Microsoft announces Longhorn release date

[lazygamer]

This is very recent news, and some of you may already know this, but...

 

quote:Longhorn, the next major version of Windows for desktop PCs, will debut in 2005 and will usher in a new level of graphics for PCs, Microsoft executives said on Wednesday.

While Microsoft plans to release "a couple of beta" versions of Longhorn in 2004, the final version of the operating system won't come out commercially until 2005, said Will Poole, senior vice president of the Windows Client division at Microsoft. He made the comments during a speech delivered at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) in New Orleans. Previously, analysts and sources had speculated that Longhorn would come out in late 2004 or early 2005.

Longhorn release date

So why 2005? Did they have more problems than they suspected, and they knew that their future Windows OS could not be stood up by Linux? Or is it because they're rebuilding alot of it from the ground up?(I remember hearing something like this, not sure if it's true though)

Well whatever the case, that is 2 years for Linux to improve alot. I could be wrong, but don't ya guys think that Longhorn's release will be the start of a long "final battle" between Linux and Wind0ze for desktop superority? Desktop armageddon.  

So longshot prediction:Battle begins in 2005 is over(with Linux as the victor) in 2009.

[Faust]

quote:new level of graphics for PCs

Forgive me for doubting but didn't Mac OSX get their first with full open GL graphics?  And wont Transluxent be finished well before 2005?

[Faust]

quote:Microsoft also formally unveiled a media transport protocol, which makes it easier to swap files

Erm?  "Please explain?"  (Of course the RIAA will have backdoors in the applications themselves I guess...)

 

quote:Overall, though, there won't be a major code retrofit.

 

quote:With Longhorn, Microsoft hopes to improve the visual quality of the computing experience. Company representatives at a WinHEC demonstration of a pre-beta version of Longhorn said that the goal is to be able to run the OS on screens with a resolution of 120 dots per inch or higher.

That's far more refined than screens today. Current 17-inch SXGA displays have a resolution of about 95 dots per square inch,

WHY???  It's not like any of the actual applications will bother wasting the CPU to take advantage of a DPI you wont notice and who the fuck would waste the multiple gigabytes necessary to store a video at that res when their would be no noticeable difference?

 

quote:On top of this, Longhorn is intended to continue Microsoft's strategy of making the PC the nerve centre of the home entertainment network.

Yep, by turning your computer into their "black box" - or "x box"  

[ May 17, 2003: Message edited by: Faust ]

[Faust]

http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/review/2/1/4067.html

 

quote:Windows Future Storage (WinFS) promises to make the physical location of files irrelevant, thanks to an elaborate system of shortcuts and desktop-based searching.

 :rolleyes:

 

quote:
OS X-style dock

Microsoft is obviously counting on the preponderance of large, high-resolution monitors that have been flooding the market lately, as Longhorn seems to depend on lots and lots of screen real estate. Its most obvious, and most intrusive, interface change is a vertical sidebar, located on the left side of the screen -- similar to the one MSN subscribers are accustomed to, and reminiscent of the Mac OS X Dock. The sidebar holds Windows' QuickLaunch bar (sadly, you can't relocate the QuickLaunch buttons to their normal home on the Taskbar, at least in this build), a desktop search tool and a Longhorn-logo clock. It also has modules for Windows Media Player slide shows and system notifications.

Oh look an OSX style dock.  Innovative.  (It probably wont be anywhere near as good anyway...)

 

quote:but you can put both on the bottom (just like OS X's Dock)

And this from the "we love Windows" goons at zdnet

 

quote:Longhorn also seems to take Windows XP's task-based folders to a new level. All system folders, such as My Documents and My Pictures, feature a search pane, folder comments (we'd love to be able to customise these), file information and filters. The filters are yet another layer of the WinFS system. Longhorn's virtual-file structure lets you categorise your files, then filter your folder views by criteria you assign. For example, you can organise music in the Music Library folder using album, artist, playlist, track, song duration or genre, and then filter your folder view so that you see, say, only songs shorter than 1 minute (handy if you want to get rid of incomplete MP3 downloads or corrupted song files, for example). Every folder in Longhorn offers a Filter By option.

Erm did someone say regular expressions?  Did someone mention that other people have already implemented this?  No?  Ok I will - they have.

 

quote:In addition, you can use various criteria to stack files in virtual folders. You can stack your contacts (Longhorn includes a My Contacts folder that acts as a central location for all your address book entries, vCards and more) by name, email and address, or stack digital images by your camera type or the date a picture was taken.

Oh dear God this is almost funny.  They've already decided to copy OSX's stacks?  Fuck I hate these people, I mean copying concepts fine, but FFS at least give them the credit!

 

quote:security improvements, including an administrative feature that would restrict the times during which people can log onto their PCs.

Microsoft does not do security improvements, they do press releases claiming they have made security improvements.  And the restricted time thing sounds pretty fucked up and useless.

 

quote:noticeable interface changes over Windows

Cough cough, you've already tried the theme change = new OS with Windows XP you goons...  :rolleyes:

 

quote:Windows XP Media Center Edition's personal video recorder capabilities; Windows Media Player is a nearly invisible component of the entire OS;

And I'll bet they'll end up telling the US DOJ that "Windows Media Player cannot be removed without affecting our already poor stability."

BAH!  HUM BUG!

[edisav]

As far as I'm concerned, they can shove the LONG HORN up their asses!

[xyle_one]

[M51DPS]

funny how Microsoft "improves" their OS by including feature that their competitors already have

[Pissed_Macman]

Haha at Windows forums those pathetic worms are looking forward to longhorn, but little do they know that they are being assimilated just a little bit more with the release of this. It would make me laugh if it didn't hurt everyone else's business. Let's hope this will be the final showdown between Open Source and Communistware.

[NM]

quote:Originally posted by lazygamer:
So why 2005? Did they have more problems than they suspected, and they knew that their future Windows OS could not be stood up by Linux? Or is it because they're rebuilding alot of it from the ground up?(I remember hearing something like this, not sure if it's true though)

Because It will take that long to get a computer powerful enough to handle this behemoth.