WinFS Dropped, Parts Moved to Other Groups

WinFS, a marriage of database technology with a file system, which was once touted as one of the three key “pillars” of Windows Vista, has been cancelled. However, portions of the technology will find their way into future versions of SQL Server and ADO.NET. The project fell victim to a changing competitive landscape in which simpler solutions, such as MSN Desktop Search (now known as Windows Desktop Search), delivered the most compelling of WinFS’s proposed benefits. It also illustrates Microsoft’s “Darwinian” development philosophy, which allows multiple groups to work on overlapping or even competing technologies until an obvious “winner” emerges.

Overtaken by Events

Unveiled in Oct. 2003 as one of the key pillars of Vista (then known by the code name Longhorn), WinFS was to use an integrated database engine (derived from SQL Server) on top of the current Windows file system to enable applications and users to label files with custom properties (e.g., geographic coordinates where a digital photo was taken) to simplify searching and organizing information. Information was to be kept in multiple databases (or stores) with WinFS efficiently synchronizing information between those stores and the file system. It also was to provide standard property schemas for commonly used data types, such as contacts, calendar items, and e-mail. The key benefits WinFS was supposed to provide include better file search and organization, and better interoperability through common schema that would simplify sharing of data types (such as contacts and calendar events.)