'Whidbey' Paving Path For Microsoft's Longhorn - Page 2

(second of two pages)

When Bill Gates demonstrated the pre-beta of Whidbey last fall, he emphasized its ability to work with Yukon, the code-name for Microsoft's next-generation implementation of SQL Server. But it won't be ready until some time after Whidbey is deployed. (Notably, Yukon is expected to be the biggest upgrade to the database since SQL Server 7 was introduced.) For now, Whidbey is expected to work with the existing SQL Server.

Similarly, on the Web services front, Microsoft last fall talked up Whidbey's tie-in with the upcoming Indigo, the code-name for Longhorn's Web-services platform.

However, according to Bixhorn, "Indigo is not going to ship in the same time frame [as Whidbey]. It's part of Longhorn." Microsoft told internetnews.com that its goal is to have a beta release of Longhorn this year.

Instead, Microsoft's existing ASP.NET Web services model is the vehicle Whidbey will work with when it first emerges. And that's not a problem, Bixhorn said. Developers "can eventually move to Indigo, but Microsoft isn't going to deprecate," or break backward compatibility with ASP.NET because it's a "core underlying technology" that's so widely used.

Indeed, the ASP.NET model appearing in Whidbey boasts some important new features, notably, a more secure approach for handling client files in Web applications.

What is significant about Microsoft's multiple-platform approach is that "there's so much integration that either the market is going to buy it or they're not," according to Jupiter Research's Wilcox. "If they don't, Microsoft may have put itself on a course they find difficult to steer away from."

Nevertheless, in Wilcox's opinion, "if through integration Microsoft can make application development quicker, I believe developers will be attracted to it."

In anticipation of the costs associated with purchasing and supporting Whidbey, Longhorn and associated infrastructure, Wilcox said he is recommending that IT organizations increase their budgets by 40 percent.

Just what Whidbey's up-front cost will be isn't yet clear. Microsoft's Bixhorn said the company hasn't announced pricing. He declined comment on whether Microsoft will offer discounted upgrade options to owners of Visual Studio 2003.

Such discounts could be significant. For example, qualifying registered users can upgrade to Visual Studio 2003 "Enterprise Developer" edition for $1,079; a complete packaged copy costs $1,799.