Microsoft sets 2006 date for Longhorn but key features jettisoned

By Steve Malone

Posted on 31 Aug 2004 at 09:59

Microsoft has finally given a launch date of 2006 for the release of the long awaited 'Longhorn' desktop operating system. However, in doing so, it has had to jettison some of the key features from the release.

Microsoft has admitted that the delivery date of Longhorn - now due some five years after the launch of Windows XP - is due to the clamour from customers who feel they have been strung along by Redmond.

'We've heard loud and clear from customers that they want improved productivity, easier deployment, increased reliability and enhanced security,' said Jim Allchin, group vice president of the Platforms Group. 'We've had to make some trade-offs to deliver the features corporate customers, consumers and OEMs are asking for in a reasonable time frame'

Microsoft will also have been feeling the heat in its 'Licencing 6' software licensing scheme. Pushed through in the teeth of opposition from many companies, Licencing 6 evened out Microsoft's royalties over the years by charging an annual bulk subscription to Microsoft products instead of a one-off payment. The assumption being that Microsoft would deliver new product on a regular basis in order for the plan to make financial sense to the customer. The delays in delivering Longhorn mean that many corporations have felt short changed by Licencing 6.

Longhorn is designed to bring several key technologies together including the 'Avalon' presentation subsystem intended to offer advanced screen and print services, the 'Indigo' communications subsystem offering a new communications infrastructure built around a Web services architecture, and WinFX, the replacement for the aging Win32 APIs . The final component is WinFS, the much trumpeted next generation filing based on database technologies integrating file data, relational data, and XML data.

The delivery of all these technologies have been affected by the race to get Longhorn out of the door. Principally, Microsoft has announced that the flagship WinFS technology will be delivered after Longhorn's release. Redmond is giving no delivery dates but says that WinFS will be in beta when Longhorn is released.

Also, the company says that the WinFX technologies - which includes access to the Avalon and Indigo subsystems will be made available to Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. This is intended provide the technologies with a much bigger installed base. This will encourage developers to create new applications for WinFX who might otherwise decide that Longhorn without WinFS may not provide a large enough user base to be worth the investment.