Longhorn- The Long or Short 

I am not luddite and also not impatient. I am still ready to wait long for Longhorn. I have tried almost all operating systems of Windows series. My interest in Longhorn is building up day by day and the reason is..! From beginning Microsoft is very successful to project Longhorn as something mysterious. Many interesting stories are connected with it, which helped Longhorn to gain pre-launch popularity; I would rather say curiosity about this product. I don't know who is the propaganda minister of Microsoft? May be Mr. Gobels. Relax guys I was just kidding.

Brief history

Did you Know that Windows XP was code-named Whistler and the next version of Windows was code-named Blackcomb. The names come from ski areas in British Columbia from the vicinity of Microsoft's headquarter at the foot of Whistler Mountain, while 'Longhorn' is scheduled to be the next release from Microsoft, gets its name from a popular saloon called the 'Longhorn Saloon & Grill' situated near this ski area. I hope after relaxing at 'Whistler' you may find the 'Lonhorn' as the better spot to relax for a longer.

Features of Longhorn

Now let's come to the point. What does make Longhorn so sought after? It shows off a new graphics engine called Avalon that makes the interface look better, but only the promise of a better interface is sufficient to justify the utility value of Longhorn? For that we have to find out what else Longhorn has in store.

'Avalon' uses 3D graphics hardware and 3D technology like Direct 3D to turn buttons, title bars, and icons into animated, 3D-rendered, and sometimes transparent objects besides this Longhorn also has something known as Indigo and WinFX.

'Indigo' is a messaging system that allows programs to interact as part of Microsoft's .NET framework while 'WinFX' is a new API (Application Programming Interface) that will have more advanced new .NET-based API with new communications and collaboration system.

'Aero' is the codename given to the new interface that's going to be used in Longhorn. It is assumed that Aero is will be more aesthetically pleasing than previous Windows interfaces.

What excited me more is Longhorn's new search engine. For any given search this engine displays instant results. It enables you multiple filter options to refine your search. The saved searches feature is also exciting that segregates your results into 'virtual folders'. So the next time you open that virtual folder, the specific search will immediately come into action and display the results as a normal folder, it is actually an improved version of the indexing service that's used in the 'Search' of Windows XP.

The 'Metro' feature of Longhorn is proclaimed as the 'PDF-Killer', similar to Adobe's PDF format. Many Web sites offer their downloadable documents in PDF. Like PDF Metro is a feature that assures a consistent format for both screen and print output.

Microsoft has promised a faster installation process in Longhorn and that is only 15-minute installation. If you've spent hours installing operating systems, you must appreciate this feature.

The built-in DVD recording capabilities and support for native RAW images is another feature of Longhorn this is a format used by most digital cameras. It will also have an improved file encryption algorithm that is easier to use and is more effective in preventing the confidential data on computers. To Read Full Review Click Here. Now it is official that Microsoft has re-named Longhorn as Vista.

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