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Microsoft Clips Longhorn

Posted by michael on from the going-to-the-vet-to-get-tutored dept.

Gr8Apes writes "Microsoft is clipping Longhorn to get the already-delayed follow-up to Windows XP out the door by 2006. MS has decided to remove some of the most ambitious features. Blackcomb is the version to follow Longhorn, and is expected at the end of the decade. The full new file system feature has been moved to Blackcomb. Other notable parts of the story, in MS's efforts to get its DRM into play, a new version, Windows XP Premium will start shipping with new PCs, which will include a new version of the infamous Windows Media Player. This version will have the ability to shop at on-line stores like the one MS plans to launch later this year. It's their move to 'outflank Apple'."

3 of 657 comments (clear)

  1. WinFS WILL be in the next version, just no network by Novanix · · Score: 5, Informative

    The /. Summary says the "Full new file system feature has been moved to Blackcomb" and while true, it is misleading. The article actually says WinFS is still going to be in the next version of Windows (which is what it is talking about), it simply won't work over the network, meaning file shares won't work in the same way. This is a lot different from it being completely removed, as it is one of Longhorn's biggest features. Having this over network would be completely insane for most situations too. With many servers not upgrading to this file sharing would have to support the old version anyway so that corporate environments could function without upgrading everything. In addition, while the WinFS has the possibility of being a great help to individuals, it would be much harder to use over a clouded network environment.

  2. Re:Microsoft needs exactly ONE new product by pyros · · Score: 5, Informative
    Why do you recommend not downloading music and videos for security reasons? Seems unnecessary to me...

    Windows Media Player seems to have the startling ability to launch IE to view websites which are somehow embedded in (at least) video files. An ambitious coder could embed a link in a video file to a site which exploits a vulnerability and run arbitrary code.

  3. Re: Future of Samba by Aphrika · · Score: 5, Informative

    Short answer: it won't shut out interoperability with Linux because then it would also shut out interoperability with older versions of Windows.

    I have a beta copy of Longhorn running here on a desktop. WinFS is running on the My Documents portion of the drive, and I can still share this as normal over the network without problems from both other Windows boxes and my Redhat box. Incidentally, at one point WinFS was slated to only run under My Documents, so I was actually more surprised to see that a full OS-wide implementation of it was still on the cards. Suffice to say that my experience of its current implementation has been very good - it definitely is an improvement over current filing systems, especially regarding search operations.

    If you want more info on it, there's a Windows Media file here which goes into some detail about WinFS, how it works and its pros and cons.