by Playfuls Staff |
26th January 2007
Vista in numbers: $6 billion in investments, more than 10,000 people involved in the making-of process for 6 years, 50 million lines of code, 2750 new features. What good ideas were lost or postponed during the development period? Would those make Vista better?[more]
In the eve of Windows Vista’s launch, we analyze some of the features that have been cancelled for Microsoft’s OS and that could have made it (a lot) better. You could say that this article is about Windows Longhorn (the codename for Vista) vs. Windows Vista.
The first, and probably the most important from whatever point of view you look at it, is the WinFS (Windows Future Storage).
WinFS is a data storage and management system based on relational databases, developed by Microsoft and first demonstrated in 2003 as an advanced storage subsystem for the Microsoft Windows operating system. A relational database is a database that conforms to the relational model, and refers to a database's data and schema (the database's structure of how that data is arranged). Common usage of the term "Relational Database Management System" technically refers to the software used to create a relational database, but sometimes mistakenly refers to a relational database.
In 2003, Microsoft founder and chairman Bill Gates said:
“WinFS-this is unified storage. Some of you here have heard me talk about unified storage for more than a decade. The idea of taking the XML flexibility, database technology, getting it into the file system: that's been a Holy Grail for me for quite some time. And here it is. Thank goodness we have got the powerful systems to be able to do this thing. Thank goodness we have the evolution around XML and user interface capabilities, so that this can all come together.”WinFS was initially planned for inclusion in Windows Vista, and build 4051 of Windows Vista, at that time called "Longhorn", given to developers at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference in 2003, included WinFS, but it suffered from significant performance issues. In August 2004, Microsoft announced that WinFS would not ship with Windows Vista; it would instead be available as a downloadable update after Vista's release.
WinFS was considered a pillar of the "Longhorn" wave of technologies, and would ship as part of the next version of Windows. It was subsequently decided that WinFS would ship after the release of Windows Vista, but those plans were cancelled in June 2006, with some of its component technologies being integrated into upcoming releases of ADO.NET and Microsoft SQL Server.
The next most important feature that has been cancelled (partially) for Vista is Next-Generation Secure Computing Base (NGSCB), formerly known as Palladium. NGSCB is part of Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing initiative. Microsoft's stated aim for NGSCB is to increase the security and privacy of computer users, but critics assert that the technology will not only fail to solve the majority of contemporary IT security problems, but also result in an increase in vendor lock-in and a resulting reduction in competition in the IT marketplace. It appears that consumers have begun to want to own their computers and files, and control their own computing experience, for better or for worse. Consumers seem to have become more wary of giving up control over both their systems and files.
When originally announced, NGSCB was expected to be part of the then next major version of the Windows Vista Operating Syste. However, in May 2004, Microsoft was reported to have shelved the NGSCB project. This was quickly denied by Microsoft who released a press release stating that they were instead "revisiting" their plans. The majority of features of NGSCB are now not expected to be available until well after the release of Windows Vista. However, Vista will include "BitLocker" (it will be available only for Vista Ultimate) which can make use of a Trusted Platform Module chip to facilitate secure startup and full-drive encryption.
A third feature that was supposed to ship along with Vista, but was eventually separated from it and made available through download is Windows PowerShell. Microsoft Shell or MSH (codenamed Monad)- other names for WPS- is an extensible command line interface (CLI) shell and scripting language product developed by Microsoft. The product is based on object-oriented programming and the Microsoft .NET framework.
Windows PowerShell 1.0 is available for download from the Microsoft web site. Windows PowerShell is the foundation of the administrative experience for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 where everything is done via command line interfaces and the administrative GUI is layered on top of those commands.
According to Microsoft, using a new admin-focused scripting language, more than 130 standard command line tools, and consistent syntax and utilities, Windows PowerShell allows IT Professionals to more easily control system administration and accelerate automation.
(excerpts from this article taken from
Wikipedia.com)
