Microsoft introduced the next version of Windows, code-named “Longhorn,” at its Professional Developers Conference this week in Los Angeles. Although Microsoft has leaked details of Longhorn before, the conference offered the first official look at many of the technologies coming when the operating system ships sometime in 2005 or 2006. Elsewhere: “Today was the 4th and final day of the Microsoft Professional Developer’s Conference in LA. If you were there, things were a lot quieter than previously. Most sessions had to do with creating software with all the new goodies.” Read it here.
Longhorn’s Changes; Avalon: Not Just a Cool Thing, a Necessity
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
Microsoft is doing a smart thing in using this technology. Apple implemented a similar technology awhile ago and it has enabled many cool and useful features. It will be great to see what uses Microsoft comes up with (or borrows) and likewise for Apple.
Can’t wait to buy my 36″ widescreen oled monitor in a few years : )
Excellent article and the new technology is going to push Windows in the direction it needs to go. MS is the standard for the desktop and functionality of the product is what it boils down to and software selection.
I don’t see windows as standard for desktop computing. I only see a company forcing users to use what they think should be a standard. Desktop computing shouldn’t be a set standard, it should be something users choose out of their own liking. If you implement to much in the desktop computing the user will end up using a pretty much “closed system” which I call it. A system where as the user can only update the system from the company that provides it.
Hopefully it’s not what Microsoft is doing, but what can you say if you look back on what they have done?
The benefit The Linux community has vs. Windows and macOS/OSX is that there are so many distro’s out there(maybe to many) that you’re sure to find the distro for your liking. That’s kind of hard if you want to run a windows system or a mac.
If Microsoft are trying to push other systems and software companies out of bussiness if they don’t do as they do, they will have yet an other antitrust case waiting.
all the DRM boogie men are over blowing this. Longhorn will be a great system that brings together lots of modern technology into one place. it will be fun indeed to run it.
I just want to know who you think your kidding about Windows not being the standard on the desktop now. Maybe your comments are to try and convince yourself that it isn’t but when are you going to face reality?
“I don’t see windows as standard for desktop computing. I only see a company forcing users to use what they think should be a standard.”
It really is a standard for desktop computing. Even Linux rips it off constantly.
I think you all mean defacto standard… Not standard. There is no official standard. Defacto standard simply by majority.
Standard to me implies someting that others have to measure up to, which also implies that it is the best. This isn’t true, it’s simply the most used. I don’t hate Microsoft or anything (I used to fix Windows for a living), but saying it’s the best OS is not entirely correct. I personally don’t think it’s the best (although some people out there do), I prefer using Linux, because I think it fits me. BSD is more secure, Mac is prettier, BeOS is faster, etc. etc. Every OS has different strengths, and Microsofts biggest strength is the millions (or billions) of people that use it.
I’m not trying to convince my self, I use what fits me best, but I also see a threat to those who won’t use Windows. This release whould be a release who won’t yet again get Microsoft in an other antitrust case because they don’t care about other standards, real standards, out there.
I agree with kyle and specially what josh said:
“BSD is more secure, Mac is prettier, BeOS is faster, etc. etc. Every OS has different strengths, and Microsofts biggest strength is the millions (or billions) of people that use it.”
Most people who use Windows use ith because it came with their pc or they are gamers. Those who use other OS’s use it because of the strenth they are giving them, as josh points out.
Now when Linux is getting more user friendly(imho it has been for a looong time) more people are trying it, because they are tired to be told what to use when they can choos freely.
Okay, lets get on topic for a second. Basically, there are a bunch of operating system ideas that have been around for a bit that Microsoft is integrating directly into a windows environment:
Unified, vector based interface-AERO
Central, searchable database-WinFS, SuperFetch
DRM, with protection from non-authorized execution-Palladium/nexus
New commandline interface
Everything is (potentially) a web service
All of which are ideas from Linux (Gnome/KDE), Plan9, Be, Apple, and IT theorists and are supposedly sitting on a massive rewrite of the existing/underlying windows code. And, most likely, it will not break backward compatibility-too much.
Wow. This is looking like the big release XP should have been.
They are definitely betting the farm on this one. Fail, and Microsoft is done. Get it right, and they can ensure their continued cash flows for years to come.
It may not be innovative, but it is bold.
I want to know if you have to have a BDC (Bashers Darn Conference)in case the pdc (pro dev conf) fails. 🙂
Seeing is believing. We’ve heard this kind of hype from Microsoft before. It’s not even whether they can add all the features they’re promising, it is this big monster going to hold together. We know they’re good at marketing, but a little lax in the bug checking department…
“BSD is more secure, Mac is prettier, BeOS is faster, etc. etc.”
How is ut that OS X just gets equated with being “prettier”? OS X (just like BSD and Linux are equally secure out of the box because no ports are turned on by default and all these operating systems are equally fast.
By suggesting that OS X is pretty, you are basicly invalidating some of the operating systems most significant strengths, as it implies that OS X is just sizzle and no steak, which of course is totally false. OS X has robustness of *nix AND the aesthetic qualities you eluded to. It is also very fast.
Any mention of hardware requirements?
10 GHz Pentium V?
4GB RAM? 500GB hard drive?
Nah, just turn on the Win95 Classic Mode and you can prolly run it on a low-end Pentium II
1GB RAM and 500GB hard drives will probably be the standard in 2006, so…
I also heard that MS wants to get rid of all legacy support, i.e. no VGA, ISA or PS/2 stuff. They even want to get rid of PCI to support PCI-X or PCI-Express instead. It might only be a rumor, though.
I agree with the author that window scaling is a basic feature: Otherwise, (at least for legacy applications) the text (and graphics) will be too small to be readable on high resolutions. The author notes that bitmapped images scale poorly because of the jaggies. However, bitmapped images actually scale quite well with anti-aliasing. In fact, when an LCD monitor is not used at its maximum resolution, the monitor hardware scales with acceptable quality the (essentially) bitmapped images provided by the graphics card. Ideally, however, LCD monitors should be used at their maximum resolution and all scaling done by software (with the assistance of the graphics card). This way different windows may be scaled differently and special scaling algorithms applied.
I do the same type of thing right now. I have a kde desktop running at 1600×1200, but since the xserver knows that I have a 17″ monitor it adjests the dpi accordingly. My desktop has everything sized like it is in 1024×786. Everything does not adapt perfectly, the odd dialog is too small for the text, and I had to manually go to set larger toolbar icons in the control panel. Even with the odd warts it is a very good experience. The text clarity alone is amazing. If microsoft brings this to the average user it is definantly a good thing.
“I also heard that MS wants to get rid of all legacy support, i.e. no VGA, ISA or PS/2 stuff.”
I think they would have a hard time getting rid of PS/2 thier are alot of KVM’s in server rooms that still use PS/2.
Getting rid of PS/2? That’s impossible! I mean, all motherboards magically grow PS/2 ports, you can’t stop it!
But seriously; dropping PS/2 support? I don’t think so. New motherboards by that time might not boast PS/2 ports anymore, but sure as hell Longhorn will support PS/2.
…that it’s a rumor. I also doubt that they’ll scrap all the legacy support, but it could be possible if it’s out in 2006~2007.
I never said that OSX was JUST pretty, I said it was pretty. There is a big difference there. The “prettiness” is what sets it apart from the BSD which it is based on, not the sole reason for buying it. Sure it’s secure and stable and whatever other label you want to put on it, but they don’t put that in the headlines. The headlines are full of news about Expose (which is pretty and functional) and fast user switching (same there). They could have just switched from user to user without making the cool cube animation, but that isn’t the Macintosh way, at least in my opinion.
The problem with OS X is still the same one that has been the case with every and all Apple inovations for years. They only run on the hardware of one company and no others. Panther may be the cat’s pajama’s of operating systems but until I can take it home and run it on my homebrew AMD system, of hardware I selected and configured to be the way I wanted it to be, at competative prices from competative manufacurers worldwide, I simply couldn’t give a damn about it. I might resent Gates for his monopolisitc ways, no strike that, I DO resnet Gates for his desktop demigogory, but at least with Windows I can still selcet hardware from anyone I want and build it MY way. Linux is the ideal, Windows is a kludge, and Stevee Jobs want’s me to only have it his way. Fat chance stevarino.
Though you might think Microsoft is the standard for desktop, it is to a certain point, but that will come crashing down eventually, it has to. The only reason they are the standard is because of their illegal, and anit-competitive practices. If they played ball, they probably would not be in the position to make up standards to replace the ones they don’t like. Linux will eventually break through, and the Penguin will break the Window so to speak. Longhorn is a way out, and Linux is in rapid development. It’s also nice to note that not everyone will switch to Longhorn just like not everyone’s switched to XP.
You may be a Microsoft fanboy, but what is it really getting you. Your supporting a company that forces countless buissnesses to go out of buissness because of their anti-competitive nature. Would breaking up Microsoft really have caused economic chaos? Dobutful, more people are loosing their jobs because Microsoft doesn’t play nice then they would if Microsoft had been broken up. Look at InterTrust, sure I may have not supported what they were making, but atleast they were honest. Microsoft comes in and doesn’t license the technology from them, puts them in 85% of their products. InterTrust can compete now, 350 people loose their jobs, and InterTrust get’s bought by Sony and Panansonic or Philips, I believe.
exactly, you are not the target customer for Apple. the type of people who enjoy building homebrew systems from pricewatch is so not the apple demographics right now. I prefer OSx to run on a tightly controlled platform if that means that the user experience will be simpler and easier. Back to the article. all this is the same hype that surrounded xp before release. a mytical OS that would solve humankind problems.
> just like BSD and Linux are equally secure out of the box
> because no ports are turned on by default and all these
> operating systems are equally fast.
That is a gross oversimplification of the situation. There are many other factors that affect how secure an OS is. For example, Linux is susceptible to many buffer overflow vulnerabilities that OpenBSD has systems in place to prevent. Then you need to consider the services turned on by default. With RedHat 9 for example, you have SSHD, Sendmail, XFree86 and countless other unnecessary ones.
Regardless, your argument suggesting that “no ports are turned on by default” is misleading also. You need to clarify that statement by saying something like “all incoming traffic not responding to an outgoing query is blocked” or something similar.
The *BSDs (particularly OpenBSD) have better security records than most Linux distros. I could elaborate further but a bit of research should bring you to the same conclusion.
I hate to break the news to you, but business is all about defeating your business rivals.
The only reason you say Microsoft is anti-competitive is because they are so big. The employ the same exact business tactics as any other company out there.
Concerning Intertrust… Was it ever proven that Microsoft flat out copied Intertrust, or did they happen to develop the same thing w/o knowing about Intertrust’s patents, etc…? Not that just because they didn’t know about the patents makes it all ok, but you can’t cry ‘evil’ just because of that.
Though you might think Microsoft is the standard for desktop, it is to a certain point, but that will come crashing down eventually, it has to. The only reason they are the standard is because of their illegal, and anit-competitive practices. If they played ball, they probably would not be in the position to make up standards to replace the ones they don’t like. Linux will eventually break through, and the Penguin will break the Window so to speak. Longhorn is a way out, and Linux is in rapid development. It’s also nice to note that not everyone will switch to Longhorn just like not everyone’s switched to XP.
Amen!
You may be a Microsoft fanboy, but what is it really getting you. Your supporting a company that forces countless buissnesses to go out of buissness because of their anti-competitive nature. Would breaking up Microsoft really have caused economic chaos? Dobutful, more people are loosing their jobs because Microsoft doesn’t play nice then they would if Microsoft had been broken up. Look at InterTrust, sure I may have not supported what they were making, but atleast they were honest. Microsoft comes in and doesn’t license the technology from them, puts them in 85% of their products. InterTrust can compete now, 350 people loose their jobs, and InterTrust get’s bought by Sony and Panansonic or Philips, I believe.
OPENSOURCE is good for us programmers?
“I am also now semi-retired as a computer engineer. Aside from my general disgust at the computing industry and what the Internet has become, scrambling around for scrapes of work and praying for the next good money project that eventually ends suddenly in a few months, just isn’t keeping food on the table.”
“My many contributions to the computing community has reaped very little personal benefit for myself. As I now struggle to pay the bills I can not help but feel quite pissed off at the state of affairs, for myself and the other authors who contributed massive amounts of time and quality work, only to have it whored by companies not willing to give back dime one to the people that actually created what it is they sell.”
Read it at:
http://www.linuxrouter.org/
It doesn’t matter if you are open sourced vs. closed source if you don’t know how to make a software business work.
In the case of Linux Router, he would have never even gotten off the ground and had a chance if the project had been closed source.
At the end of the day, open vs. closed is about TRUST. Without running open source software, you cannot be sure what your computer is doing, who is accessing information on it, etc.
“all the DRM boogie men are over blowing this. Longhorn will be a great system that brings together lots of modern technology into one place. it will be fun indeed to run it.”
That would be a major change. I haven’t used a version of Windows so far that was even remotely fun.
“I hate to break the news to you, but business is all about defeating your business rivals.”
That is completely untrue. Business is about offering goods or services for customers and making a profit.
If you devote thought and effort to “defeating rivals” the service you offer will suffer.
I agree with you.
While I look forward to the improved high-resolution support, wasting time coding even more goofy animations to chew processor time for no good reason just torques me off.
As to the filesystem thing, as I said over on the Gnome/WinFS thread I just don’t get it. Their ‘fancy’ screenshot of the ‘tree view’ just looks like a cross between the folders view and regular; truthfully I like having the folders in a separate bar (that’s the old DOS X-tree user in me speaking). I don’t see anything special or revolutionary about it.
To me a lot of this looks like them looking to solve problems people don’t have. As I’ve said before if my grandmother can figure out how to use win2k you can STOP screwing with the UI/Filesystems now. Just looks to me like more overhead to make it so that these new fast drives we have plod along as slow as our old 20 meg MFM drives.
The way you defeat your rivals is by offering better products/services.
dude…all that GUI stuff is Free!!!
tehy are using the GFX card to render the GUI, the entire GUI is rendered in teh GPU. why not add cool stuff that does not hurt the system if you can?
repeat
Money for me
I want more money for me
This is an emergency
<Who’s got the money?>
<I got the money!>
until 4ever
This is Bill Gates song!
Enjoy!
uses opensou|ce_library;
begin
do while not (eof)
writeln (“all for free”);
writeln (“I want all for free”);
writeln (“Even support for free”);
writeln (“question->Who’s got the money?”);
writeln (“answer->nobody!”);
writeln (“I don’t understand what is working”);
writeln (“I don’t want to receive money for my work”);
writeln (“I want to do things for free”);
writeln (“I want food for free”);
writeln (“I want don’t want to live in civilized world”);
writeln (“I don’t want progress…”);
writeln (“My song finish saying, that I want all for free, software, support for that software, hardware… even food in table… and so on…”;
end;
end;
This is the opensou|ce song!
Enjoy!
Licence: Read GENU’s mascot licence:)
That company always masks marketing behind articles because it is too cheap to pay for real marketing initiatives.