FT.com Home US: "Bill Gates (pictured) on Monday offered the first public look at Longhorn, the next generation of the Windows PC operating system that he said would be Microsoft's 'biggest release of this decade and the biggest since Windows 95.'
However, the Microsoft chairman gave no timetable for the launch of the software, which has already slipped to a later timetable than originally thought. With Longhorn now not expected before 2006, Microsoft faces a gap in its new product cycle that has left a question over its growth rate in the meantime.
Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer, has called Longhorn a 'bet the company' product for Microsoft and insisted it will not be released before the company is confident it is ready.
Despite the delays, Microsoft gave an early look at the next Windows on Monday in an effort to build backing for the operating system among the many independent software developers who write their own applications to run on PCs. Microsoft's success depends heavily on expanding the loose community of developers who produce code that runs on its operating system, rather than defecting to the rival Java community, which is supported by IBM, Sun and others.
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At the heart of the next Windows will be a new format for storing data that Microsoft has worked on intermittently for more than a decade. Rather than each software application saving information in a different format, a new standardised file system known as WinFS will create a single, unified system.
That means users will be able to find any information on their own PCs or across their corporate networks with a single search, then collate different types of data, whether in the form of text documents, spread sheets, video or audio recordings, Microsoft executives said.
Other key technologies in Longhorn will include a more powerful 3D graphics capability known as Avalon, which has been adapted from high-performance computer game systems, and a communications technology called Indigo, which will let users integrate information from other sources with data held on their desktops.
The company also said Longhorn would be more secure and reliable. Mr Gates first promised these things with the "Trustworthy Computing" initiative he launched three years ago, but Microsoft has been embarrassed this year by a spate of computer worms and viruses that exploit weaknesses in Windows."
However, the Microsoft chairman gave no timetable for the launch of the software, which has already slipped to a later timetable than originally thought. With Longhorn now not expected before 2006, Microsoft faces a gap in its new product cycle that has left a question over its growth rate in the meantime.
Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer, has called Longhorn a 'bet the company' product for Microsoft and insisted it will not be released before the company is confident it is ready.
Despite the delays, Microsoft gave an early look at the next Windows on Monday in an effort to build backing for the operating system among the many independent software developers who write their own applications to run on PCs. Microsoft's success depends heavily on expanding the loose community of developers who produce code that runs on its operating system, rather than defecting to the rival Java community, which is supported by IBM, Sun and others.
>>>
At the heart of the next Windows will be a new format for storing data that Microsoft has worked on intermittently for more than a decade. Rather than each software application saving information in a different format, a new standardised file system known as WinFS will create a single, unified system.
That means users will be able to find any information on their own PCs or across their corporate networks with a single search, then collate different types of data, whether in the form of text documents, spread sheets, video or audio recordings, Microsoft executives said.
Other key technologies in Longhorn will include a more powerful 3D graphics capability known as Avalon, which has been adapted from high-performance computer game systems, and a communications technology called Indigo, which will let users integrate information from other sources with data held on their desktops.
The company also said Longhorn would be more secure and reliable. Mr Gates first promised these things with the "Trustworthy Computing" initiative he launched three years ago, but Microsoft has been embarrassed this year by a spate of computer worms and viruses that exploit weaknesses in Windows."
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