According to a report by Gamesindustry.biz, the Japanese paper that original quoted head honcho Steve Ballmer (Nihon Keizai Shimbun) as stating that the successor would be out in 2006, among other things, has retracted the claim. Apparently, there was something of a mix-up that led to Analysts' speculation being used as a quote from Ballmer himself. More over, the faux pas was worsened by the fact that the original date mentioned was in fact 2005, not 2006. Quite a category of errors, it would seem.

So we don't know anything basically, though has it that 2005 is a more likely date - with Redmond attempting to steal a march on and with a more timely a more powerful product. Only time will of course tell.

By Luke Guttridge