Updated: July 9, 2020 (November 21, 2005)

WinFS: A First Look

As managing vice president, Rob Helm covers Microsoft collaboration and content management. His 25-plus years of experience analyzing Microsoft’s technology... more

The first WinFS beta, released Sept. 2005, gives developers an opportunity to evaluate the planned data and file management service for Windows. WinFS offers a single database for organizing conventional files as well as data records, such as contacts and tasks. Such a database could help users rapidly locate data and share information across multiple applications. However, this early beta lacks the user interface and management components that IT departments would need to evaluate WinFS and compare it with existing file system and database technologies.

Unifying Data and Files

WinFS is a data management system for the Windows OS that can store both individual database records (such as a contact or task record) and complete files in a single store. WinFS operates on top of the NT File System (NTFS), the primary Windows file system, and provides additional organization, search, and management features.

WinFS databases (called stores) combine features of file systems, relational databases, and directory services such as Active Directory (AD). A WinFS store contains items, or data objects with properties. An item can be any of the following:

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