Microsoft has talked up Longhorn, the next version of
Windows, so much that industry expectations have rocketed. However,
some reticence about its release date seems to imply some
performance anxiety.
Last week, Microsoft chairman and chief executive Bill
Gates confided to a meeting of financial analysts that Longhorn,
the next major release of Windows, is "a bit scary".
Most would presume that he meant it would be scary for users,
because Longhorn products will be very different from today's
Microsoft software, he said.
But it appears the software is also causing some shivers at
Microsoft.
Only last year Microsoft said Longhorn would be just another
Windows client. However, it is now clear that the software stable
is breeding a whole herd of long-horned cattle with a dose of .net
web services hormones. "Longhorn is the next generation, it's a big
bet for us," Gates said at last week's financial analyst
meeting.
Microsoft executives have been guarded about the strategy
surrounding Longhorn, but have indicated that adoption of .net and
a drive to integration are mainstays.
The operating system will have a new file system and come out in
client and server versions. At around the same time, Microsoft will
release Longhorn versions of the Office System applications, Visual
Studio developer tool and Microsoft Business Solutions
products.
The results of the "Jupiter" project to unify BizTalk Server
with two of Microsoft's other "E-Business Server" products,
Commerce Server and Content Management Server, are set to be out at
the same time.
"In the Longhorn case ... we're absolutely trying to think about
not just the next generation of Windows, but the next generation of
a whole series of products," Microsoft chief executive officer
Steve Ballmer told analysts. "We believe in integrated innovation
and we believe in the next generation of Windows."
Longhorn will have a "unified file system" called Windows File
System, or WinFS, which will have "web services as sort of a
built-in piece," Gates said. The file system will be based on
technology from the next version of Microsoft's SQL Server
database, codenamed Yukon, which is due out by the end of next
year. WinFS, as one of its advances, is expected to let users view
files indexed from various physical locations on a drive instead of
displaying the contents of folders or directories.
Although Microsoft has been a little more open than before about
its plan for a "big bang" release of new technology and multiple
products with Longhorn, it has kept mum when it comes to shipping
dates. Microsoft distanced itself from a commitment it made in May
to deliver Longhorn in 2005.
"We don't know the exact time frame of it. It's clearly many
years of work that we're engaging in," Gates admitted last
week.
With Windows XP out since October 2001, PC companies are pushing
for a quick release of Longhorn to drive sales. However, Windows
Server users have only just got Windows Server 2003 in April and
are unlikely to want another upgrade for at least three years.
Microsoft is planning updates of Windows XP TabletPC Edition and
Windows XP Media Center Edition to appease the suppliers.
Longhorn appears to be a second attempt to get .net off the
ground after its initial grand launch three years ago. This time it
may be for real, said Rob Helm, research director at Directions on
Microsoft, an independent research firm.
"Microsoft said .net was a big bet, but .net fizzled without
wiping out the company. Longhorn is when .net finally becomes a big
bet," he said.
"No machine on the desktop today comes with the .net framework.
That will change with Longhorn. Suddenly every machine that ships
with Windows will have the .net developer technology built
in."
.Net uses standard technologies such as simple object access
protocol and Extensible Markup Language to link applications over
the internet and create web services.
Longhorn is just moving beyond the conception stage, the plans
for its future are not set. The plans Microsoft laid out last week
may well change again.
"With Longhorn, it seems to shift from one conference to the
next," Helm said, referring to Microsoft's Windows Hardware
Engineering Conference (WinHEC) in May where the company set 2005
as the year for Longhorn and said there would not be a new file
system.
Jupiter Research senior analyst Joe Wilcox agreed that
Microsoft's Longhorn plans are still in flux. "It is very clear
still that there are a lot of question marks at Microsoft as to
what is going to happen with Longhorn."
Microsoft's Ballmer sees Longhorn as "big bang" release that
will "rejuvenate the innovation cycle" at Microsoft and across the
IT industry. The pressure is on for Microsoft's developers to
deliver and the company does its best work when under pressure,
according to Directions on Microsoft's Helm.
"Historically Microsoft has done best when it is on a massive
campaign. Longhorn is the next big Windows campaign. I think it is
scary, but also very motivating for the people working on it to
know that the company is betting on them," he said.
Microsoft promises more details about the operating system
release in October at the Microsoft Professional Developers
Conference to be held in Los Angeles. A preview of the software for
developers will be handed out there and a beta of Longhorn is
planned for next year.
Joris Evers writes for IDG News Service