I sure hope this article has a double meaning, but it seems like it's just trying to report the news, rather than predict the future.
quote:
Longhorn is expected to debut in 2005, and will be the successor to Windows XP. It is expected to include better graphics, a redesigned storage system and a new look and feel.
Ummmm aren't they forgetting some things? I didn't know Windows XP was awesome enough already that it only needed a new GUI, better storage, and better graphics.
quote:
In a way, Longhorn, due in 2005, can be thought of as the Mr. Potato Head of operating systems: About 95 percent of the key functions of the operating system will exist in a basic software core. To make a Longhorn PC for export to France, for instance, PC makers will bolt the French language module onto the basic Longhorn core through the Multi-Lingual User Interface (MUI), a new subsystem within the operating system.
It seems like a diss to us... but it's not trying to be!
Oh and the french version will also probably include an extra helping of US government backdoors too, just for those frenchies. Windows must be custom tailored to appropriate specs.
quote:
Similarly, manufacturers will take the Longhorn core and add select modules to tailor it for a tablet PC, for example, or a media center PC destined for the Philippines. This process will be managed through the Component Management Interface (CMI), a new feature that can be used to upgrade the operating system over its functional life.
Remember kiddies, spyware and DRM do not count as components, they are "intergal mission critical functions" or somethin.
quote:
The specialization then continues at the computer manufacturer's factory. The software bundle, or image, put on each PC varies model by model: A Dell Dimension 4600 has a different image than does a Dimension 4550, which means that from a manufacturing perspective, the version of Windows is different.
Unless "image" is just a buzzword which means pre-installed programs and preset configuration options, I can forsee alot of compatibility problems! If it is just a buzzword, then Longhorn isn't very modular. Programs are not modules. If this system really is modular, I wonder if the individual consumer will be able to tweak/add/remove his Longhorn modules to his liking... probably not.
quote:
All of these tweaks mean that PC makers, in the end, are juggling a wide spectrum of different versions of Windows. Longhorn will allow the same core image to be used on a wider variety of PC models or family.
Modularity could "eliminate hardware dependencies," said Jeff Ford, manager of software development in IBM's personal client division.
That doesn't make one bit of sense. Hardware dependency, is that an issue? I think he should be saying hardware incompatibility, and all these different versions of Windows would complicate that problem.
quote:
Issuing bug patches will also be easier. "Ninety-five percent of the bugs will hit the single international core," he added. "One service pack for those bugs will work on all OSes."
What's the big fucking deal then? Haven't all these other versions of Windows been a single international core? This sounds like mindless propaganda.
