Microsoft's retreat from its Longhorn ambitions and its
decision to add several Longhorn technologies to Windows XP and
Windows Server 2003 may rob the next Windows release of its
glamour, but users and developers gain more than they
lose.
The next Windows release will ship in 2006, but without the
WinFS unified storage system, Microsoft said.
WinFS is one of the three key components of Longhorn that
Microsoft had hyped. It uses relational engine technology and
promises to make it easier for users to find related files,
documents and e-mail messages on their computers and on corporate
networks.
Microsoft now plans to deliver WinFS, which is based on
technology from its forthcoming SQL Server 2005 database, as an
operating system update after the Longhorn release.
While the WinFS delay may be a loss, the promise to offer key
Longhorn technologies for existing operating systems and a
commitment to deliver Longhorn in 2006 are important gains,
analysts and users said.
Support in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 for the Avalon
graphics system, the WinFX application programming model and the
Indigo communications subsystem will allow developers to target a
much larger installed base. Previously, Microsoft had only
committed to making Indigo available for earlier operating systems,
which potentially meant that applications developed using WinFX and
Avalon would only run on Longhorn PCs.
"This is a smart move," said Dave Burke, a senior software
developer at LLI Technologies, an engineering and construction
company.
"Maybe individual presentation and communication subsystems
don't generate the hype of Longhorn, but to developers who live in
the real world of incremental technological evolution, this is
welcome news."
Al Gillen, a research director at IDC, agreed. "Microsoft has a
really large installed base, so any time they bring out a new
technology, it has to be made available to the older systems,
because if they don't, they have a really large installed base of
incompatible systems," he said.
On WinFS, Gillen said there is no reason to come down hard on
Microsoft.
"Yes they pulled it out, but they are going to deliver it as a
component," he said. "They did the same thing with Windows Server
2003, where some components were not delivered with the product but
were delivered right afterwards. At some level you have to give
them some space and let them deliver the product and bring out
pieces that go on to it."
The absence of WinFS does not really matter for some users
anyway. "NTFS is fine for what we do," said Thomas Smith, manager
of desktop engineering at a large company.
"I don't see us moving to Longhorn for the file system, I see us
upgrading for reasons such as security."
Aras Memisyazici, a systems administrator at Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University, did not say if he was
eagerly awaiting the capabilities promised by WinFS but said he
does not take any Microsoft promise at face value.
"We all know how Microsoft promises go: When the product finally
comes out it is not going to be anywhere near what they initially
promised it would be," he said.
The delay of WinFS and the decoupling of WinFX, Avalon and
Indigo from Longhorn does take most of the glamor from the hyped
operating system. It will no longer be a "big bang" release for the
company, which is what Microsoft executives had promoted it as.
"The name Longhorn is going to mean something completely
different now. It is just going to be the next Windows release,"
said Rob Helm, research director at Directions on Microsoft.
Microsoft has not shipped a new client operating system since
2001, when it released Windows XP. PC makers are eager to see
Microsoft release Longhorn to drive new PC sales. Most users do not
load a new operating system onto existing hardware, but instead buy
new computers with the new operating system, according to analysts
and users.
In addition, Microsoft's commitment to make Longhorn compatible
with older Windows versions by updating the operating system with
technologies previously reserved for Longhorn may help users decide
to upgrade to Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, Helm said.
"It makes sense for users to get on Windows XP and Windows
Server 2003, knowing that they will be able to get most of the new
features that Microsoft intends to deliver between now and about
2008," Helm said.
Microsoft first publicly talked about the planned Longhorn
features at last October's Professional Developers Conference held
in Los Angeles.
Company chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates hyped
the operating system as "the biggest release of this decade, the
biggest since Windows 95" and called WinFS a "Holy Grail".
Microsoft plans to release a first beta of Longhorn in mid-2005.
A Longhorn Server is planned for release in 2007.
Joris Evers writes for IDG News Service
WinFS will not ship with Longhorn, says Microsoft >>
Microsoft cuts Longhorn features to met 2006 delivery date
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