LOS ANGELES--Microsoft on Tuesday outlined plans to expand its test version of Windows Vista, the next version of its flagship operating system. The company is launching a "community technology preview" program for Vista, offering interim updates of the operating system in between its official beta releases. Microsoft has increasingly been using such previews as a way to offer more frequent test builds to developers. The first of the technology preview releases of Vista is being handed out to developers attending Microsoft's Professional Developer Conference here this week. The company released Beta 1 of Vista in July. The final version of Vista, which has also been known by its Longhorn code name, is due out in the second half of next year.
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