The IT advisory firm expects the Longhorn operating system to be released between late 2006 and mid-2008, but that the release could be delayed even more.
Gartner: Longhorn Delays Will Affect Windows Upgrades
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Eugenia Loli
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With so much hype, and the release so far away,
Longhorn begins to feel like Copland.
wow
2008?
thats the latest i ve heard yet
this is hilarious
Well, if it doesn’t come out until 2008 then I sure hope we get some REALLY nice service packs.
Wow this is way off in delays now! I have no issues with useing XP for a few more years but MS really needs to get some good updates and patches out now! Linux needs to take advantage of this instead of being slow like always with getting new stuff out the door.
–Idoxash
All hype. It looks like people are getting stung along so that MS can hit certain milestone sales. And wasnt Longhorn supposed to have tons of multi-media and etc built in. I remember reading articls that they wanted to push everything client side and take down Macromedia. Now it appears that this is going to be part server release as well as desktop.
Is this a merging of the two (desktop/server)?
They appear to be talking about the server version of Longhorn. The client version will probably be available earlier.
This is good news – the world won’t be forced to update their hardware to accommodate the requirements of Longhorn. (The CPU/RAM/HD requirements increase considerably with each new version of Windows.) Maybe other operating systems will get a “fair go” in the 3-5 year wait.
Although I use Fedora, if the next version of Windows is that many years away, maybe I will be tempted to try it when it is released? Considering that a few people have alpha/beta releases of Longhorn (and have posted screenshots) – I wonder why the release is so far away? Quality assurance? Testing? Surely it wont take that long, if a substantial portion is already written? Maybe that’s where the codename comes from – “LONGhorn”?
Maybe Micro$oft should consider updates similar to Linux/Apple, although for a fee? A yearly subscription fee of maybe Aus $35 – and the Window$ installation could be updated with newer packages/enhancements. I’m not talking about service packs (obligatory bugfixes). Maybe stable, testing and development packages could be made available (only stable would be supported)?
The days of “one” release of an operating system are long gone. Software development is never complete – there are always fixes and enhancements. The CD/DVD release of an OS makes a good base, however progressive updates are a necessity until AI can code the perfect OS and programs.
It would be neat if the Windows GUI was provided by XFree86 – with Windows ports of Gtk, Qt, etc. Funding by Micro$oft could help the Xfree86 project move along in leaps and bounds.
i never really understood the need to constantly upgrade your operating system. i think that as far as Windows platforms are concerned, Windows 2000 was the last NECESSARY upgrade, only to get people off the Win9x environment.
other Operating Systems like Linux still warrant updates because it still has room to mature. but for Windows, i think it’s at a point where anything new is optional, not a necessity for the majority of the population out there, including home and business users.
given that, delaying Longhorn is a good thing. for once the computing industry will have a platform that doesn’t force users to upgrade for a healthy period of time.
if the market changes in an unexpected direction, i.e. new requirements surface, then they could always built the new requirement on top of existing platforms, e.g. service packs instead of a full release. only if the requirement calls for a major re-architecting of the OS should a new release be made. (this would also be opportunities for 3rd-party developers to address new requirements while MS delays a full release).
the next upgrade should be something revolutionary, not evolutionary like Win2K -> XP was… that change was minor enough that i wish they hadn’t even bothered with it. it’s a headache for companies to have to upgrade.
so if MS feels that Longhorn is revolutionary, by all means take your time. better to get it right than releasing something bugridden with kinks to work out. no one should really complain. for those yearning to upgrade look to an alternative platform with more frequent changes; while the rest of us can save our time, money, and effort from having to upgrade (“if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”).
By that time we can expect the Linux 2.8 kernel will be out and there will be plenty of time to implement a better version of all the good things MS have toald us that Longhorn will have, not to mention tons of other nice improvements that Linus and others can dream up.
As of the 2.4 Linux kernel of today, a box running samba 3.0 ouperforms windows 2003 server by a factor 2. The 2.6 kernal will improve that even further. This means that we can expect some of those win2k users not to upgrade to win2003 but to Linux.
Of course some of the feature packs that Gartner expects MS to ship could improve windows performance, but it would also mean that it would split the homogenity of the windows market. I.e. should we develop our applications to plain win2k/2003 or some of its feature packs. After all if people doesn’t upgrade from win2k to win2003 why should we expect them to add feature packs. So going the windows way may not be as hazzle free as windows users have bin used to so far.
By delaying their server products MS will also have a harder time defending their desktop as they can’t use new server features to lock in desktop users. And considering the speed on development in the Linux desktop arena, Linux desktops will be a strong competitor to MS in two years time.
What’s the bet Bill will panic and release a hashed “upgrade”, XP second edition, to keep the punters happy.
There will be no interim upgrade.
With Beta 1 set for next Summer (IIRC), the analyst is really reaching with a 2008 date. I think he just padded the date to be sure of his prediction.
Amen to that,
Anyone working for enough time on the IT industry and with good knowledge knows that.
>> Of course some of the feature packs that Gartner expects
>> MS to ship could improve windows performance, but it
>> would also mean that it would split the homogenity of
>> the windows market. I.e. should we develop our
>> applications to plain win2k/2003 or some of its feature
>> packs. After all if people doesn’t upgrade from win2k to
>> win2003 why should we expect them to add feature packs.
>> So going the windows way may not be as hazzle free as
>> windows users have bin used to so far.
In these circumstances people usually sticks to the lowest common denominator and add their own stuff on top.
Look at the application side, 99% is NT compatible, 95% of games are Windows2000 compatible.
that when it does come out it will be far better than anything we have today
. It will be much better than OS 10.1 for sure.. he he
even for lonhgorn coming out at 2006, microsoft wont be able to dominate desktop/server market anyhow.
theres linux & mac
Hmmm… copland ended up in nothing and apple ended up bying NeXT and re-working the OS…hmmm….what could M$ buy to make the new version of windows ?
>>what could M$ buy to make the new version of windows ?
AMD?
“that when it does come out it will be far better than anything we have today
. It will be much better than OS 10.1 for sure.. he he”
But don’t forget, MicroSoft is not the only one working on “moving forward” with new versions. Everybody compares Longhorn to what we have now, that’s apples to oranges. The only thing you can properly compare to is what is out at the time Longhorn finally gets released.
I agree the the upgrade path for businesses of Win2K -> XP was evolutionary. However, in the world of home desktops it was actually 98 -> XP, which i would dare to call revolutionary.
I think that they are having a hard time trying to come up with something inovative. The only way that they are going to be able to justify people upgrading is if they are able to make it more responsive, more secure, and reduce its memory consumption.
Maybe they should have considered buying Be vs. letting Palm buy it.
AMD has no OS- as far as I know.
Hmmm….
Image if they bought off the UNIX trademark frm SCO (they got a boat-load of money, they could probably do it). then Longhorn (orsubsequent versions) will be UNIX based or influenced hehehe;-) — OMG! can you imagine the “linux lawsuits” under MS direction? I scares me!
mini0me
Since I run XP mainly for the apps and not the OS, Longhorn could come out in 2020 for all I care.
so we should all know that windows 2000 was the last neccessary upgrade.
the mighty twins have spoken.
as it is said, as it shall be done.
oh brother. snobs among the snobs. not only do we have windows only snobs, we have those who think one particular version is the cat’s meow.
>>Amen to that,Anyone working for enough time on the IT industry and with good knowledge knows that.
well i must be complete idiot. i’ve been in the industry 8 years, and i have good knowledge, yet i don’t think win2k was all that great. but when our mcse admins fooled around in AD, you can bet we said our prayers.
amen to that!
>>>You guys are fotgeting
By UFOGoldorak (IP: —.23.39.66.nw.nuvox.net) – Posted on 2003-12-12 13:14:49
that when it does come out it will be far better than anything we have today
. It will be much better than OS 10.1 for sure.. he he
uh bubba how can we NOT forget….longhorn won’t be out till 2008.
so it’s guaranteed i’ll be forgetting.
what were we talking about?
You Linux/BSD developers have 2-4 years to get ORGANIZED and come out with something good or significantly improve on the OS you got. This a wake up call – the time to act and strike a blow to MS is now. You know what they are working on with Longhorn. The time to lead is now – not follow. You guys should be able to dominate and do something mind blowing. I don’t want to hear any petty whining about how MS is this or that in 2006/2008??? whatever when Longhorn comes out. Even Sun is trying something behind Java Desktop and Looking glass.
I use XP for apps, email and games. And could careless about Longhorn I have no more intentions for dealing with windows except for games. I am going start messing around with Linux using a SUSE 8.1 Professional copy I have here and work my way down to Gentoo then maybe FreeBSD. The future is in your hands – let the best OS win!!!!
Laters
…
why does microsoft need so many years to release a new upgrade ? i can upgrade my debian box as every few days or weeks and can do this for years without doing a fresh install.
apple releases a new version of OSX or minor upgrades every couple of months.
why is this not possible with windows? it’s not like the swithc from win 95/98 to windows 2000/xp or macos 9 to OSX anymore.
i expect big improvements for the linux desktop in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
i gount that longhorn will be a big success in the beginning, windows 2000/xp is good enough and linux will be usable for the average user.
nt 3.51 ~ 5 million lines of code
nt 4.00 ~ 8 million lines of code
win2k ~ 31 million lines of code
winXP ~ 40-50 million lines of code
longhorn~ >100 million?
and EVERYTHING is integrated, therefore when one layer has a serious problem, usually everything collapses.
and while i’ve found xp quite stable, it’s taking them longer and longer to get their ducks in a row.
o_O Windows XP: Service Pack 20
The 56kers will love it.