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WinFS Beta 1 Released Early

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the how-early-is-too-early dept.

Mouldy Punk writes "Infoworld is reporting that WinFS Beta 1 has been released. The new relational file system for Windows is posted on MSDN Subscriber Downloads. This release is designed to offer developers a preview of WinFS capabilities. WinFS will be in beta when Windows Vista ships and will RTM afterwords. WinFS, when it ships, will be available for download for Windows Vista and possible support for Windows XP is being considered. The distribution mechanism for WinFS will be through an add-on download much like the .NET framework is today. Tom Rizzo also notes that there is a new blog dedicated to Win FS."

4 of 582 comments (clear)

  1. WinFS Is *Not* A Filesystem by WombatControl · · Score: 5, Informative

    WinFS is not a separate filesystem. It uses NTFS as the filesystem, but then stores metadata on top of that (the same way other filesystems like HFS+ have for years).

    You don't need to reform to WinFS, it's not a filesystem, but a relational database that carries metadata about existing files on an NTFS partition.

  2. Re:Is this really a file system? by xygorn · · Score: 5, Informative

    Take a look at http://channel9.msdn.com/showpost.aspx?postid=1063 56
    for more information.

    Basically, it sounds like the files are stored at the low level as ntfs files, with a relational database wrapping around them, allowing you to treat them as .NET objects.

    --
    I am a sig. I wish I were a more creative sig, but I am not. I guess everyone has something to strive for.
  3. Re:Is this really a file system? by bhtooefr · · Score: 5, Informative

    As I understand it, WinFS is an overlay on top of NTFS, adding metadata, much like how VFAT is an overlay on FAT, adding long filename support.

    Trivia bit: Before NT4, you couldn't install NT on an NTFS partition. FAT was the only way to go. The install WOULD immediately convert the partition to NTFS on first boot, but it wouldn't actually install as NTFS.

  4. Ever been to Cairo? by AnimeFreak · · Score: 5, Informative

    When Microsoft first introduced WinFS in 2003, the company said it would include a new synchronization engine that could index a host of disparate Windows files

    In 2003? Jesus Christ!

    I seem to remember that in 1994, Cairo was all the rage. Hell, it has been an idea since 1991. If I did not toss them out before I moved into my current house, I'd have scans of each individual article in Windows Magazine about Cairo from 1994, 1995, and 1997.

    WinFS is not even close to being called "new."