WinHEC Forecasts Windows Future

Designing hardware and software for complete user scenarios, “seamless computing” that integrates products from disparate manufacturers, and the emergence of 64-bit processing were major themes of Microsoft’s thirteenth annual Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) in May 2004. However, the conference, which is a forum at which Microsoft updates hardware manufacturers on its plans for the Windows platform to ensure that future hardware will support its vision, did not have much information on “Longhorn” (the code name for Microsoft’s next client version of Windows).

Design for Complete Experiences

Platforms Group Vice President Jim Allchin used his WinHEC keynote address to illustrate how Microsoft and hardware manufactures must improve computers by “nailing fundamentals” such as reliability and by addressing end-to-end scenarios. For example, instead of thinking of digital photography as a set of unconnected tasks, Microsoft tried with Windows XP to consider the entire process: moving images from a digital camera to a PC, performing any editing, printing pictures, and even personalizing the process for users who might share a computer with other users.