Where Is Windows Going?
The next version of Windows isn't due out until at least 2005, leaving us to wonder: Will Microsoft address the big questions users have about stability, security, and features? In this special report, we look at where Windows is heading.

Love it or hate it, Microsoft Windows is almost ubiquitous. Well over 90 percent of desktop and laptop computers run Windows. In the two years since Windows XP first shipped, it has become a tremendous commercial success.

In our reader surveys, most respondents seem happier with Win XP than with previous versions of Windows; it crashes less often and has more features. But it has its shortcomings. Although it's more stable than previous versions, it still crashes and hangs. And more important, the number of security threats against Windows is growing. Although Microsoft has responded with updates and patches, it's disheartening that they are needed weekly.

The next Windows OS, code-named Longhorn, isn't expected until 2005 at the earliest. Because the industry needs to plan ahead, outlines of the system are beginning to come out. Longhorn looks ambitious; Microsoft calls it a "big bet," the kind that it makes only every decade or so.

Among the areas Microsoft is working on are making the system more "trustworthy" and secure, adding new communications and collaboration tools, creating a new content-based storage system, making it easier for developers to create stable applications, and improving the user interface and presentation of media.

In some areas, Microsoft's plans are clear. For example, for developers, Microsoft has long promoted switching to "managed code," which should result in more stable applications.

On security, Microsoft's goal is "trustworthy computing," including a Next-Generation Secure Computing Base, which splits the OS into halves, one tied to the hardware for secure communication and authentication, one for everything else. This would allow for more secure applications and better digital rights management, but it also requires hardware and software changes.

We know Microsoft is working on a storage system called WinFS that should make finding information easier.

In the pages that follow, you'll find out more about each of these areas—and where Microsoft's competitors are going.…

http://www.pcmag.com/print_article/0,3048,a=109987,00.asp