Posted on 05/18/2003 4:28:09 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SEATTLE (Reuters) -
Upgraded to Windows XP (news - web sites) yet? If not, you might miss your chance, because Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news)is already working on the newest version of its operating system, code-named Longhorn, due for release in 2005.
Although Windows XP, the most current version of Windows, is just 20 months old, the world's largest software maker is betting that users will be ready to upgrade within the next couple of years as personal computers become more powerful, faster and affordable.
Details about the new operating system remain scant, but Microsoft has already started soliciting feedback from hardware makers and software developers on key features of Longhorn, such as its graphics and security capabilities.
The challenge for Microsoft is to ensure that Windows, the software that runs on nearly all of the world's personal computers, will show enough of an improvement to convince users to upgrade, while fending off growing competition from Linux (news - web sites), the free operating system.
Although Microsoft previewed some of Longhorn's features at a hardware engineering conference last week, the software giant is holding its cards close to the chest.
"Microsoft is pleased with the progress to date on the development of the next version of Windows, code-named Longhorn," said Greg Sullivan, lead product manager for Windows, but added that "it's important to realize the product is still under development and evolving each day. As a result, it's too early to talk about specifics for the final version."
Still, technophiles eager to get their hands on this nascent version of Windows have already circulated "alpha," or early working versions, on the Internet and are buzzing over some of Longhorn's newest features.
NEW PLUMBING
Much of Longhorn's most significant improvements will be in its basic design and inner workings.
Microsoft is also developing a new security technology, code-named Palladium, which is widely expected to be a part of Longhorn.
Palladium will allow Microsoft to secure information passing through software and, more significantly, hardware.
For example, Microsoft could encrypt keyboard strokes passing through the cable connecting the keyboard and the PC, making it difficult to find out a secret password or eavesdrop on sensitive information.
Since Palladium also makes it easier for Microsoft to track users and locate illegal copies of its software, some consumer groups and Microsoft's competitors have voiced alarm over giving the Redmond, Washington-based software maker too much control.
A new file system allowing the operating system to store data more efficiently will also be a core part of Longhorn's design, Microsoft has said.
That system, based on database technology, is aimed at facilitating storage of different types of files, which are automatically categorized, and also making it easier to manage files without using folders.
The new file system will also make it easier to store and retrieve data in different locations, such as on a server or another computer in a different location.
NEW LOOK
The most dramatic change for most users, however, will be in the design of the Windows desktop.
Recent demonstrations by Microsoft hint the software maker is aiming to make Windows behave more like, well, Windows.
The individual windows in Longhorn will be semi-translucent, making it possible to discern the contents of one window hidden behind another.
The trick is in the degree of opacity -- completely transparent windows atop one another would turn information into a jumble of letters and graphics, while more opaque ones might defeat their own purpose.
The operating system's windows would ripple when moved and shrink or expand their content automatically, effects that require a significant amount of graphics power, the kind usually reserved for high-action 3D games.
What this means is that the new software will most likely require new hardware or upgrades to work well. PC Makers welcome the opportunity to make new sales, but users are becoming increasingly reluctant to buy new hardware to go along with software every few years.
"Longhorn sort of continues Microsoft's insistence and belief that the desktop personal computer is best served by a fully high-powered device," said Dwight Davis, a strategist at Summit Strategies.
Big Brother at Home Edition
Big Brother at Work Edition
Something interesting is going on with Novell on that front. Novell's been making more and more of its services run on other platforms, like Windows and Linux. Novell recently announced that NetWare 7 will offer all of its services to be run either on a NetWare core OS, or directly on top of Linux!
Of course, now it looks like SCO (the owner of UNIX) is throwing a major monkey wrench into the works, where they contend that Linux actually has entire blocks of UNIX source code in it, and is threatening corporate Linux users with cease and desist orders! This could get really ugly. Just think about how many "devices" are using Linux as their core OS... Just about every CD-ROM tower or NAS. Many of the better known network security appliances. TIVO, and just about any other cable or satelite HD recording device, and I'm sure that the list will just go on and on...
Mark
If you were already running Windows 2K there's little reason to upgrade. If you were running Windows NT 4, you probably lacked the hardware to run XP. If you were running Windows 98 or Windows ME on a CPU faster than 700 Mhz you should have gotten your computer with Windows 2K instead. Windows XP likes newer hardware. I would say at least 1 Ghz preferably 2 Ghz. The only computers that are really candidates for upgrades to Windows XP are ones that originally should have been loaded with Windows 2K instead of Windows 98 or ME at the factory.
Speaking as one who fiddles with real-time DSP, let me say that the significance of WDM drivers is not to be minimized.
I am on XP Home and while I don't much about Win2K, I have had 95, 98 and ME and XP, is orders of magnitude better than any of them. I have 768 M of ram, so memory is not a problem. I think if you get much below 128 meg it can get slow. But so long as you have enough memory, I am pretty sure that XP runs way faster than 98 or Me on any machine. The kernel streaming thing really works.
I like the way DirectShow architcture is built into the OS, too.
The issue is within the business community. Most larger corporations lease their computers w/ 3 year leases, and rarely, if ever, buy out the lease. So every 3 years, they get new computers. When MS phases out Win2K, like they did with Win9x, there simply won't be a choice. They'll be forced into either XP or the later versions, just like now, they're offering Win2K on business machines as a special order.
Mark
The consumer wins big!
Today I have a movie and recording studio on my desktop. Not to mention access to the world publishing via the WEB!
AMAZING TECHNOLOGY, I'll take all I can get.
Windows NT is getting harder to support. It does not have the ease of updating that Windows 2K, or XP have. I found that my lone NT machine got less and less reliable and started to crash if left on overnight. After upgrading it to Windows 2K, it stays on for weeks without needing to reboot. One really important bonus was the ablility to add USB and Firewire.
Or they'll go Linux. A lot of companies are already revolting against Microsoft for the years of monopolistic BS they've pulled like the stuff you note above (neither of my parents' companies have ever officially moved beyond Win98SE); who knows how much better Linux might be two years from now.
Two years is plenty of time for that point to arrive.
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