Microsoft Scales Back Longhorn

Microsoft Corp. on Friday said it has scaled back the next major release of the Windows operating system, code-named Longhorn, opting to drop the next-generation file system, so it can ship the OS in 2006.

Without the much-anticipated Windows File System, the client version of Longhorn is not expected to be a revolutionary change over Windows XP, or a must-have for businesses, which considered WinFS and its search capabilities a major innovation, Rob Helm, analyst for Directions on Microsoft, said.

"It's good news and bad news," Helm said of the announcement. "The good news is scaling back the operating system means it's more likely to show up in 2006, which means we will see the benefits sooner and developers will get applications out there sooner.

"The bad news is WinFS was probably the one Longhorn feature that really appealed to businesses and corporations," Helm said. "Microsoft is going to have to focus on consumers and convince them that Longhorn is worth the cost of a new PC or Windows upgrade."

Making Longhorn even less compelling for business is Microsoft's decision, also announced Friday, to ship the operating system's developer-targeted components separately in 2006, so they can also be used on older versions of the OS, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.Corporations are more likely to wait for the server version of Longhorn, which Microsoft said it plans to ship in 2007, Helm said. The server version is expected to contain WinFS and many of the advanced components for developers.

Jim Allchin, group vice president of the Platforms Group at Microsoft, said in a statement that the changes in Longhorn would better serve customers.

"We've had to make some trade-offs to deliver the features corporate customers, consumers and OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) are asking for in a reasonable time frame," Allchin said. "Our long-term vision for the Windows platform remains the same."

Among the developer components that will be available separately is a web-services communications layer for connecting to other systems. Code-named Indigo, the technology is a key element of Microsoft's emerging Windows WinFX developer platform.

Microsoft also will ship separately from Longhorn technology meant to jazz-up Windows's graphics capabilities. Code-named Avalon, the components are meant to replace some of the graphics application programming interfaces that are part of the current Win32 programming model.0