The next version of the Windows operating system, known as “Longhorn”, was introduced by Bill Gates and Jim Allchin to an audience of around 9000 people in Los Angeles in October 2003.

They outlined a roadmap and suite of technologies which collectively will make up Longhorn, which is due for release in 2006. With a three hour keynote that unanimously wowed the massive audience, Longhorn was unveiled with an endless stream of new features and initiatives that promise to provide a very rich user experience for computer users when it is released.

Longhorn is built on four core blocks to ensure a rich user experience, and to provide a stable and reliable platform.

• Fundamentals: A ground up re-architecture of the operating system core to ensure stability and security are key. A long term goal is to eliminate the need for reboots from the operating system.
• Presentation (Codename: Avalon): Longhorn presents a unified way for programmers to access video hardware and allow users to take advantage of modern graphics hardware.
• Communication (Codename: Indigo): A communication stack that provides seamless communication between service endpoints by utilizing SOAP protocols.
• Data (WinFS): A storage subsystem that enables users to more rapidly locate and act on data within their computing environment. It allows relationships to be made between data, and for information agents to automatically act on data for you.