Microsoft To Announce Updated Developer Preview Code For Longhorn A WinHEC 2004

At its annual Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) 2004 in Seattle, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates will announce updated developer preview code for the Longhorn version of Windows that will enable device manufacturers to begin development of native Longhorn device drivers, Microsoft said.

The Longhorn version of Windows is said to be targeted for release in 2006, although analysts predict significant delays in the release of the next client operating system. Microsoft released the first developer preview code for Longhorn at its Professional Developers Conference last October.

At WinHEC, Gates and other executives are also expected to debut forthcoming business-oriented technologies available to developers and manufacturers, including Windows XP 64-Bit Edition for 64-Bit Extended Systems, due to ship in the fourth quarter of 2004, and an enhanced 64-Bit Extended Software development kit.

The 64-Bit Extended version of Windows for Advanced Micro Devices' Athlon and Opteron as well as Intel Extended Memory 64 technology will offer new features, including the latest Direct X API, System Restore, Windows Movie Maker 2, Windows Messenger and Windows Media Player.

At the show, Microsoft will release support for a 64-Bit Extended Driver Development Kit and enhancements for Visual Studio.Net 2003 and the Microsoft .Net Framework 1.1.

Microsoft will also detail new Web services technology and a Web services specification designed to make it easier for a variety of PC and network-attached devices, such as Palm devices and Microsoft SmartPhones, to work together.

Microsoft, Intel, Ricoh and Lexmark, for example, will unveil the Devices Profile for Web Services specification that describes how devices can support Web services. At the show, Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard will demonstrate an HP printer connecting to a Windows-based PC using the new Web services discovery protocol. Canon and HP will showcase printers supporting these protocols at WinHEC.

The Devices Profile will be proposed to the UPnP Forum for consideration as the basis for the UPnP 2.0 Device Architecture.

In addition to preview developer kits for the Devices Profile, Microsoft will announce Windows Network Connected Device Technology that will help OEMs implement Web services on devices. A prerelease CD to be debuted at the show will include sample applications and code generators, enabling ISVs and developers to build Windows-based applications that detect and interact using Web services protocols.

Finally, Microsoft will debut USB Flash Drive technology to enable simplified wireless network security, Microsoft said.