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Lifting the lid on Longhorn

Martin LaMonica CNET News.com

Published: 10 Nov 2003 11:20 GMT

Is Microsoft's new version of Windows a radical innovation or a return to the company's software strategy from a decade ago?

The next operating system, code-named Longhorn, promises a huge leap forward from current versions of Windows, with better graphics, storage, search and security features, according to analysts and others familiar with the technology. But those features come at a price: most can be used only through client software that's designed specifically for the new system.

Longhorn, which had its official coming-out party last week, marks Microsoft's return to "fat client" application development -- software that resides largely on desktop or portable PCs rather than on a shared server or network. The company is even considering phasing out the development of a stand-alone browser, instead building Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and Web-based applications that would run directly in Longhorn as "native" Windows code.

The result would be "increased lock-in to Windows," said Michael Silver, an analyst at market research firm Gartner. "Microsoft wants enterprises to write browser applications that take advantage of Longhorn application programming interfaces (APIs), which means that they won't work on non-Longhorn browsers," Silver wrote in a research report last week.

With Longhorn, some industry veterans believe, Microsoft is attempting to steer software development back toward the Windows desktop and away from software such as browser applications that can run on other companies' operating systems. Longhorn reinforces Microsoft's commitment to the notion of powerful desktop machines that have large hard drives.

"Ultimately, we're the company that believes in the power of the local hard disk," said Gordon Mangione, corporate vice president of Microsoft's SQL Server team. "It's been the thing that has driven the PC revolution for many, many years."

Indeed, the strategy will sound familiar to students of Microsoft's history. Windows became the dominant OS for PCs by controlling the underlying APIs and file formats. The Internet shifted that balance of power away from the desktop by performing functions on Web servers and related technologies.