14 DAY TRIAL // With Vista scheduled to RTM on October 25, it is hard to believe that the operating system's seeds were planted all the way back in 2001. Back then there was no Vista, there was only Longhorn. And Longhorn was to ship in 2003. Moreover, Longhorn was not planned as a major release, but as an interim version of the operating system. XP had been codenamed Whistler, Microsoft's next major Windows version was codenamed Blackcomb, Longhorn was meant to bridge the two. Nothing more. No Vista in sight, so to speak.
"There will be a Windows release between Windows XP and Blackcomb," a Microsoft spokesperson stated on July 25, 2001, tells Paul Thurrott on SuperSite for Windows of the Vista's birth, a month prior to the finalization of windows XP.
Ever wondered where Microsoft did come up with the Longhorn name? Well, some of you may be familiar with the story, as it has been around for quite some time, but then again some of you may not, so here it is. Thurrott broke the mystery back in 2001. Whistler and Blackcomb are ski resorts in British Columbia and Longhorn, a bar on the way, connecting the two mountains.
2002 marked the first Vista delay, as then Microsoft group vice president Jim Allchin presented 2004 as a shipping date for Longhorn. "We are going to have a reasonable development cycle for this version," Allchin said. "Oftentimes we try to spin things too fast and spend all our time getting beta feedback and not enough innovation as I would have wanted."
In 2002, Longhorn evolved into a major upgrade from an interim status, and was said to include new managed APIs, the Longhorn Graphics Architecture, P2P technology, and SQL Server-based storage technologies.
In a Fortune Magazine cover story published in June, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates revealed some new features of Longhorn (courtesy, again of Paul Thurrott): A new consolidated Windows storage scheme, technology enabling uninterrupted users activities, location software and a medium for conference calls and online meetings.
October 22 marked the launching of build 3683, an early Longhorn alpha version. In November 22, Microsoft released an internal schedule for Longhorn. "M1 Release 12/7/2001; M2 Code-complete 7/26/2002; M2 Release 8/30/2002; Longhorn RI into MAIN 10/16/2002; M3 Release 11/13/2002; Beta 2003 and RTM 2004." Well, you know how that turned up, don't you?