PCWorld: Gates Offers Peek At Longhorn

P anther is loose and Mac fans and Mac watchers are impressed. Even fans of Microsoftis Windows XP will have a tough time making disparaging remarks about Appleis new cat. That doesnit mean that Microsoft will sit by without attempting to steal a little of Pantheris thunder.

According to PC World, Microsoftis Bill Gates offered developers, and the public at large, a sneak peek at Longhorn, the anticipated replacement for Windows XP. The new OS -- which wonit enter beta testing until the second half of 2004, and isnit expected to be released until 2005 or 2006 -- sports several major improvements over its predecessor, including a new file system and graphics system, and better integration with devices and the Internet. From the article, Sneak a Peek at the Next Windows:

Gates and Jim Allchin, vice president for the Windows Platform Group, say Longhorn will be based on improved fundamentals, including security.

"We, together, have to nail the security infrastructure so people can trust these systems," Allchin told the developers. Microsoft is also working to improve such fundamentals as driver and application reliability and performance, he added.

Ease of deployment is also a goal. Longhorn will permit one-click installation of applications--without rebooting, Allchin said. "Iim on a campaign to get rid of reboots, not only in our code but in your code," he said.

On top of the fundamentals, Longhorn features three major innovations. It sports an XML-based visual presentation system, code-named Avalon; a new file system, dubbed WinFS; and new technology for communications between applications and devices, code-named Indigo.

You can read the full article at PC World.