By silicon.com, 31 August 2004 08:00
NEWS The company has already demonstrated a prototype of an MSN tool that will allow computer users to quickly search for a keyword from within files, emails and even email attachments. Just as web search has already become a highly competitive field, queries to local hard drives are seen as a key area for Microsoft to do battle against rivals such as Google.
The code base for Longhorn will be the same as Microsoft is using for the Service Pack 1 release of Windows Server 2003, an update slated for the first half of next year. Allchin said the decision to use that code base was made some months ago.
One of the benefits of that code base is that it works with both traditional 32-bit processors and 64-bit chips.
It will all add up to a better product for developers, Microsoft says.
"I personally know that this is the right thing to do. This product will be awesome. There is [still] so much capability in [Longhorn]," Allchin said. "Having us stage all the work that we're doing here... is the right trade-off."
Ahead of Longhorn, Microsoft plans a number of additions to Windows XP, including a new version of its entertainment-oriented Media Center operating system. The company is also readying a new version of its Media Player jukebox software as well as Media Center extender and Portable Media Center products that the company hopes will breathe some new life into the 3-year-old XP. The company plans a 'Windows XP Reloaded' ad campaign that touts all of the new products as reasons to move to XP.
The Longhorn changes have been on the table at Microsoft since last month, Allchin said. "The early part of July is when I said to myself that we should change, and we've been working through things since then."
Longhorn had already fallen behind its original schedule. Microsoft earlier this year pushed the date back to the first half of 2006, saying a test version would be delayed until next year. The revision to the operating system was one of the most complicated ones Microsoft had ever planned for its flagship product.
Gates unveiled Longhorn last October at a developers conference, sending programmers home with very early code, and promised beta versions would follow by this year. Despite the company's enthusiasm for Longhorn, Microsoft shifted a great deal of its Windows development team this year to work on Service Pack 2 as part of a heightened push for more secure software.
Earlier this week, Microsoft confirmed that in the wake of SP2, it would "revisit its priorities" for Longhorn.
Gates and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had long talked about Longhorn as a product that was not driven by a particular date but analysts say that the time had come for the company to figure out what it could deliver on a reasonable timetable.
"At some point you have to decide on a ship date and a set of features that can hit that ship date," said Mike Cherry, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft.
Cherry said that in reality, there is no way to speed up a project other than to cut features. In modern software development, increasing the number of people on a project alone won't make enough of a difference. "It's not just a problem for Microsoft. It's a problem for software development in general."
Executives had characterised Longhorn as a big bet but had maintained that such advances were important, even if they took time.
Ina Fried and Margaret Kane write for CNET News.com.
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