Of course not - I would expect the manufacturer to plan ahead. If you want to compare the Vista release to a car, it would go something like this.
Car manufacturer : Hey everyone, we are going to be releasing a new car in about a years time. Because some things won't work right with your product, here is a version of the car so you can work out what won't work.
Third party component supplier : Thanks, we will start developing right away.
End user : That's very reassuring
Car manufacturer : Yes, that's why we give everyone plenty of notice. In fact, now the release is only 3 months away, here is an RTM (release to manufacturer) version of the car. It is identical to the version that will go to the public in 3 months time, so you have plenty of time to identify any problems and fix them. You can even release beta-fixes to the beta-users of the car to make sure it all works before the public release date.
Third party component supplier : We have a beta version available for testing, and feedback is being received and worked in to the final version.
End user : Great!
Car manufacturer : Today is release date, everything works fine because everyone was given plenty of notice.
Third party component supplier : Indeed, and here are all of our new parts which work with it.
End user : Perfect.
Now here is what has happened with Sonic Solutions...
Car manufacturer : Hey everyone, we are going to be releasing a new car in about a years time. Because some things won't work right with your product, here is a version of the car so you can work out what won't work.
Third party component supplier : Thanks, but its ages away, a year, we don't need to do anything yet.
End user : That's a bit worrying, but I'm sure you know what you are doing.
Car manufacturer : Well, we do give everyone plenty of notice and recommend you start to work on changes. In fact, now the release is only 3 months away, here is an RTM (release to manufacturer) version of the car. It is identical to the version that will go to the public in 3 months time, so you have plenty of time to identify and problems and fix them. You can even release beta-fixes to the beta-users of the car to make sure it all works before the public release date.
Third party component supplier : We haven't even started developing a beta version yet. But hey, it's still three months away. Plenty of time.
End user : Erm, ok, but you only have three months left.
Car manufacturer : Today is release date, I hope everyone has used this last year wisely to develop the 3rd party components.
Third party component supplier : Umm, not quite. Lets just wait for thousands of people to crash their cars, and when they start complaining, we'll start working on it.
End user : CRASH. Erm, help, please?
Third party component supplier : Whatever, it only came out today, give us a break. We'll start on it now. Infact, you have a Dell, go speak to them, it's not our problem (even though it's our software).