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Microsoft Longhorn Delayed
skreuzer writes "Microsoft has once again shifted the schedule for the release of "Longhorn," the company's next major version of Windows. The product was originally expected to ship next year. Then in May of this year, officials pushed back the release date to 2005. But now executives are declining to say when they expect the software to ship."
I recently reinstalled Windows XP. There were 47 "critical" updates. Installed service pack 1. Then there were 29 critical updates left. About time for Service pack 2.
Actually it looks as thought they haven't released IE7 because they're integrating it into Longhorn so much so that releasing a new version of the stand alone browser is irrevlevant.
That's why they're still releasing patches for IE6.01 but won't go the full nine and integrate tabbed browsing or gestures or any other cool feature because they're holding their breath for Longhorn.
Though, with this timeline they may actually just release IE7, but considering that there are existing IE alternatives, I don't expect any new IE stuff until 2005.
Avant isn't a real alternative in the sense it still uses IE6's engine and such.
...I can't really say this really bothers me at all (yeah yeah, then just move on to next article, right?). But come on, what do I really expect? More eyecandy. More "protection from myself". More Messenger, WMP and goodness what else providing "integrated Windows features that can't be removed and keep nagging you".
Btw, is anyone else having the problem that burning CDs, and opening CDs without autorun, it never seems to remember the non-MS default that I select (Nero and "do nothing", respectively), even if I check the appropriate box? I'm sure that wouldn't happen if I went down the One Microsoft Way... The question is, will Longhorn finally annoy me enough to make me jump ship? Oh well maybe I'll have to wait a year longer for the answer. Boo-hoo.
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
Windows and Windows NT were supposed to converge after 98/NT 4. They didn't. Finally we have Windows XP, how many years later?
Agreed, latterly they have shipped something on time, rather than delay, but the something more often than not has been another interim release, rather than the product actually PowerPointed several years earlier.
Protoplasm. Quiet Protoplasm. I like quiet protoplasm.
Tell me where in Windows XP I can find:
- C compiler
- Email server
- Office suite
- SQL database server
- C++ IDE
These are all included in redhat, but not in Windows XP.There are shrink-wrapped .NET apps, most coming from MS (since they are one of the few companies that make boxed software that only runs on MS).
.Net framework v1.0 was released, so XP does not come with it installed but it (v1.1 at this time) is listed on the Windows Update site. Windows 2003 Server does ship with v1.1 of the .Net framework.
Windows XP was released before the
The truth doesn't care what I think.
This 'delay' is no surprise for me. Every major version of windows has come out in 5 year intervals:
1985: Windows 1.0 (the first windows)
1990: Windows 3.1 (the first windows that had enough flare to get widespread useage)
1995: Win95 (the first windows for the desktop with 32 bit code and memory protection)
2000: Windows 2000 (the first 32 bit windows for the desktop)
2005: Longhorn
here's a difference...
...
I don't see any difference at all between
fix to Mozilla bundled with RedHat or fix to IE bundled with XP,
IE is not bundled with XP, IE is so interwoven into XP that it can't be removed.
However Mozilla is extremely easy to remove.
.NET will be all over Longhorn. Longhorn itself will be .NET based. The latest betas have explorer.exe running as .NET managed code.
.NET. The big push will be then, and you can bet the new version of Office will help that push, as well as a new Server product.
.NET managed code, it'll be a lot of work.
They're leaving Win32 behind and going full
There are a lot of very major changes going on with Longhorn. I don't blame them for taking their time with this. From hardware acceleration on the desktop to SQL engine integration to revamping everything to run as
"Sufferin' succotash."
Fine, I'll play marketing guy for you, since I follow this stuff.
.NET based. Though Win32-compatibility will no doubt be offered, everything including explorer.exe will all be running as .NET managed code.
* WinFS--SQL integration into the filesystem. You'll be able to search gigabytes of data and metadata.
* DirectX desktop. Gorgeous visual cues with no slowdown.
* Scalable desktop. Vector-based is a way to put it. If you have a really high-resolution monitor, things will be correctly scaled for you so you can see. Things will be the same size onscreen going from a 1024x768 to 1280x1024 resolution. You can also change the scale manually.
* Entirely
* New, "photorealistic" interface called Aereo. Nobody really knows what's going on here, and they've said they might not release any screenshots until it's finished because they don't want their ideas being used elsewhere. This is actually the most intriguing to me. Will they revamp the whole Start menu/taskbar thing, or just stick with the idea they have in the current betas?
We'll have to wait and see.
"Sufferin' succotash."
Stop the Slashdot effect! Don't read the articles!
The parent post is hardly "Insightful".
Windows 3.1 was released in April 1992.
Windows for Workgroups 3.1 and 3.11 were MAJOR versions, they were released in Oct 1992 and Nov 1993, respectively. Where are the Windows NT entries? v3.51 and v4 certainly major versions (released during 1994).
Windows 98 and 98SE can be considered MAJOR versions (maybe not under the hood, but still...).
http://jesus.everdense.com/
Since I allready purchased a shrink wrapped .Net application (Partition Magic) I think your barking up the wrong tree.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
Maybe he should look into getting a Mac, because they use Rendezvous to dynamically allocate renders, compiles, and the like across other Macs on the LAN.
I have a website. It's about Macs.
Longhorn will have a tiered approach. There will be the full-on 3D configuration, the middle-level, and so on. You can scale all the way back to normal 2D operations like now, and they are even including the Windows 2000 theme like XP has.
This is all covered at WinSuperSite, by the way, in the "Road To Longhorn" articles. Whether or not you like Paul Thurrott, he has the sources in Microsoft to get actual information on future versions of Windows.
"Sufferin' succotash."
Windows Server 2003 took longer to release because of the re-written IIS and .NET layers. Security was also a main concern, but not because XP or 2000 were insecure.
They had plenty of vulnerabilities and many exploits that could have been prevented by patching and such... however, with SQL Slammer, Code Red, and others that had come out, Gates decided, this is it, we have to change some process somewhere. So he overhauled their development process one more time to focus around security in EVERY decision. So they halted development for 6 months, sent every single developer to a school in developing secure code, purchased 200 million in books on secure programming for their developers, and then went back to work. That right there delayed things 6 months alone.
Then, as part of Gates' orders, their next job was a line by line review of every single coded product Microsoft makes. Everything from Windows Server 2003 to the IntelliPoint software. While analyzing that code for common security mistakes, they also founded a new security organization for companies to join to exchange common coding conventions for secure code and publish common mistakes and to allow joint development knowledge to be shared, and hired on 500 people at the company to develop tools that do nothing but scan code. Those tools go out and look at code to find buffer overrun issues (the most common security flaw in existence), and to look for other common security mishaps in code.
After the review, they implemented the changes found therein. Then ran the new tools that by that time were done being developed, then implemented those changes, then got back on track with development and yes, rewrote the IIS layers to be partially built directly into the kernel for substantial performance increase. So with all that happening, the review, the tool development, the changes, the security education and reorganization, there were delays, yes. They got it out and look what it has... Two known vulnerabilities of which BOTH of them are a non-issue out of the box and are in areas that are rarely used.
The coolest voice ever.
NT already has a unified namespace, the object manager namespace, which the filesystem is a subset of. IIRC, the path 'C:\WINNT\' is translated into \??\C\WINNT, and \??\C is a symbolic link to \Device\Harddisk0\Parition0, translating it into \Device\Harddisk0\Parition0\WINNT internally.
NT also has the equivalent of UNIX file descriptors, HANDLEs. Instead of select, you have WaitForMultipleObjects. And unlike POSIX select which can only wait on files and sockets, you can wait on practically anything in NT: files, sockets, semaphores, events, timers, etc...
NT isn't UNIX. Don't try to use it like UNIX and you'll tear out a lot less hair.
What is so bad about the NT kernel that it needs to be rewritten?
I am sure there are security holes in the API layers, services, applications etc. But please show me something that effects the kernel itself. From all accounts NT was written to be a multi-user networked system with security built in from the ground up.
Win32 was written for the 9x series which had no security and then stuck on top of NT, any problems with Win32 are not problems with NT itself.
A new gui (Aero), API (Avalon/.Net) are the features that are scheduled for Longhorn. Thats probably why it will get so far behind schedule.
"Taligent is still pure vapor. Maybe they'll be the last who jumps up on Openstep... "