Microsoft Longhorn

[j2krei08]

Gates said Longhorn should be out in December 2006. Do you think you are ready?

Go to Google, click images, type Windows Longhorn, and see the images. What do you think?

[DrV]

I think it's time for a new OS, but not a new UI. IM(very humble)O, Windows 95's GUI was near perfection. Almost everything after that has been pointless prettifying and resource-hogging special effects. Longhorn looks way too much like a Mac. Plus, I don't want to have to buy a new graphics card just to run a new release of Windows... the OS should stay in the background and do OS-ish things; it's not a video game.

[Anonymous]

are flashy, slow os's really what people want these days? dont they focus group these kinds of things with people who like / are good with computers? lol. seems not. anyways i agree with the 'os is not a video game' sentiment... that pretty much hit it right on the head

[urger]

M$ is doing exactly the wrong thing with Longshot. Virtually all the features that were originally promised with it have gone *poof*.
No more, WinFX, the new file system, no more Palladium. All thats left is Avalon, and quite frankly I don't give a damm about pretty graphics that slow my computer to a crawl.
What MS really needs to do is *gasp* scrap the current code base of windows. It's time for an OS that is
1) Small. I.E. small in size on the HD. Also, less code, when handled correctly means easier to maintain
2) Fast. And not just on top of the line brand new computers, fast on older ones two.
3) Is minimalist, all main features (i.e. the windowing system) is added on top of this.
4) Is easily modifiable

Thats it. In this model, Windows as we know it today becomes a program (an important one) running over over the OS, they would be seperatable. Geeks would like that. Normal users wouldn't know the difference. Finnaly, surrender to Firefox, scrap the next version of I.E. and use a build of FF.

O.K. Rant over

*Edited to changed Longhorn to Longshot, since thats what I think of it.*

[DrV]

But that would be *gasp* almost exactly like Linux/*BSD/Open Source evilness!

I totally agree. (Except the new filesystem would have been WinFS, not WinFX.)

[adosorken]

I'll be glad if Palladium doesn't make it into Longhorn. But I also agree...Avalon can kiss my ass. urger: it's too bad M$ won't actually do that...it'd be "too confusing" for all the n00bs and soccer moms.

[urger]

But that would be *gasp* almost exactly like Linux/*BSD/Open Source evilness!

I totally agree. (Except the new filesystem would have been WinFS, not WinFX.)

Yup
But notice I never said Open Source in there anywhere, Microsoft wouldn't go that way anytime soon. I have to be somewhat realistic. Honestly, there best option would be create "Microsoft Windows for Linux", a Windows windowing system that runs on Linux, they would have a real, usefull, full featured OS way before you'd get that with Longshot They could keep it closed source for all I care.

[DrV]

I take your point, but what I meant was that the model you described was similar to the traditional UNIX + X Windowing System design, albeit without the client/server perspective, etc.

[Dr_Davenstein]

I wonder if it has the classic view option. Enabling it speeds things up quite a bit on the other versions of Windows.

[TheBigBasicQ]

Longhorn held a good promise. But since M$ has cancelled most of its development plans, I think LH will be just regular Windows on steroids. Rest remains the same.