I know many fine folks on the net have expressed their disappointment regarding the next version of Windows codenamed Longhorn. At first I was very excited. The proposed WinFS which would track files using a relational database was an ambitious and worthwhile project, as are the Avalon and Indigo projects. However, announcements that those projects will not be available for Longhorn’s release makes me wonder what the attraction to upgrade will be.
From what I understand, Longhorn will be better at the following things:
Security (yeah, right) GUI interaction DRM
That last one on the list is a big minus for me. I think the whole DRM (Digital Rights Management) issue is completely overblown and restrictive anyway, but Longhorn will even require you to use a monitor with DRM software embedded in it to further verify that you have the digital rights to view material. I discovered this through a helpful link at Robot Wisdom and you can read an article explaining how this would work here.
So as I understand it, Longhorn gives me minimal feature improvement while restricting my personal use? Forget it!
According to Microsoft, apparently WinFS, Avalon and Indigo will be available in XP versions when they are finished, so why in the hell would I upgrade? I will stick with XP for the Windows side of my system and get those components when they come out. I strongly suggest you do the same unless you have some compelling reason to upgrade, or if you just happen to like having your own computer watching you to verify you do nothing to offend our corporate overlords.