The first beta of the Windows client could be released at Microsoft's Professional Developer Conference in October; Blackcomb road map also given.
NEW ORLEANS—Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday laid out the current road map for the release of its upcoming Longhorn client release, the upgrade to Windows XP.
The company plans to get the momentum going around Longhorn at its Professional Developer Conference in October, where many expect the first beta to be released. Microsoft will release a limited pre-beta of the Longhorn code at that conference, which developers can use to start to build applications against. The two formal Longhorn betas will follow in 2004, with the release to manufacturing expected in 2005, Will Poole, senior vice president of the Windows client, said on Wednesday.
In his keynote address titled "How We Achieve Life Immersion" at the (WinHEC) here, Poole also addressed speculation that Microsoft could have an interim client release before Longhorn, saying this is unlikely and there currently are no plans for this.
"Im sure many of you have wondered if we are going to do an interim release before Longhorn. That is something I dont expect us to do," Poole said. "While the road from now to Longhorn is not super-short and we have a lot of things to do to get there, what you will see are a couple of major milestones on the way.
"The next major milestone from a developer perspective will be our Professional Developer Conference, so I urge you all to make sure the right people are attending PDC and get fully wired into the program as we begin that path to getting the product completed. This will be kicked off in-depth at the PDC in October," he said.
Peter Galli has been a financial/technology reporter for 12 years at leading publications in South Africa, the UK and the US. He has been Investment Editor of South Africa's Business Day Newspaper, the sister publication of the Financial Times of London.He was also Group Financial Communications Manager for First National Bank, the second largest banking group in South Africa before moving on to become Executive News Editor of Business Report, the largest daily financial newspaper in South Africa, owned by the global Independent Newspapers group.
He was responsible for a national reporting team of 20 based in four bureaus. He also edited and contributed to its weekly technology page, and launched a financial and technology radio service supplying daily news bulletins to the national broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation, which were then distributed to some 50 radio stations across the country.
He was then transferred to San Francisco as Business Report's U.S. Correspondent to cover Silicon Valley, trade and finance between the US, Europe and emerging markets like South Africa. After serving that role for more than two years, he joined eWeek as a Senior Editor, covering software platforms in August 2000.
He has comprehensively covered Microsoft and its Windows and .Net platforms, as well as the many legal challenges it has faced. He has also focused on Sun Microsystems and its Solaris operating environment, Java and Unix offerings. He covers developments in the open source community, particularly around the Linux kernel and the effects it will have on the enterprise.
He has written extensively about new products for the Linux and Unix platforms, the development of open standards and critically looked at the potential Linux has to offer an alternative operating system and platform to Windows, .Net and Unix-based solutions like Solaris.
His interviews with senior industry executives include Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Linus Torvalds, the original developer of the Linux operating system, Sun CEO Scot McNealy, and Bill Zeitler, a senior vice president at IBM.
For numerous examples of his writing you can search under his name at the eWEEK Website at www.eweek.com.
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