Operation "Longhorn"
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Operation "Longhorn"
Microsoft is slowly but surely lifting the veil of secrecy surrounding its next version of the widely used Windows operating system, code-named Longhorn. >
Recently, the people at pcmag.com got a first hand look at Longhorn's new search capabilities, as well as many more details about what end users can expect from the still-in- development OS (operating system), courtesy of Jim Allchin, group vice president of Microsoft's Platforms Group. Allchin also revealed that hardware developers at this month's Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHec) will be given a release designed for writing device drivers, and that a full beta version with user interface will come out a few months later.
Allchin described Longhorn as nothing less than "the OS platform for the next ten years." It's on track for Beta 1 release this summer and final release for the 2006 holiday season. Although the Avalon graphics system, Indigo Web services system, and WinFS file system (now slated to ship sometime after Longhorn) have gotten the most attention, Microsoft's design goals focus on six key points, Allchin says:
1. It just works 2. Safe and secure 3. Easy to deploy and manage 4. Client experiences�at work, at home, and on the go 5. The right server for your business 6. OS platform for the next ten years
Developers, Allchin explained, are working to make sure the system is easier to plug into, and that it can more readily understand the devices and networks it's connected to at any time �understanding, for instance, different printers when you move your laptop between the office and home.
Security is a top concern, but so is making Longhorn a safer environment for children to use. Allchin said the system is moving to Least- Privileged User Access as a privilege default, so that end users can't accidentally install malicious files. Sitting underneath all this will be a "virtual file system," helping ease application compatibility issues that arise from low privileges on today's systems. Beyond that, Internet Explorer would run in a "containment area," unlike standard applications, making it even harder for malicious applications to end up on your system. Longhorn will have secure start-up, using Trusted Platform Module (TPM) to lock the hardware and software and maintain outgoing and incoming firewalls. System restore will now include user data as well, and there will be a new backup system to protect your data and do things such as writing incremental file changes to another disk.
Deployment and management changes are aimed at corporate users, with the goal of making it easier for IT departments to manage multiple system images for different kinds of machines, for example.
Microsoft characterizes the different ways people use the system at work, at home, or on the go as "experiences." I was particularly intrigued by some of the changes designed to make Windows a better mobile operating system. Among the new features planned are instant-on, wireless projecting of information, tools to help it better understand different network environments, and support for auxiliary displays (imagine a laptop with an LCD on the outside cover, so you can still see your next appointment even when the laptop is closed.)
On the server front, Allchin said he wants Longhorn server to work well in specific roles: as a Web server, mail server, active directory server, and so on. Under Longhorn, you'll be able to set up a machine for just a specific role, with none of the other features enabled. This should make the system both faster and more secure.
Longhorn, Allchin told them, will be a platform for the next ten years, with the new Avalon graphics system, the Indigo Web services system, and, eventually, the delayed WinFS file system. But it will have other features as well, such as top-to-bottom Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) support for companies that want to support it. And the operating system will support both 32-bit and 64-bit applications.
Perhaps the most interesting thing was the demo. Although Allchin said the new user interface was not complete, the demo illustrated how Longhorn will take much more advantage of the graphics processing unit built into most machines, especially for 3D effects and the like. Allchin's demonstration showed folders growing into their space on the desktop and shrinking back to the task bar. In some ways, these looked like the file system effects in Macintosh OS X.
More important is the new Windows Explorer, which shows previews of documents instead of icons and lets you search "anything that can be indexed," including search folders that the user can set. It's designed for a full-context search of all the data on your computer, and allows you to sort the results by all sorts of queries, such as document author, date, and so forth.
Allchin seemed very pleased about getting this search capability into Longhorn. "This is the original Cairo concept," he said, referring to an operating system Microsoft promoted years ago.
I remember when Microsoft described Chicago (Windows 95) as being on the road to Cairo. The search features didn't make it into the operating system that became Windows NT (probably because the hardware wasn't ready). Indexing has been available in Windows for a while, but it's been slow. Indexing is also in MSN Desktop Search. Several new desktop search tools are available now, but integrating search into the core OS has its advantages, such as updating whenever files change. (Of course, a similar feature should be in Apple's OS X Tiger, which ships this month.)
Microsoft representatives will, according to Allchin, distribute a build of Longhorn at the WinHEC show at the end of this month, but this is a month-old build designed for developers to write 64-bit drivers, display drivers, and the like. The full Beta 1, which he described as a public beta aimed at "IT engagement," should be out this summer. Overall, Allchin says, there should be more interim builds for Longhorn than testers saw in the beta cycles leading up to the release of Windows XP SP2. The next big build opportunity should be at the Professional Developers Conference in September, where Microsoft will push hard for developers to create Longhorn- specific products. After that, Beta 2 will be the first beta really aimed at end users. Allchin says the product is on track for a holiday 2006 release. And not surprisingly, he says it will be accompanied by "massive marketing."
Clearly, a lot needs to happen between now and when Longhorn ships. I'll let you know more as I get more details.
KSI Chiefaus out.
[Submitted by KSI Chiefaus]
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Written by: KSI Chiefaus
Publish Date: Sunday 17 July 2005 - 05:30:37
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