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| Longhorn will lag Windows XP by five years
(BBC) |
Microsoft is to ditch key parts from the next version of its Windows
software to keep its schedule on track.
The software giant said it still aims to release Longhorn, as the new
version of Windows is codenamed, in late 2006.
But to do so it will drop a redesign of the operating system's
structure dubbed WinFS, which could have made it much easier for users to
find information.
Longhorn has faced repeated delays, and Microsoft has been under
pressure to firm up the release date.
If Longhorn now sticks to the schedule, five years will have passed
since the current version - Windows XP - went on sale.
Despite its forays into multiple technology markets and its huge
war-chest of cash, the company relies on massive margins on sales of
Windows and its Office suite of programmes for most of its profits.
Further delays to Longhorn could antagonise vendors keen to use it as
an opportunity to sell new PCs.
"We've had to make some trade-offs to deliver the features customers
are asking for in a reasonable timeframe," said Jim Allchin, group
vice-president of Microsoft's platforms group.
And with security an ever-present concern,
Microsoft's monopoly position
could be further whittled away
by competitors such as Linux and
Apple.
The news that WinFS would only be in beta - in other words, still being
tested - by the time Longhorn makes it to market was "not a good
surprise", said long-time computer market analyst Rob Enderle.
The storage available within computers and on networks has grown
massively in recent years, leaving the search tools available as standard
in current versions of Windows struggling to keep up.
Apple Computer announced in July that the next version of its own
computer operating system - codenamed "Tiger" and scheduled for release in
the first half of 2005 - would have advanced search technologies.
There are also fears that a new system called "Avalon" which would
allow Windows to handle three-dimensional graphics better could be axed.
Microsoft is now promising to make sure Avalon - and a technology
called Indigo intended to make it easier for PCs to use online services
and talk to small devices - will be compatible with both Longhorn and XP.
But that could mean severe cutbacks in its functionality.
(Agencies) | 
Updated: 2004-08-30 14:20