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MS Says Longhorn To Arrive 2005

Posted by timothy on from the long-march-to-chicago dept.

Lawrence Person writes "According to this article in PC World, Microsoft 'publicly confirmed 2005 as the release year for Longhorn, the successor to Windows XP.' And of course, we all know tha Microsoft release dates never slip..."

8 of 448 comments (clear)

  1. Hype? by saitoh · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Part of me looks at this and goes "so?" and part of me thinks about the opposite extreme with where Apple doesnt say anything (or much) is coming soon and just releases it and lets people find it themselves...

    But seriously, isnt this just a tad bit too far in the future to look toward? Or is this just to get people to quit emailing/speculating about when its coming out.

    --
    We don't need an "overrated" so much as we need a "you completely missed the parent's point, dumbass..."
    1. Re:Hype? by plcurechax · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Not unlike the time they were warned by the courts against marketing of vapourware. From the Pre-slashdot era.

      Competitors found MSFT spending nearly as much on advertising not yet ready products as when they were released (pre Win95 actual release hype).

  2. Competition by Phroggy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    What kinds of features can we expect in Longhorn that Apple won't already have had for awhile by the time it ships?

    Apple should be shipping Mac OS X 10.3 (or whatever they call it - codename Panther) running on 64-bit PowerMac G5 systems in September 2003. Two years after that, they'll have had another major release of OSX, and even the iBook should be G5-based.

    How does Longhorn compare to XP and OSX for home users?

    --
    $x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
    $x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
  3. Where's the beef? by sssmashy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Does anyone know why MS chose the name Longhorn for the Windows XP successor? In Texas and Alberta, "Longhorn" is instantly recognizable as a well-known breed of cattle.

    I predict that "Where's the Beef?" jokes (currently in hibernation since the 80's) will reappear on the cultural landscape in 2005, as the Longhorn release date is inevitably delayed by Microsoft...

    1. Re:Where's the beef? by atlasheavy · · Score: 4, Interesting

      That's almost correct.

      It's actually a bar halfway between the Whistler and Blackcomb mountains in British Columbia. You may recall that Windows XP's codename was Whistler. The version of Windows after XP was supposed to be Blackcomb, but it grew far too large, so MS slapped an interim release (Longhorn) in there. In other words, Longhorn is right between Whistler (XP) and Blackcomb (Probably Windows 2009).

      Fun fact: the Windows group spent a while in the 90s naming everything after cities in Illinois. Chicago, Cairo, etc.

      Fun fact 2: Last summer, you could see guys wandering around Redmond wearing Don't Mess With Texas t-shirts given out by their product group.

      --

      iRooster, the Mac OS X a
    2. Re:Where's the beef? by misterhaan · · Score: 3, Interesting
      okay not as lazy as i said:

      Longhorn
      The code name Longhorn is a reference to a rowdy bar at the Whistler ski area in British Columbia. The bar lies between two peaks, Whistler and Blackcomb. Whistler was the code name for Windows XP, the operating system launched in 2001, and Blackcomb is the code name for the operating system that will come after Longhorn.

      source

      --

      track7.org has all kinds of interesting stuff!

  4. Nice marketing ploy by Emonair · · Score: 5, Interesting

    That places the release just after software assurance expiration.

  5. Re:Cheap Shot by Enry · · Score: 4, Interesting

    MSFT was using release dates and pre-announcements like this for a while to harm their competitors.

    Company A would come up with some new feature and announce it. MFST announces that the will also include the new feature in 6 months. Company A's sales go down the toilet as users wait for MSFT to release their product. Company A goes out of business. MSFT finally implements it 2 years later. Poorly.

    Besides, MSFT has almost never been on time with their releases.