NEW YORK–Vista may be ready for businesses, but are businesses ready for it?

The company said it will make Vista and Office 2007 available to consumers worldwide on January 30.

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“This is the biggest launch in the company’s history.

Ballmer alluded to the many delays.

“It’s an exciting thing to finally be here.

That’s all I’ll say about the past,” he said.

The announcement is more likely to mark the start of serious testing within companies, analysts said.

Some third-party software and many drivers for connecting to hardware have had to be rewritten for Vista.

Not all are available yet.

Ballmer downplayed the need for companies to wait for a service pack before adoption.

“We’ve built the highest-quality operating system we possibly can.

We have many customers who are anxious to deploy.

We will have a stronger, faster upgrade cycle for Vista than for Windows XP,” he said.

Microsoft, undaunted, has high hopes for Vista adoption in the coming months.

“It’s more than we spent of Windows 95 and Office 95.”

The company will now begin selling the products through its various business licensing packages.

Ballmer said the launch marks the beginning of a long line of product releases in the coming year.

“There will be an additional set of clients and servers coming in the next year.