Microsoft Windows Longhorn

Imagine a Windows operating system that makes the physical location of your files irrelevant. Imagine that, regardless of where you save a file, you can search for it, find it, and open it from any location on your computer--so that anytime you need to organize, access, or otherwise manage any file on your system, it's all just one viewing pane away.

That's the concept we see in early builds of Windows Longhorn, the OS Microsoft says will merge all flavors of Windows XP, and, more importantly, overhaul the Windows file system for the first time since Windows NT.

But we just got used to NTFSBased on a look at a recent alpha build that leaked onto the Net, the benefits of Microsoft's new file system, called Windows Future Storage, are starting to emerge (even though the current build doesn't use WinFS, as it's known, as its native file system). WinFS is based on the next version of SQL Server, code-named Yukon, and will replace the old FAT and NTFS of previous versions.

WinFS introduces new data-storage capabilities intended to make it much easier to find files on your PC--for example, two new features called Windows Storage Full-Text Index and Windows Future Storage Services aim to vastly improve Windows searching. The new Longhorn search dialog gets rid of Windows XP's multiple options (file type, location, hidden documents, and so on) and simply asks, ""What are you looking for?"" Longhorn provides examples of search queries you can enter, such as ""What is a firewall?"" or ""Pictures from John.""

Fluid files
Longhorn's ""virtual file"" structure lets you categorize your files, then filter your folder views by criteria you assign. For example, you can organize music in the Music Library folder using album, artist, playlist, track, song duration, or genre, then filter your folder view so that you see only, say, songs shorter than one minute (handy if you want to get rid of incomplete MP3 downloads or corrupted song files, for example). Every folder in Longhorn offers a Filter By option.

In addition, you can use various criteria to ""stack"" files in virtual folders. You can stack your contacts (Longhorn includes a My Contacts folder that acts as a central location for all your address book entries, vCards, and more) by name, e-mail address, and street address, or it can stack digital images by your camera type or the date a picture was taken. This stacking method is just the start of the benefits that Yukon and WinFS might eventually provide--the goal is a totally fluid file structure, in which you can access anything you need by context rather than simply by location. However, WinFS will no doubt increase OS system requirements: its indexing system runs continuously in the background.

Blend of features
Early Longhorn has also worked in some security improvements, including an administrative feature that would restrict times during which users can log on to their PCs (for example, a company could restrict use to daytime hours to prevent hackers from trying to sneak in at night); you'll also find changes to the Control Panel and some subtle interface changes. Microsoft has overhauled the installation procedure, which will be almost totally graphical and will allow users to add or remove specific OS components, such as support for tablet PCs.

Meanwhile, digital media elements abound, albeit in incomplete form. A My TV application seems destined to draw from Windows XP Media Center Edition's personal video recorder capabilities, Windows Media Player is a nearly invisible component of the entire OS (remember that whole Internet Explorer lawsuit, guys?), and Longhorn lets you create photo albums and digital photo slide shows without opening a separate app.

We'll be keeping an eye out for future Longhorn versions and development builds; Microsoft hasn't given a time frame for the final OS, but industry reports suggest it will be complete by late 2004 or 2005.