Microsoft Sets 2006 Target For Longhorn

Microsoft Corp. said on Friday it will ship the next version of Windows, currently codenamed Longhorn, sometime in 2006.

The announcement marks the first time that Microsoft has committed to a launch target for the Windows upgrade since shipping Windows XP in October 2001.

“Getting ‘Longhorn’ to customers in 2006 will provide important advances in performance, security and reliability, and will help accelerate the creation of exciting new applications by developers across the industry,” Microsoft Chairman and Cheif Software Architech Bill Gates said in a statement.

In order to get Longhorn shipped on time Microsoft said it had sacrificed a key upgrade to the file system called WinFS. The new file system, based on database software architecture, is aimed at making it easier for users to find information stored on hard drives. Microsoft said the final version of WinFS will be shipped later than Longhorn, with a beta version of the upgrade to be included with Longhorn in 2006.