Where's the Buzz Over the Latest Longhorn Leak?

I'm not sure what to make of this piece of non-news. A new--OK, rather old--version of Windows Longhorn leaked out of Microsoft this week. What's surprising is the lack of news stories about the build, not six weeks from Microsoft's professional developer conference where an "official" early-bird version will be released.

Earlier leaks generated quite a bit of buzz, with news sites like CNET News.com describing every little detail of the new operating system. I know, because I wrote some of the stories when I worked as a reporter. This time round, the buzz is just about non-existent. I certainly haven't read any major news stories or seen any significant blogging about the Longhorn leak. So, why is that?

One reason may be the age of the build. The last major leak, build 4015, made the rounds in late April. This newer build, 4029, would appear to be from June. That makes this Longhorn build fairly old. Assuming Microsoft has been working hard polishing the new user interface and putting in plumbing for the new file system, newer Longhorn builds should be fairly different from 4029. Frankly, from what I have been shown of 4029, the differences aren't that big from 4015.

Still, not six months ago, the Windows enthusiast community would have been buzzing about a new leak and tech news sites would have salivated at the prospect of publishing an exclusive look at the newest Longhorn leak. I haven't asked Microsoft if this "old" code leak was intentional, sort of a buzz generator ahead of next month's professional developers conference. If it was, so far, there's not much excitement. If was unintentional, well, the secret is fairly safe.

All that said, next months' developer conference will be an important first-look at Windows XP's successor. Given the many changes Microsoft is planning, particularly the new file system, I would encourage every Longhorn-interested developer or business to start learning about the new OS as soon as possible. The architectural changes to the file system could require quite a bit of retooling of older applications and development of newer ones. Much will depend, I think, on how Microsoft incorporates Connectix virtual machine or server technology into Longhorn.

Posted by Joe Wilcox at September 18, 2003 08:08 PM