http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2...arget2006PR.asp Microsoft Corp. today announced it will target broad availability of the Windows® client operating system code-named "Longhorn" in 2006, and make key elements of the Windows WinFXTM developer platform in "Longhorn" available for Windows XP and Windows ServerTM 2003.

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I want LongHorn !
It seems to be very good but i cant wait for it!!!
It´s much time

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My friend dled the beta. It totally froze his comp. I am skeptical as to whether I want this or not.

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Yeah I have downloaded windows longhorn beta as well and given it a try.. suprisingly like all other windows it will use more and more higher resources as well the minimum reqirements of the system which is required to run it. The interface is really good however I dont see the difference between WIndows XP and Windows Longhorn .. the only difference is the big clock on the taskbar.. but that much is it.. however it runs smoother than the winxp betas.

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Wow, this is interesting. Where did you download it? I would love to give it a try, but I'm a little afraid this will ruin my computer. I've seen pictures on several websites and the interface seems to be really nice. Im buying a new computer soon, but I still don't know whether to buy a new iMac or wait for Longhorn to come out...anywas, are you still using Longhorn?

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Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect, Bill Gates unveiled the official name change of Windows codenamed Whistler in February of 2001 to Windows XP, XP short for Experience. What kind of experiences are we talking about here? If you read the slogan on the Windows XP product box, it says, “Experience the best of the digital decade”.



Music, videos, games, and photos



“Windows XP unlocks the world of digital media! Record your own favorite tune’s or find music online. View DVDs and videos. Play exciting games on your own computer and on the Internet. Learn how easy it is to view, organize, and store digital photos, and share them in e-mail or online with family, friends, and colleagues.”



Sounds like lots of fun. But how much further can we take these present experiences in Windows XP and add more value to them in Longhorn that is both inviting and interesting to existing and future Windows users? Now define those words even further on Longhorn and you begin to decipher what Longhorn should be and mean to the user. Inviting could mean, a particular task such as making a home movie is easy to use from start to finish, interesting could mean the experience you gain from doing the task was fun and not boring or daunting.



The aim of Longhorn is to let the user think that task such as the one’s mentioned are not chore based. Users are not utilizing their PC’s successfully these days, whether its at home, work or at school and that is what we need to understand and that’s going to change in Longhorn. But the Industry has a major role to play, PC manufacturers are not describing and presenting the potential of Windows XP Components such Digital Music and Photo-Management, Video Editing, Instant Messaging to current Windows users effectively.



How can we promise not to make the same mistakes with Longhorn? I have said it before; Longhorn needs to be defined now. The user experiences to come need to be communicated across the different user audiences intensively. Microsoft has a strong developer audience already who understand Longhorn from their perspective and the same could probably be applied to an IT Professional. But for the business and consumer users of Windows, what kind of experiences are in store for them on Longhorn?



Most of this lies in the psychology of the user. What are they doing on a day-by-day basis with their PC? Are they satisfied with their current experiences? How can I as an ISV, OEM, and Developer help to improve customer experiences on the PC running Longhorn? The Industry needs to realize that users really want to do more with their PC’s but they need direction. We cannot compare the PC to what it was 20 years ago, users are not just typing letters or recipes on the PC in a word processor and telling their friends about it the next day at work anymore. Today, it’s about communicating with colleagues across the globe and collaborating on concepts for new recipes and obtaining real time intelligent information on how to target different demographics, that’s the type of powerful experiences that will appear in the Longhorn generation from a business angle for example.



The last article I wrote, I talked about OS X being a desperate operating system, but this is the truth. Yes, it does offer applications that are neat, but I am concerned with more than just creating a nice home movie and burning a great music CD. I am talking about an entire audience in general here from business to student, not everyone is interested in making movies and music CD’s, certainly the average user will not be doing that 24-7 on the PC. Longhorn’s goal is to really define itself as a sort of chameleon, its able to customize itself according to the environment it’s in. A lot of people on the Macintosh platform have time warped the Mac as being a creative (graphics artists) tool only. On Windows its multi-faceted, you can run a Graphics’ Business, do graphic art, run critical applications without a hitch (64-bit Windows), be able to work with other PC users flawlessly without the concerns of incompatibility.



I talk about areas of revenue, meaning the Industry, the PC Manufacturers, the ISV’s, OEM’s and Developers, People who work at major PC factories, you the user, how you can better realize your dreams and build upon them, this could mean opening a small business and using the applications built for Windows as a way of managing and growing your business and making money.



I just can’t see Linux being a savior of this Industry. How is it going to generate revenue for the entire Industry, when the proprietary technologies of the two major distributions of Linux will be tied to its vendors only? Because, if its being offered as a Service by major supporters such as Novell and IBM, where is the difference when they start charging you for the extra services that come bundled with the hardware and operating system for maintenance and annual updates? If you didn’t know, this is the same direction Vendors such as Red-Hat are aiming for with Linux on the desktop. You see Linux is just a figurehead in most of these players’ games to get you tied into a pay for society, which is true of Microsoft to some extent. You have to look at the different distributions of Linux as being on the road to proprietary soon. Meaning, don’t just look at the name “Linux” and think “free” or “open-source”, think of who is supporting the OS, what’s there agenda, their services and what they are really charging for. Are they charging licensing fees for the OS or the “extra stuff” that comes with the OS?



People say Windows is playing catch up to OS X right now, but I think they are dead wrong, since OS X came out in March 2001; it has been the other way around. Out of the box OS X did not support DVD playback, this was not implemented until version 10.1, Fast User Switching version 10.2, there is still no dedicated user editable menu for quick file launching, no Open and Save dialog boxes that allow file renaming and deletion, so its obvious that OS X is still playing catch up to Windows. On the PC the value of hardware is seen more vividly than on the Macintosh, when it comes to Apple that’s proprietary invisibility. PC users have more control because of the range of vendors out there. If one starts messing around, just drop them like a hot potato and choose another one that suits you, on Apple that’s a different story.



Hypothetical time, suppose in 2006, Apple decides to release the Power Macintosh G6, but there is a catch, Mac OS 10.5 is designed for it only, you have a big problem there! That would mean if every Mac user wants to run the new OS to use some of its new features, you have to shell out some hefty cash to buy a new Mac when you just want the OS. And trust me, with Apples secret paranoia mantra before releasing products, its not impossible for them to do it. But it’s not also impossible for dimwit users of the Mac such as Rob to fall for it.



Back to LH, basically we need to remove the present stigma of Longhorn just being an IT thing only right now. Longhorn needs to be defined as a natural everyday process no matter the user. It might sound strange talking about an operating system this way, but that’s the only way we can successfully get the basic concept of what the computer in 2006 and beyond is going be like running Windows, how powerful and advantageous it will be to the varying degrees of users running it.

 

 

 

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Yes, Windows Longhorn looks great, I can't wait for It.. 2006.. That's ages away, It'd better be worth the wait..

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Yeah, every version of us starting from 95 has been getting better, secure, easier, and faster exponentially. I hope LH will follow this trend.

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The whole point of a beta is only for testing. Trying a beta on a system critical computer is a really bad idea. I used VMWare to test Longhorn and it looks pretty cool. Remember, it hasnt been released yet and iits still probably not finished.

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