By Michael Cherry [bio]
Posted: Sep. 17, 2007

• Illustration: Windows Roadmap Overview

The following is the full text of an article published by Directions on Microsoft, an independent research firm focused exclusively on Microsoft strategy & technology. More samples of our content, as well as a list of upcoming articles and reports are also available.

Windows Server 2008 and the first Vista service pack will emerge in early 2008, according to the latest guidance from Microsoft. The company will release a third service pack for Windows XP in 2008 and is beginning to provide limited information on future versions of the Windows client and Internet Explorer (IE). Based on preliminary information about the contents of these service packs, most customers will likely deploy them shortly after release. (For a graphical view of these developments, see the illustration "Windows Roadmap Overview".)

Windows Client

For the Windows desktop client, details are emerging for Windows XP SP3; Vista SP1; Vista's successor, code-named Windows 7; and IE 8.

Windows XP SP3, the next service pack for Windows XP, is planned for 2008. Unlike XP SP2, which was a major change to Windows XP, SP3 is a traditional service pack and will include a large number of updates and fixes made since Windows XP SP2 shipped. SP3 will not require XP SP2 but will install on any version of XP, including XP SP1, and will likely be the last SP for Windows XP prior to the product leaving Mainstream support, so most customers will need to install it for ongoing support.

Windows Vista SP1 is planned for early 2008. SP1 will not introduce major changes to the OS but instead will deliver the usual package of reliability, performance, and security fixes, in addition to previously released updates. Fixes and updates in SP1 will focus on specific reliability and performance issues and support for new types of hardware. Vista SP1 will include some new features, although the changes are smaller than was the case with XP SP2. For example, it will include new APIs for the Kernel Patch Protection feature (formerly PatchGuard), which prevents kernel-level OS changes on x64 editions of Vista. The new APIs will enable security and malicious software detection applications to install properly without subverting Kernel Patch Protection.

Windows 7, the next client release after Vista, is tentatively scheduled for 2010. This will probably be a minor release, similar to the R2 release of Windows Server 2003: Microsoft executives have promised to make Windows client releases more predictable, and so the company will probably move to a pattern of alternating major and minor releases for the Windows client OS, as it has done with Windows Server.

Likely new features in Windows 7 include PowerShell scripting and improvements to new Vista features, such as User Account Control. Windows 7 might include a hypervisor (also planned for Windows Server 2008) to support virtualization. It also might include various Windows Live clients that help users connect to online services—for example, Microsoft has said that the Windows Live Mail client, which connects to various e-mail sources but works best with Hotmail, will replace Outlook Express (which was renamed Windows Mail in Vista). Microsoft has confirmed that Windows 7 will be available in both 32-bit and 64-bit editions.

IE 8. At Microsoft's MIX '07 conference for Web developers in Apr. 2007, IE Group Program Manager Chris Wilson discussed the next version of IE. Although details were scarce, the general priorities for the release are improving usability and security, better support of Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) applications, and standards support, such as continued improvements in support for World Wide Web Consortium standards, particularly the Cascading Style Sheets layout rules. As with Windows 7, the official name of this browser has not yet been determined, but the company is referring to it informally as IE 8.

However, it's not clear whether Microsoft will ship a version of IE independently of the OS. Windows 7 is not due until 2010, but if Firefox and other competitive browsers continue to gain market share, Microsoft might be forced to include IE 8 in a service pack or as a stand-alone release.

Windows Server

The next release of Windows Server will be Windows Server 2008 (formerly code-named Longhorn), which is now expected in early 2008. This is a minor delay from the planned late 2007 release. (See the illustration "Windows Roadmap Overview".)

Microsoft still plans to ship Windows Server Virtualization approximately six months after Windows Server 2008. Windows Server Virtualization will be based on a hypervisor (or thin software layer) that boots initially and then operates virtual machines, making virtualization a capability of Windows rather than a separate product. The hypervisor, code-named Viridian, will likely be delivered as a feature pack rather than a refresh to Windows Server 2008.

Following the release of Windows Server 2008, several derivative products, including Compute Cluster Edition (high-performance computing), Centro (midsize business server), and Cougar (small business server), will be released.

If the Windows Server team follows the same policy as it did with Windows Server 2003, then an update of Windows Server, possibly named Windows Server 2008 R2, would be due in 2010—the same year that Windows 7 is likely to emerge.

Resources

Vista and XP SP information is available at windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2007/08/29/announcing-the-windows-vista-service-pack-1-beta.aspx.

The next version of IE is detailed in "Next Internet Explorer on Horizon" on page 29 of the June 2007 Update.

The main Windows Vista site is www.microsoft.com/vista.

Windows Server information is at www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/default.mspx.