by , 9:45 AM EDT, July 22nd, 2005

Microsoft Corp. announced Friday the official name of its next major revision to the Windows operating system will be called Windows 'Vista' and will be available in an early beta release on Aug. 3.

The official announcement came early Friday morning at a press event at the company's headquarters in Redmond, Wash. Video of the announcement can be viewed using Windows Media Player for Mac at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2005/jul05/07-22LHMA.mspx.

The company also said that the first beta release of Vista will be on Aug. 3. That release will be targeted at developers and IT professionals, Brad Goldberg, a Microsoft product manager, said. A second beta release will likely come before a final release in late 2006, he commented.

Mr. Goldberg also said Microsoft plans on beta testing a server version of the OS as well "later this year." He said it hasn't been determined if it will be called 'Vista' as well.

The advertising slogan for Vista will be "Clear, Confident, Connected: Bringing clarity to your world," according to the video of the press event.

Best known for some time now under its code name 'Longhorn,' the new OS will replace the current Windows XP. Longhorn has been under development for several years and is the first upgrade to Microsoft's flagship product since 1995.

Features of the new OS will include a new graphical user interface, transparent window frames, an enhanced search system and and better security against "phishing" attacks designed to steal personal information from PCs.