MS denies plans for WinXP ‘Second Edition’

Service packs, not code refresh

By ComputerWire • Get more from this author

Posted in Software, 21st November 2002 09:34 GMT

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Microsoft Corp's senior vice president of the Windows division, Brian Valentine, has denied suggestions that the company is readying a second release of its Windows XP desktop operating system.

Following reports that Windows XP's replacement, codenamed Longhorn, had slipped to a 2005 release date, rumors have been growing that Microsoft is preparing a second edition of Windows XP for release in 2003. The speculation intensified this week with the leak of a new Windows desktop operating system build.

Valentine denied that the company is preparing a second edition of Windows XP, however, and stated that feature and function enhancements would be delivered via service packs, rather than a fully fledged code refresh.

Despite a great deal of interest from the assembled masses, Valentine declined to discuss the features that can be expected with Longhorn, adding that a lot could change between now and its release. One feature he did discuss was the increase in consistency in the storage subsystem to provide consistent naming between, for example, web and mail address books.

Valentine did, however, confirm earlier reports that there will not be a Longhorn version of the server operating system. With the next version of the server OS, Windows .NET Server 2003, due for general availability in April 2003, the delivery of server-side functionality to support Longhorn clients will come via feature or service packs, he said. The follow-up to Windows .NET Server is the long lost product codenamed Blackcomb, which currently has no scheduled or hinted release date.