Citing the need to build all inclusive security systems into its long-awaited operating system Vista, Microsoft Windows co-president Jim Allchin, announced that Vista would not be released in 2006.

Vista is, or eventually will be, the replacement for Windows XP. It has been five years since Microsoft updated its core operating system.

Vista is designed to help Microsoft retain a space in a marketplace that is rapidly moving online. The release date rollback is one of a long-string of push-backs in Vista’s long but private history.

CNN reported that, “Allchin said the decision to delay the Vista release came after Microsoft realized that Vista would be completed several weeks later than originally planned, largely because of efforts to improve security in the new system. Microsoft’s Windows operating system has been an immensely popular target of Internet attackers, leading to a major companywide initiative to improve security in all its products.”

We still think they are waiting to swap Minesweeper out for Duke Nukem Forever.