“Sources close to Microsoft confirm that The Beast is set to include a new relational file store at the core of its next version of Windows. Some roadmap slippage has apparently occurred, too, as the database core will be introduced into Longhorn, and Blackcomb has been pushed further back. That leaves a gap for a point revision of XP next year, although there’s no sign of this on the roadmap just yet. […] The final feature set for Longhorn – the codename for the successor to Windows XP – hasn’t been nailed down yet, and the database core had been rumored for inclusion in Blackcomb, the next Windows after Longhorn. It’s highly significant, as it signals a much tighter integration between Microsoft’s enterprise server products and the client. […] Microsoft will also offer a new peer-to-peer networking feature, say sources briefed by The Beast. A new “sub-workgroup” network level – a subset of the current “workgroup” – offers a finer granularity of network access for ad hoc collaboration. Microsoft is intent on P2P-style workgroup collaboration looks seamless, with additional updates to NetMeeting built in to the OS.” Read the rest of the (leaked) report at TheRegister. An interesting reply from Dominic Giampaolo (creator of BeFS and author of the “Practical File System Design” book) on the database capabilities of BeFS, can be found at the bottom of the mentioned article.