One of the most significant enhancements to Longhorn is a data storage system called WinFS, technology designed to make information easier to find and view. Clearing up long-standing confusion, a Microsoft senior vice president said that WinFS will work with -- not replace -- the existing file system in Windows, called NTFS, when WinFS debuts in late 2005 or 2006.
WinFS "uses NTFS," Bob Muglia, senior vice president of Microsoft's enterprise storage and enterprise management divisions, told CNET News.com. "We built on top. NTFS does what it does incredibly well."
Successful co-existence of different file systems is important to ensuring a clean -- and potentially quicker -- transition to Longhorn, analysts say. A new file system that breaks with the storage system in Windows PCs today could be disruptive to end users. Also, Longhorn applications could encounter compatibility problems with older Windows applications, causing problems for commercial software providers.
NTFS is only one component of the revamped storage system in WinFS. Another key building block is the querying capabilities of Microsoft's SQL Server relational database, according to Microsoft. WinFS also will incorporate the data labelling capabilities of Extensible Markup Language (XML), Muglia said.
"Think of WinFS as pulling together relational database technology, XML database technology, and file streaming that a file system has," he said. "It's a (storage) format that is agnostic, that is independent of the application."
With Longhorn and WinFS, Microsoft is tackling a nagging problem the company has long sought to address. For nearly a decade, the company has touted the vision of a single storage system that would break down barriers between applications and serve up stored information quickly and accurately.
