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Longhorn Redux
The next version of Windows will differ dramatically from its PDC 2003 preview version.
by Roger Jennings

Tech•Ed, June 6, 2005

The Longhorn feature set has undergone a major metamorphosis since Microsoft released the first Preview Edition at 2003's Professional Developers Conference (see "Get a Grip on Longhorn"). The original three "Pillars of Longhorn"—Presentation (Avalon), Data (WinFS), and Communication (Indigo)—have dropped to two. WinFS and the System.Search, System.Storage, and System.Data.ObjectSpaces namespaces are missing as elements of the Longhorn client and server releases that are now scheduled for 2006 and 2007, respectively. (Microsoft promises a WinFS preview or beta version for release with Longhorn client.)

Microsoft has now back-ported the remaining two Longhorn pillars to Windows XP SP-2 and Windows Server 2003. You can download the release candidate for the Beta 1 runtime of Avalon and Indigo and an ISO image of the Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2-compatible WinFX SDK. Promised Longhorn-specific features are missing from the forthcoming Office 12 upgrade, and there's little news about the post-2005 version of Visual Studio—codenamed Orcas—that once was to accompany the release of Longhorn client. Orcas is now scheduled to release in the Longhorn server timeframe.

Developer mindshare and enthusiasm are the key to operating system success and are unquestionably responsible for Steve Ballmer's infamous "Developers! Developers! Developers! ... " mantra. The premature hype for Longhorn that Microsoft generated at PDC 2003 appears to be morphing into developer ennui as release dates slip and Microsoft back-ports the two Longhorn pillars to current Windows versions. A search of the Tech•Ed 2005 Agenda & Sessions page with Longhorn as the keyword returns only four breakout and two birds-of-a-feather sessions. The paucity of Longhorn-related Tech•Ed sessions for a new Windows operating system that's scheduled to release next year is surprising.