The next instalment of Windows will act as the cornerstone in Microsoft’s ongoing battle with IBM and Linux
When the next version of Microsoft's operating system eventually launches, it will be into an environment unlike any faced by its predecessors.
Microsoft has said publicly that Beta 1 of Longhorn would arrive by the end of 2005, though internally, the company has been aiming for a release by the middle of this year. The final version of Longhorn is slated for the second half of 2006. But regardless of exactly when the launch finally happens, the threat from Linux on the server and client, and the quiet bleed to a thin computing model, has created some stiff challenges for the software giant, say industry watchers.
"We've seen a growing use of thin-client browser-based environments and this plays very strongly to the Linux desktop community. Longhorn is certainly Microsoft's attempt to reassert control against Linux and open source thin clients." says Neil Macehiter, a partner at MWD Advisors.
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