Microsoft shocked the computer industry today when it announced that it would deliver its next major Windows release in 2006, but would do so without WinFS (Window Future Storage), one of the original major components of that upgrade. I"ve spoken with Microsoft about the change, and am presenting this information here in a bid to get it available to you as quickly as possible. However, I also expect to update this document significantly in the days ahead, so stay tuned.
2004 has not been a kind year for Longhorn. Awash as it is in ever-increasing delays, Longhorn has been the subject of barbs from even the most dimmed-minded computer industry columnists, many of whom have begun comparing the Longhorn release to Cairo, Microsoft"s aborted mid-1990"s object-oriented OS project. And no wonder: Like Cario, Longhorn was to have included the technological equivalent of the kitchen sink, and then some. Clearly, something in Longhorn had to give.