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Windows "Vienna" (formerly known as Blackcomb) is Microsoft's codename for the successor to Microsoft Windows Vista and "Longhorn Server", originally announced in February 2000, but since subject to major delays and rescheduling.

Development

The code name "Blackcomb" was originally assigned to a version of Windows that was planned to follow Windows XP (codenamed "Whistler"; both named after the Whistler-Blackcomb resort) in both client and server versions. However, in August 2001, the release of Blackcomb was pushed back several years and Vista (originally codenamed "Longhorn" after a bar in the Whistler-Blackcomb resort) was announced as a release between XP and Blackcomb. Since then, the status of Blackcomb has undergone many alterations and PR manipulations, ranging from Blackcomb being scrapped entirely, to becoming a server-only release. In January 2006, Blackcomb was renamed to "Vienna" . Vienna is still planned as both a client and server release with a current release estimate of anytime between 2009-2012 (although no firm release date or target has yet been publicised).

Focus

Internal sources pitch Vienna as being not just a major revision of Windows, but a complete departure from the way we have typically thought about interacting with a computer. While Windows Vista is intended to be a technologies-based release, with some added UI sparkle (in the form of the Aero set of technologies and guidelines), Vienna is targeted directly at revolutionizing the way we interact with our home and office PCs.

For instance, the "Start" philosophy, introduced in Windows 95, may be completely replaced by the "new interface" which was said in 1999 to be scheduled for "Vienna", before being moved to the Longhorn project, and then back to "Vienna".

The Explorer shell will be replaced in its entirety, with features such as the taskbar being replaced by a new concept based on the last 10 years of R&D at the Microsoft "VIBE" research lab. Projects such as GroupBar and LayoutBar are expected to make an appearance, allowing users to more effectively manage and keep track of their applications and documents while in use, and a new way of launching applications is expected—among other ideas, Microsoft is investigating a pie menu-type circular interface, similar in function to the dock in Mac OS X.

Other features

Several other features originally planned for Windows Vista, such as the Monad Shell and WinFS are also expected to be part of "Vienna", though they may be released independently when they are finished.

"Vienna" will also feature the "sandboxed" approach discussed during the Alpha/White Box development phase for Longhorn. All non-managed code will run in a sandboxed environment where access to the "outside world" is restricted by the operating system. Access to raw sockets will be disabled from within the sandbox, as will direct access to the file system, hardware abstraction layer (HAL), and complete memory addressing. All access to outside applications, files, and protocols will be regulated by the operating system, and any malicious activity will be halted immediately. If this approach is successful, it bodes very well for security and safety, as it is virtually impossible for a malicious application to cause any damage to the system if it is locked in what is effectively a glass box.

Another interesting feature mentioned by Bill Gates is "a pervasive typing line that will recognize the sentence that typing in." The implications of this could be as simple as a "complete as you type" function as found in most modern search engines, (e.g. Google Suggest ) or as complex as being able to give verbal commands to the PC without any concern for syntax.

Backward compatibility

Microsoft has stated that "Vienna" will be available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, in order to ease the industry's transition from 32-bit to 64-bit computing. Vienna was previously expected to support only 64-bit server systems. This will mean continued backwards compatibility with 32-bit applications, but 16-bit (MS-DOS) applications are unlikely to be supported. This is a notable break, as Windows line of products has been known throughout its history for backwards compatibility.

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