WinInsider

Microsoft is promising a slew of new features and functionality in its Longhorn client and server releases. But the Redmond software vendor has some other big changes on tap for Longhorn, in terms of how the operating system will be built and deployed.

Company officials have been talking for more than a year about plans to make Longhorn more "modular." In the past two weeks, however, Microsoft execs have shed more light on exactly what this means.

Bill Gates' dream of an end-to-end search tool for corporate networks remains just that: a dream, at least until the end of the decade. Advanced search features that Gates has termed the "Holy Grail" of Longhorn, the next major version of Windows, won't be fully in place until 2009, Bob Muglia, the senior vice president in charge of Windows server development, told CNET News.com.

The technology, called WinFS, is an add-on the Windows file system that Microsoft says will make it easier for users to find data such as documents, e-mail messages and multimedia files--no matter what their format--on local PCs and across the network.

A Microsoft initiative dubbed XNA aims to create a common set of tools for software developers to use when making games for the Xbox, Windows-based PCs and mobile devices. One effect will be to make it easier and less costly for a PC game developer to make an alternate version for the Xbox and vice versa.

Microsoft says the overall goal is to simplify the development process and improve the quality of games. The initiative could also attract more game developers to Windows and the Xbox by making it easier for them to tap simultaneously into the console and PC gaming markets.

Microsoft aims to accelerate corporate use of its digital rights management (DRM) software by integrating it, along with new extranet features, into its Windows Server 2003 update planned for 2005, which is code-named R2.

In an hourlong interview with CRN on Wednesday, Bob Muglia, senior vice president of Microsoft's Windows Server Division, said the Redmond, Wash., company will incorporate Windows Rights Managements Services (RMS) and new identity-federation capabilities into R2. Windows RMS is now available as a separate add-on to Windows Server 2003.

Microsoft on Tuesday night released the source code for its Windows Template Library under the open-source Common Public License and posted it on SourceForge, the open-source code repository.

The Windows Template Library (WTL) is a library for developing Windows applications and user interface components. It also extends the Active Template Library (ATL) and provides a set of classes for controls, dialogs, frame windows, GDI objects and more.

Microsoft on Wednesday laid out its server road map, outlining a series of releases including Longhorn Server, the next major OS edition, targeted to arrive in 2007. Plans for Longhorn Server had been an on-again, off-again proposition for some time. Since late last year, the company has said there would be a server version, but until now has said little about what it would contain. The new timetable Microsoft's attempt to clarify its plans for corporate buyers. "Our expectation is that we will ship Longhorn Server in 2007," Muglia said.

Muglia also said Microsoft has slated both a service pack and an update for Longhorn. "We are thinking about an update release to Longhorn that will come in the 2009 time frame; 2008 will probably be the service pack, 2009 will be the update release."

Microsoft has delayed until later this year the release of Virtual PC 7, the latest version of a program that allows Windows software to run on the Macintosh.

The software maker said the software needs more testing than anticipated. Microsoft acquired the Virtual PC product last year, when it purchased the assets of Connectix. Microsoft said Virtual PC 7--the first Microsoft-developed version of the software--will now arrive sometime in the second half of the year, instead of the first half, as originally planned.

As Redmond looks beyond the desktop, it sees the automotive industry as a new growth engine. At an Automotive Executive Summit today, Microsoft pitched executives of Asian auto manufacturers on the advantages of installing its technology in the car, then using more of it to connect to its branded content.

Microsoft's Automotive Business Unit (ABU) has three major initiatives. MSN Autos is a consumer portal that has information on choosing, buying and maintaining cars; it connects online shoppers with a network of dealers.

Lawyers who persuaded Microsoft to settle their class-action lawsuit accusing the company of price-fixing are asking for $258 million in legal fees, the largest amount ever in an antitrust case.

The bill comes as attorney fees are being examined critically by the American Bar Association and lawmakers across the country. It amounts to about $3,000 per hour for one lawyer, more than $2,000 an hour each for 34 other attorneys and $1,000 an hour for administrative work.

Microsoft agreed to the settlement - allocating $1.1 billion for California consumers, but Microsoft could end up spending much less. The deal enables anyone who bought a computer in California to get vouchers worth $5 to $29 per Microsoft product, but only a small fraction of the millions eligible have applied for the money.

Where will the Tablet PC go tomorrow? It's time for Microsoft marketing to provide some solid direction. It doesn't take much tea-leaf reading to see that the Microsoft-championed Tablet PC is at a crossroads.

When Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates launched the Tablet PC back on November 7, 2002, he touted the technology as "a whole new way of experiencing the personal computer." The Tablet was more than a PDA. It was better than a notebook. It was the mobile form factor of the future, destined to spawn an entirely new class of apps - like Microsoft's own ePeriodicals, for one. (By the way, whatever happened to ePeriodicals?)