Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates told attendees of the Gartner IT Expo on Monday that Microsoft will release an alpha test release of Longhorn later this year. There are a couple of ways to read Gates" remarks: 1. There will be an alpha, but no beta in 2004; or 2. There will be an alpha and then a beta this fall, as Microsoft has said repeatedly. We asked for clarification; there was none. In either case, Gates is finally admitting Longhorn is looking like 2006 at the earliest.