This article or section contains information about scheduled or expected future product(s). It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the product release approaches and more information becomes available.

Windows Blackcomb is Microsoft's codename for the successor to Microsoft Windows Vista and "Longhorn Server", originally announced in February 2000, but since subject to major delays and rescheduling. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Microsoft codenames are the codenames given by Microsoft to products it has in development, before these products are given the names by which they appear on store shelves. ... Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKEx: 4338) is the worlds largest software company, with 2005 global annual sales of 40 billion US dollars and nearly 60,000 employees in more than 90 countries and regions. ... Windows Vista is the next version of Microsofts Windows operating system, superseding Windows XP. It was previously known by its codename Longhorn, after the Longhorn Saloon, a popular bar in Whistler, British Columbia (see the other Microsoft codenames). ... Windows Server Longhorn is the codename for the next server operating system from Microsoft. ... This article is about the year 2000. ...

It has been suggested by Robert Scoble that Microsoft is renaming the Blackcomb project to "Vienna"[1], but this seems unlikely, given that "Vienna" was the code name for Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005[2], and that as recently as January 9, 2006, the editor of MSDN Magazine posted about code names for upcoming Microsoft products, and referenced "Blackcomb" specifically.[3] Robert Scoble Robert Scoble is a technical evangelist who works for Microsoft and maintains the popular blog, Scobleizer. ... Microsoft Office Live Communications Server is described by Microsoft as an enterprise real-time communications server, providing instant messaging and collaboration functionality. ... January 9 is the 9th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) is an information service from Microsoft for software developers. ...

Development

The code name "Blackcomb" was originally assigned to a version of Windows that was planned to follow Windows XP (codenamed "Whistler"; both named after the Whistler-Blackcomb resort) in both client and server versions. However, in August 2001, the release of Blackcomb was pushed back several years and Vista (originally codenamed "Longhorn", after a bar in the Whistler-Blackcomb resort) was announced as an intermediary. Since then, the status of Blackcomb has undergone many alterations and PR manipulations, ranging from Blackcomb being scrapped entirely, to becoming a server-only release. The truth, however, seems to be that Blackcomb is still planned as both a client and server release, although with a current release estimate of 2011 (although no firm release date or target has yet been publicised). A code name or cryptonym is a word or name used clandestinely to refer to another name or word. ... Windows XP is a major revision of the Microsoft Windows operating system created for use on desktop and business computer systems. ... Whistler-Blackcomb is a ski resort located in Whistler, British Columbia which comprises a village with several large hotels, eateries and bars, condominiums, and expensive homes. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... Whistler-Blackcomb is a ski resort located in Whistler, British Columbia which comprises a village with several large hotels, eateries and bars, condominiums, and expensive homes. ... 2011 (MMXI) will be a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Focus

Internal sources pitch Blackcomb as being not just a major revision of Windows, but a complete departure from the way we have typically thought about interacting with a computer. While Windows Vista is intended to be a technologies-based release, with some added UI sparkle (in the form of the Aero set of technologies and guidelines), Blackcomb is targeted directly at revolutionizing the way we interact with our home and office PCs. Human-computer interaction (HCI) is the study of interaction between people (users) and computers. ... Windows tilted to one side in Windows Vista Aero is the codename for the new graphical user interface in Windows Vista. ...

For instance, the "Start" philosophy, introduced in Windows 95, may be completely replaced by the "new interface" which was said in 1999 to be scheduled for Blackcomb, before being moved to the Longhorn project, and then back to Blackcomb. Windows 95 (codename Chicago) is a hybrid 16-bit/32-bit graphical user interface-based operating system released on August 24, 1995 by the Microsoft Corporation. ...

The Explorer shell will be replaced in its entirety, with features such as the taskbar being replaced by a new concept based on the last 10 years of R&D at the Microsoft "VIBE" research lab. Projects such as GroupBar and LayoutBar are expected to make an appearance, allowing users to more effectively manage and keep track of their applications and documents while in use, and a new way of launching applications is expected - among other ideas, Microsoft is investigating a pie menu-type circular interface, similar in function to Mac OS X's "dock". Windows Explorer running on Windows XP Windows Explorer is an application that is part of modern versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system that provides a graphical user interface for accessing the file systems. ... Look up Shell and shell in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In computing, the taskbar is a term for the application desktop bar which is used to launch and monitor applications in Microsoft Windows 95 and later operating systems. ... The phrase research and development (also R and D or R&D) has a special commercial significance apart from its conventional coupling of research and technological development. ... A pie menu in The Sims computer game. ... Mac OS X is the operating system which is included with all shipping Apple Macintosh computers in the consumer and professional markets. ...

Other features

Several other features originally planned for Windows Vista, such as the Monad Shell and WinFS are also expected to be part of Blackcomb, though they may be released independently when they are finished. MSH, or Microsoft Command Shell (codename Monad), is a command line interface (CLI) and scripting language developed by Microsoft. ... // Overview In computing, WinFS is the code name of a Windows storage subsystem, being developed by Microsoft for use on its Windows operating system. ...

Blackcomb will also feature the "sandboxed" approach discussed during the Alpha/White Box development phase for Longhorn. All non-managed code will run in a sandboxed environment where access to the "outside world" is restricted by the operating system. Access to raw sockets will be disabled from within the sandbox, as will direct access to the file system, hardware abstraction layer (HAL), and complete memory addressing. All access to outside applications, files, and protocols will be regulated by the operating system, and any malicious activity will be halted immediately. If this approach is successful, it bodes very well for security and safety, as it is virtually impossible for a malicious application to cause any damage to the system if it is locked in what is effectively a glass box. In computing, a file system is a method for storing and organizing computer files and the data they contain to make it easy to find and access them. ... A hardware abstraction layer (HAL) is an abstraction layer between the physical hardware of a computer and the software that runs on that computer. ...

Another interesting feature mentioned by Bill Gates is a pervasive typing line that will recognize the sentence that you're typing in. The implications of this could be as simple as a "complete as you type" function as found in most modern search engines, or as complex as being able to give verbal commands to the PC without any concern for syntax.[4]

Backward compatibility

An announcement was recently made that Blackcomb will be available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, in order to ease the industry's transition from 32-bit to 64-bit computing. Blackcomb was previously expected to support only 64-bit server systems. This will mean continued backwards compatibility with 32-bit applications, but 16-bit (MS-DOS) applications are unlikely to be supported. This is a notable break, as Windows line of products has been known throughout its history for backwards compatibility. Microsofts disk operating system, MS-DOS, was Microsofts implementation of DOS, which was the first popular operating system for the IBM PC, and until recently, was widely used on the PC compatible platform. ...

The announcement referred to above was made prior to the decision to push back production of Blackcomb and release Microsoft Windows Vista (Formerly code name Longhorn) as an intermediate product; it is now widely speculated the Blackcomb will not provide support for 32-bit computing although this has not been formally announced by Microsoft at this time.