will soon be the largest market for both Vista and Office, the AP reports. Gates is in South Africa for a Microsoft-sponsored gathering of African leaders and others, including former President Bill Clinton, in which the participants will discuss how technology can improve living conditions and competitiveness throughout the continent, according to the AP. Gates is also visiting the country to check on initiatives in which his charity, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, contributes to, the AP reports. Gates’ foundation works to improve health care throughout the world.This article is posted on our Microsoft Informer page. For more news on the Redmond, Wash.-based powerhouse, keep checking in.Check out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content opinion Website spoofing: risks, threats, and mitigation strategies for CIOs In this article, we take a look at how CIOs can tackle website spoofing attacks and the best ways to prevent them. By Yash Mehta Dec 01, 2023 5 mins CIO Cyberattacks Security brandpost Sponsored by Catchpoint Systems Inc. Gain full visibility across the Internet Stack with IPM (Internet Performance Monitoring) Today’s IT systems have more points of failure than ever before. Internet Performance Monitoring provides visibility over external networks and services to mitigate outages. By Neal Weinberg Dec 01, 2023 3 mins IT Operations brandpost Sponsored by Zscaler How customers can save money during periods of economic uncertainty Now is the time to overcome the challenges of perimeter-based architectures and reduce costs with zero trust. By Zscaler Dec 01, 2023 4 mins Security feature LexisNexis rises to the generative AI challenge With generative AI, the legal information services giant faces its most formidable disruptor yet. That’s why CTO Jeff Reihl is embracing and enhancing the technology swiftly to keep in front of the competition. By Paula Rooney Dec 01, 2023 6 mins Generative AI Digital Transformation Cloud Computing Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe