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MS Says Longhorn To Arrive 2005

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..."

47 of 448 comments (clear)

  1. Activation?? by brandona788 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Will we have to activate the box before we open it this time around?

    1. Re:Activation?? by PFactor · · Score: 5, Funny

      Microsoft is moving to "ProActiv-ation", where they KNOW you will install it on 69 different PC's, so the upfront retail cost will be roughly the GNP of Madagascar.

      --
      Don't believe anything I say. I crash test crack pipes for a living.
    2. Re:Activation?? by Brown · · Score: 5, Funny

      What, $9.95?

      - With apologies to the good people of Madagascar..

    3. Re:Activation?? by 4of12 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What, $9.95?

      Yes, almost.

      $9.95/month

      --
      "Provided by the management for your protection."
  2. Release date by FooBarWidget · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I wouldn't mind if they delay their release. The longer they wait the more chance Linux has to succeed.
    It's just like IE vs Netscape - Netscape took too long with Mozilla and now IE is everywhere.

    1. Re:Release date by unborracho · · Score: 5, Informative

      Windows 98 integrated IE into its operating system (and still is to date) to eliminate competition from Netscape. That is the reason IE is everywhere, not because Netscape was slacking on Mozilla as you suggested. If Mozilla was better than IE in terms of ease of use (for the people using windows, IE was just there, and was convenient to use), Mozilla would have come up ahead of IE. But the fact of the matter is (and the DOJ ruled on this) that Microsoft was using anti-competitive behavior to drive competition away from Netscape.

      --
      "You had this look that of an angel, it was such a bad disguise" --Dishwalla
    2. Re:Release date by NineNine · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Windows 2000 is a pretty damn good product. I know of a lot of companies that have settled on that until something better comes out. I think that for once, MS doesn't *have* to rush to push out a product, because the one they have right now is pretty damn good.

    3. Re:Release date by NineNine · · Score: 5, Insightful

      But the fact of the matter is (and the DOJ ruled on this) that Microsoft was using anti-competitive behavior to drive competition away from Netscape.


      Well, gee whiz! If the DOJ says so, it must be true! I guess I SHOULD quit smoking pot and switch to good, healthy american tobacco and booze! And while I'm at it, I'd better cover up any naked statues I have!

    4. Re:Release date by NanoGator · · Score: 5, Informative

      "Windows 98 integrated IE into its operating system (and still is to date) to eliminate competition from Netscape."

      One could make the argument that KDE is doing the same thing with Konqueror. The reason that nobody's crying foul on that, though, is because there are better browsers out there and people will go find them. In MS's case, they had the better browser. Why go download a browser when IE's doin the job? If MS had a shoddy browser like Konqueror (well Konq's not that bad, but bear with me) people'd flock to Netscape and there'd be none of this nonsense over MS trying to secure a monopoly via the browser.

      Yeah yeah, convicted monopoiist, whatever. There's still strong reason to have IE and Explorer use the same interface. Why make browsing the web (the killer app for Windows 95 and even 98) such a different experience from browsing around on your commputer? KDE does this. They seem to think it works too. Plus, HTML can be used to customize the interface. All kinds of benefits here.

      So yeah, MS may have been shitty about putting IE on there and making the competition's battle harder to fight, but the reason to make IE what it was in relation to Windows was a predictable evolution of the OS. IE's rendering engine is very versitile. You can throw HTML, Text, JPEGS, Flash, and a bunch of other objects at it that the web has caused to become standard, and it'll view it. (Not to mention the plugin support...) Why rewrite all that when you can modularize it and have a bunch of apps call the same thing?

      Long story short, IE's bundling with Win98 may have dealt a death blow to Netscape, but there's enough reason to believe that wasn't MS's sole reason to include IE.

      --
      "Derp de derp."
    5. Re:Release date by jpetts · · Score: 5, Insightful

      MS doesn't *have* to rush to push out a product, because the one they have right now is pretty damn good

      No, you're wrong. That's just exactly why they do have to push out a new product. Windows 2000 is good enought that people don't want to change from it once they have it working. This, of course, hits Microsoft's revenue, and they need to keep bringing in the shekels. Hence the push (with License 6 among other things) to get people into a model where they have to upgrade whenever Microsoft's business needs dictate, not when the user's business needs dictate.

      --
      Call me old fashioned, but I like a dump to be as memorable as it is devastating - Bender
    6. Re:Release date by Cutriss · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think that for once, MS doesn't *have* to rush to push out a product, because the one they have right now is pretty damn good.

      The fact that Windows 2000 is or is not a good product doesn't determine whether or not they *have* to rush to push out a product. The need to revitalize cash flow on sales of a new OS version to pacify shareholders, does.

      --
      "Mod, mod, mod...and another troll bites the dust."
    7. Re:Release date by afidel · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Some problems with that:
      1)Linux is not preinstalled on 99% of desktop pc's
      2)KDE is not the only desktop environment
      3)The KDE team is not a monopoly illegally using that status to force their way into another market.

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    8. Re:Release date by NanoGator · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "Some problems with that:
      1)Linux is not preinstalled on 99% of desktop pc's
      2)KDE is not the only desktop environment
      3)The KDE team is not a monopoly illegally using that status to force their way into another market. "


      Fair points. However, if it's generally accepted that making the browser an object of the OS is an expected evolutionary step, then what choice did MS have? What should MS have done in order for that to not be an abusive action of a monopoly? The only answers I can come up with involve MS intentionally crippling their own product. I don't feel that's reasonable. I'm open to suggestions.

      (BTW, I'm serious here. I want to know how MS could have handled that to avoid everybody's anger at them.)

      --
      "Derp de derp."
    9. Re:Release date by xanadu-xtroot.com · · Score: 4, Insightful

      IE 4's rendering speed was a huge improvement

      I understand that you're refering to things from 5 or more years ago, but...

      Use Mozilla. It blows IE out of the water (for me). The only thing I use IE for is to hit windowsupdate and that's only because MS bans any other browser from using it...

      --
      I'm not a prophet or a stone-age man,
      I'm just a mortal with potential of a super man.
    10. Re:Release date by jkabbe · · Score: 3, Insightful

      However, if it's generally accepted that making the browser an object of the OS is an expected evolutionary step, then what choice did MS have?

      Well, they could have written the browser as a puggable component and then published the interface. That way developers could still use a browser embedded in their app but if a user wanted to replace IE with another browser (that conformed to the spec), they could. So it's integrated into the operating system yet still replacable. This wouldn't satisfy all the concerns, but it does deal with the technical ones.

      Of course, Microsoft would argue that it's not their job to help their competitors and, besides, it would ruin the consistent user interface (meaning, anything not from Microsoft is not consistent). But then Microsoft doesn't admit to being a monopoly either....

    11. Re:Release date by mkoenecke · · Score: 4, Informative

      Sorry: it was *not* a DOJ ruling, but rather a finding of fact by a Federal court, which finding was upheld on appeal (the only thing reversed was the penalty). In terms of law, Microsoft was found guilty of abusing its monopoly and violating antitrust laws. That case is closed and of public record.

      --
      TANSTAAFL
  3. 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. Re:Hype? by NanoGator · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "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. "

      I think it's damage control. The screengrabs of the beta that leaked are misleading in a few ways. In some ways, it looks pretty far along (i.e. a buncha new buttons there) in other ways it looks rather buggy and incomplete. (MS's stereotypes alter people's perceptions towards the negative)

      By announcing that MS is taking another 2 years to work on it, it makes the beta images not seem so bad. "Ah, we're talking REALLY early here. They have quite a bit of time to really clean that up. That's good, I guess I should buy XP today."

      --
      "Derp de derp."
  4. Longhorn renamed: by PFactor · · Score: 4, Funny

    Windows 2006

    --
    Don't believe anything I say. I crash test crack pipes for a living.
  5. Fun to Snipe, but... by weston · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And of course, we all know tha(t) Microsoft release dates never slip...

    It's fun to snipe, of course, and it's nice to feel some kind of safety/security in the fact that they've been very late on many things and/or delivered with bugs.

    But don't get too comfy. If you're a competitor or someone who'd like to see them go down in flames (or at least severely humbled), the important thing is beating them to the punch, and jeers from the sideline don't help win a race.

    1. Re:Fun to Snipe, but... by sql*kitten · · Score: 3, Informative

      It's fun to snipe, of course, and it's nice to feel some kind of safety/security in the fact that they've been very late on many things and/or delivered with bugs.

      It's easy to mock, but at least Microsoft have ship dates and feature lists. That means decision makers - like CIOs and CTOs - can make at least tentative plans. The Open Source style, it'll ship when I feel it's more-or-less ready, and it might have feature X unless I get bored coding it, drives potential users away.

    2. Re:Fun to Snipe, but... by JimDabell · · Score: 4, Informative

      It's easy to mock, but at least Microsoft have ship dates and feature lists. That means decision makers - like CIOs and CTOs - can make at least tentative plans.

      A.K.A. vapourware. Announce nifty new features that you will be providing a year from now, and even though a competitor is offering the same feature now, they'll hang on just a bit longer so they don't have to switch platforms. And then realise how stupid they were when you release the product without the new features, and say they've slipped back to the next release. Lather, rinse, repeat as necessary.

      Remember when Win95 was supposed to eliminate crashes forever because of its 32-bit memory protection (or something like that)? Remember when Win98 was released, and it was supposed to be far more stable than Win95? Remember when WinME was released...

  6. Yeah, we know.. by M.C.+Hampster · · Score: 5, Funny
    And of course, we all know tha Microsoft release dates never slip...

    Yes, just like we know that Slashdot submissions never have typos.

    --
    Forget the whales - save the babies.
  7. In my day... by Neophytus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Slashdot editors amended story titles and corrected blatent typos.

    WinFS replaces the NTFS and FAT32 file systems used in current Windows versions.
    Does anyone here know if FAT32 support will be maintained, as keeping write support from linux for many people will be important.

    1. Re:In my day... by The+Bungi · · Score: 5, Funny
      blatent typos

      Well that's ironic.

  8. Longhorn Code Complete! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Actually, the code is complete. It'll take the lawyers until 2005 to write the EULA that you have to agree to before installation.

    1. Re:Longhorn Code Complete! by JWhitlock · · Score: 5, Funny
      Actually, the code is complete. It'll take the lawyers until 2005 to write the EULA that you have to agree to before installation.

      Isn't it strange how much legalese it takes to say "Turn around, drop your pants, and bend over"?

  9. 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;
  10. 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 pair-a-noyd · · Score: 5, Funny

      Uh, maybe it means that you're going to get gored in the arse, just like when you mess with a bull.

    2. Re:Where's the beef? by leifm · · Score: 3, Funny

      I read somewhere that it's a bar near Whistler or Blackcomb, and fit in with the mountain code names they have been using for a while.

      --

      "Windows Me offers tremendous reliability and stability improvements..." -- Paul Thurott
    3. 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
    4. 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!

    5. Re:Where's the beef? by RzUpAnmsCwrds · · Score: 4, Informative

      Whistler (Windows XP) is a ski resort in British Columbia (just north of Redmond). Longhorn is a bar/pub at the base of Whistler mountain.

  11. Cheap Shot by Flamesplash · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And of course, we all know tha Microsoft release dates never slip...

    Can anyone name a company as old as MS that hasn't ever slipped on a release date? A company that has released as many products as MS that hasn't ever slipped on a release date?

    If you're gonna take a shot, make it a good one.

    --
    "Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door." - Emily Dickinson
    1. 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.

  12. jeers from the sideline by bani · · Score: 3, Insightful

    i dunno about that. jeers from the sideline have screwed up many a race when it distracted them :-)

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

    That places the release just after software assurance expiration.

  14. It's sad. by Khomar · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's really rather sad the way I have begun to look at Microsoft releases. I used to actually look forward to them because generally they were a great improvement over their predessors. Windows 98 was a great upgrade from 95. From a purely technological point of view, Windows XP had a lot to say for its stability. The licensing scheme, however, was disturbing.

    As Microsoft tightens down more and more on their licensing, I begin to dread anything that comes out of Redmond. I would embrace the improvements and innovations if it weren't for that tightening sensation of the noose around my neck. I will likely not even touch Longhorn unless I absolutely must. The cost and licensing look to be far too prohibitive, and I fear to give too much control to Microsoft lest I find all of my creations suddenly removed from my control.

    At current rate, Microsoft is quickly digging their own grave. My company, formerly a very Windows centric shop, is starting to talk more and more about moving to UNIX due to the cost of upgrades. Longhorn may actually prove to be the breaking point at which, due to overly restrictive licensing, the corporate world starts seeking a cheaper solution.

    It is sad that we must fear technological innovation because of the abuses that seem to abound as a result, and Microsoft is doing very little to help in this regard.

    --

    I believe in de-evolution. God made the world perfect, man fell, and its been going downhill ever since!

  15. Licensing 6.0 sure will work well by WebMasterJoe · · Score: 4, Insightful

    All those poor people who bought the Licensing 6.0 crap sure will be disappointed. Anybody who paid for that 3 year license back in 2001 (up to July of 2002 actually) will be entitled to all upgrades until, um, 2004. Or July of 2005. Nice to see that MS won't be releasing their next desktop OS until after the 3-year license expires.

    Congratulations! You just paid MS for three years of nothing! (Well, the servers are entitled to Windows Server 2003, but that still doesn't justify the cost of the licenses for all the desktops.)

    --
    I really hate signatures, but go to my website.
  16. So tell me... by Iamthefallen · · Score: 5, Funny
    "And of course, we all know tha Microsoft release dates never slip..."

    How's the HURD doing again?

    --
    Wax-Museum Fire Results In Hundreds Of New Danny DeVito Statues
  17. Meanwhile in the Real World ... by bryanp · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Lots of companies (including my employer) don't set their upgrade watch by Microsoft. We (a PrettyBigCompany I won't name) stayed with Windows 3.1 until 1998 when we transitioned to NT4 on the desktop. We will most likely switch to XP sometime this fall. I can pretty much guarantee you that we won't be moving away from XP until 2008 or so.

    Of course we're just now finishing switching from Token Ring to Ethernet and from Netware 4.11 on Pentium Pro 200's to Netware 5.1 on dual Xeon's across the company (over 300 facilities nationwide). Yeah, if you're a tech company staying up to date is a cool thing. When your company makes and sells Stuff then you don't upgrade just for the heck of it.

    (oh, and if anyone knows someone at Cisco in charge of their 3500 series ethernet switches, do me a favor and smack them around - they fail regularly whereas my old token ring concentrators Just Worked)

    --
    "An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it." Col. Jeff Cooper
  18. Re:Say goodbye to Microsoft, RIP. by Omestes · · Score: 3, Informative

    THIS IS NOT FLAMEBAIT...

    That out of the way: YOU MUST BE DREAMING! In two years Linux will probably still be a niche OS, in four, it might be a slightly better alternative OS (as in Netscape is the alternate to IE, meaning IE has 90%, and netscape 5%).

    Linux has some serious flaws, which, unfortunatly, are beginning to seem inate. The thing that linux is missing is DIRECTION, there is no mass-marketing plan (marketing as in mind-share, not profit), there is no drive to get the average luser using it.

    Give me ONE good reason, besides price, that the average windows person (me included) would want to use linux? What advantage is there? What advantage will there be in 2 years? The only way to make linux successful would be to make it STRUCTURED, and to make it FREINDLY. Both of which it is the antithesis of right now, and promises to be the same in the future.

    My suggestions are, make some form of body to control development, and make it so market-share reflects on their possition[sic]. Meaning an EXECUTIVE. Now don't take that as meaning make Linux closed, or for-profit. To make it viable to the masses, something must be at stake, otherwise it will not move out of the developer-masterbation stage.

    Also, LOOSE THE *NIX ROOTS! I don't WANT a command line. (Well *I* do, but a DOS prompt, not an archane unix interface) I want something nice, easy, and intuitive. Something I can do buisness on, without worrying overly about innards. I want ease of use, AND power. Sacraifcing ease of use for power is bad, as is visa versa. You need balance.

    In otherwords, to make Linux a contender in 2 years, would require linux not to be linux anymore.

    Please refute me if I'm wrong. And mind, I don't really mind linux, if someone made it nice/usable/gameable, AND powerful for my purposes, I'd use it in a heartbeat over Microsoft. But right now, MS has the superior product.

    --
    A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. -edward abbey
  19. Re:How about a little objectivity? by ryanvm · · Score: 3, Insightful

    But what was the point of your post? If it really bothers you, why are you on the site?

    Because I generally enjoy the site. Is there something wrong with trying to improve a community that you like?

    I think Slashdot could be a lot more interesting if it wasn't for all the hackneyed anti-MS posturing that is mandatory. Do we ever see stories on interesting stuff that Microsoft has done (e.g. Longhorn's database driven filesystem)? No we don't, and why not? Because we hate Microsoft.

    Can you imagine how stupid Microsoft would look if every document they produced had some half-ass, unfunny, dig at Linux?

  20. PreActivation by DoraLives · · Score: 3, Funny
    Will we have to activate the box before we open it this time around?

    You will submit the proper documentations and proofs of identity (yourself, your family, your friends, your neighbors, your coworkers, and others to be determined by Microsoft as befits each individual activation of your New Microsoft Product)to activate your New Microsoft Product at least one year BEFORE you purchase it. Any Fraud, Attempted Fraud, Suspected Fraud or Contacts Leading To Suspicion Of Fraud discovered during Microsoft's routine vetting proceedures shall be forwarded to the Cognizant Authorities (Local, State, Federal, Trilateral Commission, Other) who shall exercise such measures as are deemed necessary to properly reeducate you and see to it that you activate your New Microsoft Product properly the next time.

    --
    Is it fascism yet?
  21. Re:Say goodbye to Microsoft, RIP. by molarmass192 · · Score: 3, Informative

    I wouldn't say you're 100% wrong but you're not 100% right either. Point-by-point:

    market share: irrelevant, it's the available software that counts

    marketing: that's the job of co's like RedHat and IBM

    average luser: hard to OEM Lin due to exclusivity arrangements on Win made by MS

    advantages of Lin: performance, stability, security, virtually virus free

    disadvantages of Lin: not much familiar commercial Win software, few native games

    *NIX roots: for a *nix user, DOS is arcane. There are several "dos-like" shell setups available for Linux

    ease of use: use a desktop focused distro, Mandrake or SuSE, and KDE

    The only good argument that can be made for not using Linux is the lack of commercial ports of familiar Windows software and games. Some of the major Win apps do work under Crossover and several games run under WineX. However, for a boxed distro, Crossover, and WineX you're looking at about $100, not the proverbial free.

    That said, you can't deny that most people use MS simply because it's what came with the PC when they purchased it. This is the same reason IE tookover, most people either didn't know how or couldn't be bothered to install NS. If a law were passed tomorrow banning the bundling of PCs with software, you'd see rapid growth in the number of Linux users. Let's be honest, without any prior knowledge, no sales-dude interference, and given the choice, would you pay $20 for a boxed Mandrake Linux (or even better, borrow it from a friend) or $200 for XP? Heck, I see people tripping all over themselves at BestBuy to save $200 through those MSN lock-in scams.

    --

    Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws-Plato