Windows Vista is running behind schedule, but that doesn't mean the Vista test process has ground to a halt.

On Friday afternoon, March 24, Microsoft will release a new test build of Vista to its Technology Adoption Partner (TAP) elite tester pool, as well as TechBeta testers, Microsoft officials confirmed.. The company will not make the new 5342 build available to a wider audience, however.

"The code is currently going through the final stages of testing and will be published to http://connect.microsoft.com for access by TAP customers, when testing is complete," a Microsoft spokeswoman said.

Microsoft is characterizing the newly minted build as an EDW, or External Developer Workstation, build. Microsoft releases these builds -- which are typically rougher and less thoroughly tested than Community Technology Preview (CTP) test builds – to a smaller, selected set of testers on a regular basis.

The next wide-scale test build of Vista, originally christened the "April CTP" or the "Consumer CTP," is now expected by testers to arrive in May. Microsoft officials have said they expect to make that build available to in excess of two million testers. Microsoft isn't providing a firm date for that CTP, other than to say it will arrive sometime in the second calendar quarter of 2006.

Microsoft officials said there are "no major feature updates or changes" in the March 24 build, when compared to the Vista February CTP code.

The NeoSmart.Net blog itemized a number of tweaks, especially in the user-interface and desktop icon arenas, that are part of the 5342 test build.

"This EDW code, is being distributed to the select group of customers to provide self-hosters with slight updates and the fix and finish work they have requested," a Microsoft spokeswoman said.

Microsoft announced earlier this week that Windows Vista is running behind schedule, and that while Microsoft will still release to manufacturing the final Vista bits in calendar 2006, the wide-scale launch and availability of the product is now slated for January 2007, instead of this fall.

Some testers said they were in favor of Microsoft's delay, claiming the February CTP build was not very reliable or tuned for performance. Driver support is still lagging, as well, testers added.

In spite of the launch delay, "we are still in pretty good shape," since his company was not planning to move to Vista this year, said one TAP tester, who asked not to be named. "But now that they bit off the Christmas delay, it makes it much easier for more (delays) and that is more scary to us."