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MS offers peep at Longhorn

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CIOL Bureau
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Reed Stevenson

SEATTLE: Microsoft Corp. on Monday showed off features of its next major release of Windows and unveiled an advanced edition of the current generation of its flagship operating system to help fill the gap until the new version launches next year.



Bill Gates, Microsoft's chairman and chief software architect, promised personal computer hardware makers at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference in Seattle the new version, code-named Longhorn, would offer beefed-up security, richer graphics, better organization and search of information stored on PCs, as well as much faster performance.



"We just gave people a glimpse to show them it's an awfully big deal," Gates said in an interview after his speech.



After delays, the world's largest software maker is facing its longest-ever gap between releases of its Windows operating system, which runs on nine out of 10 PCs worldwide. Longhorn's scheduled launch in time for the 2006 holiday season will come five years after Windows XP's debut in late 2001.



Gates reiterated his promise that a preliminary, or beta, version of Longhorn will be available this summer.



In demonstrations of Longhorn, Gates showed a new look of the desktop as well as new ways to organize information.



Semi-transparent windows will allow users to see objects underneath, including moving video, while search results are displayed in real time as queries are typed in.



Gates also showed prototypes of Longhorn-equipped PCs, including a laptop with a small auxiliary screen on the outside that can access information such as contacts, e-mail and other key data without having to flip the machine open and power up.



In the meantime, Gates said a new version of Windows, called "Windows XP Professional x64 Edition," aimed at enterprise customers, will begin shipping next month. They can crunch more information at one time, handling 64 bits of data compared with 32 bits in the previous generation, he said.



That will give it the ability to edit videos, search files and crunch numbers at much faster speeds than the current 32-bit standard.



BRIDGING GAP



Although Gates reaffirmed the delivery schedule for Longhorn, he didn't guarantee it, which could make hardware makers nervous about further delays.



"The date is not the top priority," Gates said. "Quality is the top priority."



Michael Cherry, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft, an independent researcher based in Kirkland, Washington, said Microsoft and the main manufacturers of the microprocessors that Windows runs on -- Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. -- may already face weaker sales in the run-up to Longhorn's release.



"They're in a dangerous position right now," Cherry said.



To help with the transition and to encourage PC buyers to shop for machines that can provide the computing and graphics power for Longhorn, Microsoft also announced on Monday a "partner logo program."



"We have very concrete specifications for the 'Longhorn Ready' logo," Gates said, although he declined to detail the specifications. Gates said, however, that "most of the new machines (today) already meet that."



While businesses, the main source of Microsoft's revenue, may hold off buying a new PC for a few years, consumers could switch to the longtime thorn in Microsoft's side, Apple Computer Inc.



Apple, based in Cupertino, California, is shipping the latest operating system for its Macintosh PC later this week.



The company describes the software, which it calls "Mac OS X Tiger," as an operating system that already delivers much of the visual and search features that Longhorn promises. Apple also already offers 64-bit PCs with its G5 line of Macintosh computers.

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