Average Longhorn System?
-
I have a different take on what Microsoft is doing, which may help explain their current tact with Longhorn. Longhorn today's NT. If you recall, NT 3.11 was a major step forward for Windows and simply didn't run on your average consumer system. As it turns out, this wasn't a terrible thing since it allowed Microsoft to make major changes to NT with relatively little distruption (certainly less than the Windows 3.x/95 transition.) Had the fiascoes of NT 3.5x happened with, say, Windows 2000, it would have been devastating. As it turns out, NT 4.0 was incredibly solid and popular and W2k even moreso. I think Microsoft is currently doing the same with Longhorn. The first release will be aimed at and adopted mostly by developers and the windows geek community. The real moneymaker, the NT 4 so to speak, is Longhorn 2.0, which will come out in 2010/2011, during the subsequent depreciation triggered upgrade cycle. By that time, there will be a critical mass of Longhorn apps and hardware companies will have tuned their offerings to Longhorn. Anyone who thinks he has a better idea of what's good for people than people do is a swine. - P.J. O'Rourke
Hmmm, that sounds about right :) - Anders Money talks, but all mine ever says is "Goodbye!" ShotKeeper, my Photo Album / Organizer Application[^]