Monad Is an Island…A Deserted Island

Shortly after proof-of-concept viruses appear for Microsoft's much-touted Monad Shell command-line and scripting tool, Microsoft pulls it from Windows Vista.

In a surprising move, Microsoft has informally announced in its Technet Security Response Center that Monad, the powerful command-line shell and scripting tool Microsoft had long-touted as a new, powerful feature of its forthcoming Windows release "Longhorn" will not be included in the first commercial releases of Windows Vista, expected to ship in the latter half of 2006. Other Microsoft sources have gone one to speculate Monad may ship in the Windows operating system within the next "three to five years," although the company hasn’t determined whether the tool will be installed or enabled by default.

The news comes just days after Finnish firm F-Secure announced an Austrian programmer had developed proof-of-concept viruses for Windows Vista utilizing Monad even before Microsoft shipped its first pre-release version of Vista to developers and partners last month. Microsoft strongly denies viruses have been developed for Windows Vista—insisting the techniques described are mere speculation—and that the decision to postpone the introduction of Monad has nothing to do with the publicity surrounding F-Secure’s announcement.

The Monad Shell (MSH) is a "next-generation" command shell for Windows intended to enable system administrators and power users a mechanism to access and automate administrative tasks on systems running Windows, all without using the higher-level graphical interface. Monad in part is intended to compete with Linux and Unix operating systems by offering features similar to command shells available in those operating systems.

Microsoft initially intended to ship Monad for Windows Server 2003, Windows XP Service Pack 2, and Windows Vista, with the first release scheduled for Exchange 12 in the second half of 2006.