What's Hot, What's Not in Longhorn

Some quick thoughts on what Longhorn is and isn’t. Microsoft’s flashy--and I must say glitchless--demonstration of Longhorn features showcased a great new Windows in progress.

I won’t be trying out the pre-Alpha Longhorn build Microsoft handed out at its developer conference until I return to the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area. And I will take the advice of Jim Allchin, who heads up the Windows Platform: Install the software on a non-production machine disconnected from the Internet. So, for now, I will limit my assessment to today’s Microsoft developer conference presentation. (Side note: Some developers in the exhibition hall are using a significantly more robust build than the one Microsoft handed out to attendees. Apparently the company chucked out lots of features for stability reasons.)

I expected to see more new things from the software, or Longhorn build 4051. Most surprisingly: How little that has changed since the last leak, build 4029. From that observation, I takeaway that Microsoft’s progress on the OS is limited to core components. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Right now, Microsoft’s main concern should be new, core technologies developers need to get the most acquainted with. Ideally, the user interface that sits on top of the core OS would come much later in the development process.

Still, I got the double déjà vu today. Many of the interface demonstrations, such as using virtual folders that short cut to different kinds of data or using a common database of contacts, were seen in earlier builds. Still, these demonstrated features showcased how Microsoft is trying to move away from the traditional hierarchal folder view. The Longhorn sidebar was there, too, complete with its longstanding clock and rotating slideshow. The sidebar supports RSS feeds, by the way. Kudos to Microsoft for that, which, by the way, demonstrates the extensibility of Longhorn’s XML support.

The features I hadn’t seen in these earlier, leaked Longhorn builds, I swear I’ve seen in Mac OS. Some examples: Translucent windows; resizing Windows that keep the integrity and quality of playing or streaming video, graphics subsystem making more use of the graphics processor; search lists that change in real time as the user inputs the text string; common address book that is available to all applications; among a few other features.

Now, I’m not trying to diss Microsoft. Companies borrow good ideas all the time. Apple does it, too. Mac OS X 10.3, or Panther, adds fast-user switching, which debuted first in Windows XP. Apple Mail now blocks external gifs, something Microsoft brought out earlier with Outlook 2003.

Deeper down, Longhorn’s guts show lots of promise and should give Microsoft’s developers a good start preparing for the operating system. Much of today’s demonstration showcased three areas of the guts: Graphics, file system and Web services.

All three areas show promise, but, from the demonstrations, all also clearly are works in the early stages of development. For now, I’ll single out the file system.

Mr. Allchin rightly said that, "Data is trapped in the application." He noted that relationships are buried and most times lost and that in current Windows shell views are tied to folder hierarchies. The virtual folders, new search features and other capabilities are all attempts to make finding data more meaningful. Mr. Allchin even described something called "Information Agents," which in concept apply rules to different informational functions. Like e-mail rules, an Information Agent applies some rule to an event. One example: Child’s teacher sends an e-mail, which triggers an IM to my cell phone.

Microsoft hopes to solve the many file problems with the new data store, something I have blogged on before. Microsoft would appear to be off to a good start, but also seems to be far from the finish line. I would encourage developers, competitors and customers to watch the file system carefully.

As I’ve blogged before, metadata is an area to watch. Today, Microsoft talked about extensible XML schemas covering people, user, infrastructure and system. Considering Microsoft’s past approach to XML schemas has been somewhat proprietary, there, again, should be concern about Microsoft co-opting open Web services standards for the benefit of Windows.

Posted by Joe Wilcox at October 27, 2003 08:54 PM