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No, we aren't going on vacation. We're talking about the next versions of Windows (after Longhorn/Vista). Click to read the details about these future OS's...
You can expect many new features, including the following:
Windows Fiji
-The UI will be updated with things that were originally promised for Vista,
along with a more powerful sidebar, which will be more than just a dock for
widgets (a.k.a. gadgets)
-.Net Framework will be updated to 3.5 (or maybe even 4)
-WinFS will be applied over NTFS to give us Virtual Folders
(or maybe just Saved Searches)
-All bundled application will be updated to newer versions
-Tighter integration with Windows Live. Probably through ‘Codename Nemo’, a
media center application thats integrated with Messenger, Spaces, and probably
lots of other Windows Live Services.
- We might see Monaco, a music authoring tool, similar to Apple’s Garageband.
- Default playback of HD-DVD (maybe even Blu-ray), Vista currently identifies
these disks but cannot play them without an external decoder.
-A more advanced Speech Recognition
-NGSCB will be implemented to make the system more secure.
-New themes, icons, wallpapers, games, and minor tweaks to almost everything.
Although Fiji doesn’t sound too exciting yet, new features are bound to be
added. Still, it might just be a way to keep us quiet while they work on Vienna.
Windows Vienna (formerly Blackcomb) will be a huge departure from current
incarnations of Windows, Similar to the transition from OS8-9 to OSX. It will
break compatibility with all applications, but the newer, more flexible, richer
and secure platform will be incentive enough for applications to be re-written
for Vienna.
Windows Vienna
-The current interface will be completely stripped, no more explorer shells,
and taskbars. No start menu. Probably no toolbars, or menus (which already
started with Vista).
-Speech Recognition will become a major input device (though it will not
replace the keyboard and mouse) and will be supported by most third party
applications
-Many projects from Microsoft’s R&D will come into play, especially from
their VIBE research center. A pie-menu is rumored to be used.
- A new version of NTFS wrapped in a more powerful WinFS. No more drives, or
files/folders location to worry about. File Management will be done through
applications, which will automatically index and sort the files they support.
- Even bundled applications will evolve a lot (compare WMP6 with WMP11).
- Search will part a huge part in Vienna (like it does in the control panel
of Vienna)
- Applications with non-managed code will run in a sandbox mode (like IE7
does in Vista), so that security exploits in a single application doesn’t affect
the entire OS.
Facts are hard to come by about Windows Vienna but it has 15 years of R&D to
borrow from, and one thing is for certain, Vienna won’t be just an operating
system, but a new generation in computing.
You can read more about these operating systems here.
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