On Monday, Microsoft Corp unveiled some of the features of the next edition of its Windows operating system, called Longhorn, as also those of the upgraded version of the current edition, Windows XP.
Microsoft’s chairman Bill Gates, at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference in Seattle, said that Longhorn would not only offer faster performance but also higher security features, better graphics and organization and faster and easier search of data stored on the computer. “We just gave people a glimpse to show them it’s an awfully big deal,” Gates said. The new release will come around in 2006, five years after the Windows XP release in late 2001.
In the preview, Gates demonstrated the new design of the desktop, translucent windows that allow easier organization and faster search options. While the full version would come in December 2006, a beta version would be available sooner.
“Our key goal in terms of Longhorn is that it be the highest-quality release we’ve ever done. At every stage of the way we’re going to listen to feedback, so it’s possible some of these milestones will change and we’ll choose to put more time into things,” Gates said.
Talking about the delay in the launch of the new release, Gates asserted that ‘quality’ was of utmost importance and that ‘the date is not the top priority’. “If you had to take one area where we put the most investment in, the security area would be the head of that list by a significant amount,” he said.
Toward this end, Longhorn would use cryptographic keys stored in the chips that are built into the computer. This would make it more difficult for hackers to access data on computers. Generally, such encryption features are stored as data on the hard drive of a computer. “Longhorn is our big investment. This is the decade where we can have the most impact of all,” Gates said.
Meanwhile, a new version of Windows XP, called Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, would be up for sale in May. This version can handle 64 bits of data as against the 32 bits that the old version offers. So, with the new version, searching files and editing videos would be easier and faster, and other operations would also get a boost.
