But will it work on the head computer when it comes out?
Microsoft ponders Windows successor
A successor to the Microsoft Windows operating system, while still very much in the theoretical stage, is expected to better leverage multicore processors, for starters, a Microsoft official said on Wednesday afternoon.
Speaking at The Venture Forum conference, Microsoft’s Bryan Barnett, a program manager for external research programs in the Microsoft Research group, said multicore architectures are of particular interest when weighing what to put in future operating systems at the company.
“Taking full advantage of the processing power that those multicore architectures potentially make available requires operating systems and development tools that don’t exist largely today,” Barnett said
Windows currently will run on multicore processors, but is not fully optimized for them, according to Barnett. “It’s not a question of just running on a multicore architecture. It’s a question of what do you do to fully exploit the capabilities there,” he said.
There is no timetable for a Windows successor right now. But early work on this effort has not yet been organized, with five or six small projects afoot in various places throughout the company, said Barnett.
Finding a DOS successor in the early 1990s seemed a simpler task, he said. “Somehow, it was easier when the company was smaller a long time ago,” Barnett said.
“Merely having size and resources isn’t necessarily in this instance an advantage,” he said.
Maybe it’s just me, but I think Microsoft really ought to get Vista right before worrying about the next OS.
But what do I know?
“Windows currently will run on multicore processors, but is not fully optimized for them,” Can we get it fully optimized for Single Cores first and not some over bloated piece of Crap we have now?
WFS — the new Windows File System that was supposed to appear with Vista [and XP and NT and W98 and W95-Cairo] has been withdrawn from the schedule, as well.
Aside from the “look-and-feel” of OS X and XGL — what are folks really going to get for their bucks?
“Aside from the “look-and-feel” of OS X and XGL — what are folks really going to get for their bucks?”
The opportunity to buy a new computer. And new software to run under Vista. Hmmm…. I think that’s about it.
And as usual, some kid using a 200mhz pentiumMMX with 32mb of RAM will still knock down a multicore server running windoze Vista’s succesor 🙂
Ohfortheloveof — My company does software for the healthcare industry. It is not at all unsual to be working on a future release before the current release comes out. I’m not savvy to how it works in the OS market, but I would be surprised if there isn’t a feature sheet or wishlist that is already being worked on for Vista’s successor.
I think John has said it best….VISTA is probably the last OS from MS. Or, at least the last one that will matter.
If they do another one, they should start over from scratch. Not one line of code reuse from the NT / XP architecture. Apple did it and never looked back. Granted, they don’t have the market share that MS does, but it goes to show you that it CAN be done.
Just a random thought, but perhaps, like with video and audio, the O/S people should agree on a common set of standards and implement them into a generic, transparent and modular operating system that just works. Should the end user desire attribute “A” then download and install the appropriate module, and so on for “B”, “C”, etc. Kind of like the Divec thing, but different.
I would guess that the internal spin in Redmond is that THIS will be the OS where they get to do the file structure the ‘right’ way, and they get to reinvent the human interface, moving away from files and desktops.
It wouldn’t shock me if this is tied to Gates leaving, too. Gates wants to see it, but ‘…doesn’t have the energy to see it to the end.’
Microsoft has the money and the brainpower to do it, and the marketshare to take the time to do it. But, do you honestly have faith in the brain behind Lotus Notes bringing this to market? I don’t.
James, peek at my Comment #4 — MSoft has already given up on making it into production Vista with the “new” file sys. The latest public word is that it will be added into Service Pack 1.
Phew.