Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft Clips Longhorn
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'."
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.
NOOOOOO! CLIPPY! NOT AGAIN!
Also in the long line of adjective-noun combinations for their operating systems, Microsoft will follow up on Longhorn and Blackcomb with Sweatyphone, Steelfridge, and Purpletoilet.
why did I sign up for that stupid upgrade plan? WHY???
I also reply below your current threshold.
Windows XP Premium will start shipping with new PCs
Buy an operating system, and a PC comes with it? Hasn't it traditionally been the other way around?
[...]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. The EU-Administration will not be very happy with this. Actually this just shows that MS doesnt give shit about the antitrust-suits. It seems like the fine from the EU wasnt nearly severe enough.
A platform that will let you browse, email, and generally enjoy the Internet without risk of viruses, trojans, worms or spam.
.....If only such a platform existed. I would buy it. Unfortunately, not even Linux, BSD, or even OS X is capable of this. There is always risk. The point is to minimize the risk, but you can never eliminate it.
You expect accurate summaries from /. stories on Microsoft? That will happen when Linux has 90% market share.
You could submit a story that Microsoft causes cancer, and they'd publish it with a bunch of spoof or dead links without batting an eye.
Software capable of shopping at online stores, eh? Is this kind of like your phone company giving you a speed dial to the retailers they have some vested interest in? It's product tying, and it's illegal. It's just a pity that the current administration in the U.S. really doesn't care what M$ does anymore. Here's to some anti-trust mongers taking over next February.
Have the previous cases not established precedent that pre-installing non-essential features into the operating system constitutes anti-competitive behavior?
Rather than putting our hope in the courts, I think it's best if everybody contributes as much as possible to the development of desktop linux. We have a two-year window. If linux can achieve mainstream acceptance by the time this goes gold, then we'll be able to avoid widespread adoption of Longhorn, Blackcomb, and everything after.
so anybody got a good project that needs testers? Or documentation-authors?
Freedom isn't free; its price is the well-being of others.
Paul Thurrott's supersite for Windows has this information about what Longhorn is all about from May 2003. I highly recommend that readers check out what MSDN has to say about it.
It is a document and content management system with synchronization capabilities built right into the desktop. And it is going to hit yet another software segment right in the pocketbook: document management and storage.
With the advances in disk drive capacity and network speed, imagine being able to sync your company's entire set of PDF files/engineering drawings/(pr0n? ;-) ) to a laptop for use on site.
Have you Meta Moderated t
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'.
This is seriously screwed up. If this isn't a blatant anti-trust violation, I don't know what is. Didn't the EU just assess a 1/2 billion dollar fine over this very behavior?
I can't understand how this doesn't enrage anyone who believes in capitalism. What's to stop Microsoft from integrating an Amazon.com, paypal and Ebay feature into their software and MSN stuff as well? How many markets will they be able to dominate through their desktop OS monopoly?
Can any investor look at the tech world and invest in something that isn't in danger of being killed off by a Microsoft action? It seems that entering into any online service or consumer software is a matter of picking up dimes before steamrollers.
Without proper anti-trust enforcement, innovation and investment opportunities will dwindle. Maybe some of our politicians should get their heads out of the sand. The market doesn't solve all problems, that's why we have anti-trust laws in place.
Seriously though, isn't anyone else just amazed by Microsoft's gall?
Arrogance is Confidence which lacks integrity. -- me
That would just be tit-for-tat. Forrester Research has already concluded that Linux/J2EE causes colon cancer
It's hardly a troll.
Windows' security is the number one issue facing the company, and this is by their own declaration.
More functionality makes more complexity, which creates more security vulnerabilities.
Microsoft's users are currently seriously exposed to trojans, worms, and viruses. The advice of "protect your systems" is useless, even malicious, when 95% of PC users are technically naive, and when this is the very reason that Windows has spread to every corner of the PC market.
Microsoft's core market consists of people who cannot install patches, who don't know the different between spams and real emails, and who have a finite capacity for being hit by malware before they will abandon the Internet or find alternative platforms.
Ceci n'est pas une signature
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.
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.
No, the Registry has an access-control/authorization subsystem very similar to the file system.
2. If so, does this strike anyone else as a really bad idea from the view of modularity, scalability, and security?
It would be a bad idea, if it was the case (which it is not).
3. Will Longhorn keep the Windows Registry?
Absolutely. There are way too many third-party applications that leverage the registry to eliminate it. If MS were to eliminate the registry, they would have the same outcry that took place when they locked down the file system. See, prior to Windows 2000, users and applications could write anywhere in the file system. Lots of (badly-written) application would sprinkle their configuration files all over the place. This was clearly a problem with ISVs, so MS took action and enforced that (by default) users could only write into their user profile directory. Well, everyone complained that MS "broke" all their apps... but the real culprit was all these poorly-written apps that were dumping user configuration information into files like C:\WINDOWS\config.ini
Exactly. Remember the old adage, "wait for Service Pack 1", when it comes to deploying Microsoft products. Given their horrible track record as of late it has now become "wait for Service Pack 2".
I recently had to do a fresh installation of Windows XP from a CD. This version of XP included Service Pack 1. I was absolutely stunned at the amount of time I had to spend patching the thing. There were literally 20+ patches, security roll-ups and service packs to applications (Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, etc.) that had to be downloaded from Windows Update. If I wouldn't have had a broadband connection I would have been online forever downloading it all.
That is just simply unacceptable. I won't be recommending that anyone who is stuck using Microsoft products upgrade to a new release until Service Pack 2 from this point forward. Microsoft needs to just chill out on the operating system releases and get everything patched and tightened down in the current OS. Once they've gotten their bases covered, then use that secure code base as the basis for the next operating system. The problem is that as soon as Microsoft releases an OS they are already working on the next one. Security holes propagate from one OS to the next generation OS which can cause even more unforeseen problems in features being worked on in the next generation OS.
Microsoft really needs to cease all work on Longhorn, tighten down XP, merge the security fixes back into the Longhorn code base, and then work from there. The problem is their stupid new licensesing scheme. Forcing users to buy into "Software Assurance" in order to get future upgrade at a discounted rate has really forced Microsoft's hand. If thy were to stop and shore up their current code base before releasing their next OS (thus delaying it further), all of the customers who have bought into their new licensing scheme are going to be very unhappy. If they continue their current way of doing things, they are going to continue alienating their customers with security problem after security problem. They are really damned if they do and damned if they don't hear, but it is their own fault They got themselves into this mess with sloppy software engineering practices and a stupid licensing scheme that forces their them into delivering upgrades within a certain timetable.
Linux is looking better and better by the minute.