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By Ben Berkowitz
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) on Monday gave its most detailed look yet at the next version of Windows, code-named Longhorn, which promises new methods of storing files, tighter links to the Internet, greater security, and fewer annoying reboots.
At a conference for Microsoft programmers, Microsoft founder and Chairman Bill Gates said Longhorn, when it arrives, would rank as Microsoft's largest software launch this decade and the biggest since its Windows 95 operating system.
Gates and other Microsoft executives did not say when Longhorn would be released, but promised outside programmers that the platform would represent a breakthrough in the way that computer users send, receive and work with information.
Applications built by outside developers for Windows have long been crucial to the success of Microsoft's flagship software, which runs on more than 95 percent of the world's personal computers.
Jim Allchin, the Microsoft executive charged with the development of Windows, drew a lengthy round of applause when he announced one his main goals for Longhorn, ridding a scourge that has perpetually plagued Windows users.
I'm on a campaign to get rid of reboots, not only in our code but in any of the code, he said.
Gates gave an upbeat and forward-looking address on the future of software, saying that much more needed to be done before it would allow users to realize the potential of inter-connected services.
A lot of people nowadays are sort of pessimistic about what technology will bring, he told a packed audience at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Certainly there is a lot of things Microsoft has to do.
For the next generation of software, Gates promised software advances like speech recognition and synthesis, integrated telephone services and better graphics.
It's very clear we're at the beginning of this process, Gates told the developers. We need your feedback. We need your involvement to get this right.
Microsoft said that Longhorn would tackle key problems facing computer users today -- an overload of information and hard-to-find files.
We see oceans of information, said Adam Sohn, a product manager for Microsoft's platform strategy and partner group, ahead of the presentation.
There are a bunch of things going on that we find very interesting, and they're not necessarily all brand new, but they're gaining a lot of prevalence, he said.
LONGHORN DEMO
During Gates' address, a Microsoft staffer gave a demonstration of Longhorn, highlighting among other features the sidebar, an area on the right side of the screen capable of displaying messaging lists, stock quotes, news feeds, clocks, and pictures.
Sohn said Microsoft would not focus on the timing of the consumer release, although final versions of software usually follow the beta version by three months to a year.
The company also talked about the four key buckets it sees comprising Longhorn: fundamentals like security and scalability; new presentation technology that includes a rebuilding of Windows' graphics system; a new file storage system called WinFS that makes heavy use of XML, extensible markup language data; and new Web services and communications technology.
The company also unveiled WinFX, which it described as a new application programming model for Windows that is the evolution of its .NET programming framework.
A demonstration of its next-generation storage technology, WinFS, featured a method to stack documents by author in a window, with the heights of the stacks corresponding to the number of documents, as well as file views that showed snapshots of documents, rather than just file names.
Allchin also showed XAML, a declarative language for programming that would make it easier to create programs and features.
In the shorter term, Gates said Microsoft would have a beta version for the second service pack of its Windows XP operating system this year and a beta for the first service pack of the Windows Server 2003 system in the first half of 2004.
Reuters
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