Enhancements such as online video support and a new security offering are included in this preview of the code behind the next version of Windows. The release is aimed at developers.

Windows developers on Monday got a look at new and improved prerelease Longhorn code, along with their first glimpses of a security feature Microsoft plans to ship with its next operating system. The company posted to its Microsoft Developer Network Web site "beta 1 release candidate" versions of Avalon, a 3-D graphics technology it's developing; and Indigo, software for building peer-to-peer applications. Microsoft plans to include final versions of both in the next version of Windows, code-named Longhorn and due late next year. Microsoft also released to developers on Monday code for building apps that use InfoCard technology, potentially a new way for PC users to store credentials to Web apps. This is the second time Microsoft is making code available to select audiences. These releases are aimed at developers who are getting ready for Longhorn, which would be the first major new version of desktop Windows since 2001. These--plus special compatibility extensions for the beta version of Microsoft's next set of development tools--follow "community technology preview" versions of Avalon and Indigo released in March. Microsoft since then has also made the APIs to Avalon and Indigo available to users of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.