CONTRARY TO REPORTS that Microsoft has abandoned its HailStorm technology, company officials have revealed plans to embed components of the XML schema and data-access technology throughout its .Net application, server, and client stack.
The software giant is combining HailStorm services, a unified storage system, and collaborative SharePoint services toward the goal of building a universal canvas infrastructure across multiple product groups.
Executives speaking at Microsoft Fusion 2002 in Los Angeles last week explained that SharePoint 2.0 will boast improved collaboration capabilities and will have close technical ties to XML-based Office 11, which is due mid-2003.
"You will see [a common approach to] XML schemas and XML methods for accessing the information that we want to pull together," said Gordon Mangione, vice president in charge of the SQL Server database at Microsoft.
"[To me] the universal canvas really means the ability to have both data structures converge around XML across the functionality that was represented in those application categories," said Jeff Raikes, group vice president of productivity and business services at Microsoft.
At its .Net update briefing for media and financial analysts this week in Redmond, Wash., Microsoft will detail the collaboration capabilities being baked into its .Net infrastructure.