Microsoft is expected next month to disclose more details on Longhorn, its planned upgrade to Windows, as the company looks to drive demand for the forthcoming operating system.
At its Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles, the Redmond, Wash., software maker will detail Longhorn's underlying graphics and user interface technology, code-named Avalon. Details on Avalon, a database update code-named Yukon, and a new Web services development framework called Indigo are expected to be the highlights of the conference, according to sources familiar with the company's plans.
Microsoft describes Avalon as "a brand-new client platform for building smart, connected, media-rich applications in Longhorn." Avalon will introduce the ability to create applications with a new style of user interface and greater resolution than Windows currently supports, according to the company. Microsoft in May said Longhorn would support a screen resolution of 120 dots per square inch or higher. With Windows XP, typical 17-inch displays support a resolution of about 95 dots per square inch. Avalon is the graphics and media plumbing within Longhorn that software developers use to build applications. "Aero" is the company's name for the actual graphical user interface (GUI) in Longhorn that the end user sees.
News source: C|Net News.com
