Updated: July 12, 2020 (October 21, 2002)

A Fork in the Road to Longhorn?

Michael analyzed and wrote about Microsoft's operating systems, including the Windows client OS, as well as compliance and governance. Michael... more

Microsoft has not yet shipped Windows .NET Server, but that has not stopped senior executives from publicly describing a future Windows release, code-named Longhorn. While its features haven’t been totally defined, Longhorn entails a redesign of major parts of Windows, including the file and graphics systems. As a consequence, customers and partners trying to plan around the Windows release schedule should be careful about betting on what Longhorn will be and when it will arrive, and anticipate the possibility of an interim Windows release in late 2004 or early 2005.

Longhorn a Clean Slate

Chief Software Architect Bill Gates, speaking at Microsofts annual analyst briefing in July 2002, said that Longhorn promises to be the greatest breakthrough to date for information workers, tightly integrating how applications, Web services, and the operating system (OS) store, present, and manipulate data. Based on the descriptions provided by Microsoft executives, Longhorn will include major additions and changes to the Windows codebase to accommodate the following:

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