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October 11, 2003 twelve:00 PM
It's Official: No Longhorn Till 2006


At Microsoft's worldwide partner conference this week, Microsoft ultimately admitted that Longhorn would not begin to see the mild of day until finally 2006.

This just isn't a guess on my part, educated or in any other case. Or flame bait. Or conjecture. This can be directly through the horses' mouths.

At the demonstrate this week, many Microsoft execs casually slipped into their presentations that Longhorn is three a long time away from debut. Previous time I did the math, that was not 2005, as promised only a handful of months ago. Nor is it even the wishy-washy "2005+" that a couple of execs had taken to attaching to their merchandise timetables. The brand new target is 2006, basic and straightforward.

Did the business think nobody would observe? Or perhaps in the end that Abita beer on draft served up with the Friday evening spouse social gathering on the Home of Blues, that no one could count?

Maybe Microsoft is assuming that tacking one more year onto a product which is already far from debut wouldn't make any difference. But if Longhorn customer is 3 many years away,buy windows 7 Home Basic, which means the remainder of the Longhorn wave also is 3 a long time from cresting.

That implies there is going to be no Visual Studio equipment release for 2 a long time right after "Whidbey" (which Microsoft is still insisting will probably be a late 2004 products). No Workplace 12 until finally 2006. And Longhorn Server — which was expected,Buy Windows 7 Professional, till this week, in 2006 — is now,Office Enterprise 2007 Sale, more likely than not a 2007 item (given that it was set to lag the client release by a yr).

For some customers, a 12 months delay actually might be considered a relief. Not everyone wants and needs major item upgrades every two years. And for Microsoft, which is in the midst of a major campaign to convince existing customers to upgrade to Windows XP and Workplace XP, a delay may help fuel such a push.

But Microsoft has been talking to its partners about Longhorn since 2001, at least. (I wrote my first story on "Indigo," the Web services stack with the heart of Longhorn,Office Professional Plus 2007, two many years in the past).


Check Out This First Stab at Defining Indigo From 2001

Each 12 months, we heard that more and more can't-live-without features would be baked into Longhorn. The ultimate in security (Next Generation Secure Computing Base, a k a "Palladium")? Longhorn. Self-healing/self-managing systems? The infrastructure is going to be baked into Longhorn. A simpler Windows-presentation infrastructure? Just hang on for Longhorn. The next version of Internet Explorer? Not available in any way other than as portion of Longhorn.

Earlier this year, Microsoft execs proclaimed the company had decided against introducing a stop-gap interim Windows release between XP and Longhorn. That didn't look like a bad strategy when Longhorn customer was a 2004 item. Even as a 2005 products, the idea of foregoing a "Shorthorn" wasn't outrageous. But now that it's 2006? Five many years without a new desktop? That's a long time.

Even CEO Steve Ballmer seemingly is champing on the bit for a new release. In talking up XP Service Pack 2 — which Microsoft has delayed until finally Q2/Q3 of next yr in order to include a bunch of new security technologies in the SP — Ballmer called SP2 "a new version of Windows XP."

Read Ballmer's Full Spouse Conference Keynote Speech Here

XP SP2: Service Pack or New Windows Release?

And More on What's New, From a Security Standpoint, in Service Pack 2

Indeed,Office Professional 2010 Product Key, Microsoft is planning to distribute XP SP2 quite broadly: through retail, OEMs, downloads and in other "creative ways." But the business is maintaining SP2 is going to be free. (Maybe Microsoft could use XP SP2 as its "free software" poster child that it can pit against "free" open source software in its future TCO studies! I better not give them any ideas….)

Do you care that Longhorn is now a 2006 deliverable? Does yet an additional delay impact you in any way? If so, how?

Write me at mswatch@ziffdavis.com and let me know what you feel.