Windows Vienna started originally in Feb 2000

[Dr.Vienna]

Windows "Vienna" (formerly known as Blackcomb) is Microsoft's codename for a future version of Microsoft Windows, originally announced in February 2000, but has since been subject to major delays and rescheduling.

The code name "Blackcomb" was originally assigned to a version of Windows that was planned to follow Windows XP (codenamed "Whistler"; both named after the Whistler-Blackcomb resort) in both client and server versions. However, in August 2001, the release of Blackcomb was pushed back several years and Vista (originally codenamed "Longhorn" after a bar in the Whistler Blackcomb Resort) was announced as a release between XP and Blackcomb.

Since then, the status of Blackcomb has undergone many alterations and PR manipulations, ranging from Blackcomb being scrapped entirely, to becoming a server-only release. As of 2006, it is still planned as both a client and server release with a current release estimate of anytime between 2009 and 2012, although no firm release date or target has yet been publicized.



In January 2006, "Blackcomb" was renamed to "Vienna".

Originally, internal sources pitched Blackcomb as being not just a major revision of Windows, but a complete departure from the way users today typically think about interacting with a computer. While Windows Vista is intended to be a technologies-based release, with some added UI sparkle (in the form of the Windows Aero set of technologies and guidelines), Vienna is targeted directly at revolutionizing the way users of the product interact with their PCs.

For instance, the "Start" philosophy, introduced in Windows 95, may be completely replaced by the "new interface" which was said in 1999 to be scheduled for "Vienna" (before being moved to Vista ("Longhorn") and then back again to "Vienna").

The Explorer shell will be replaced in its entirety, with features such as the taskbar being replaced by a new concept based on the last 10 years of R&D at the Microsoft "VIBE" research lab. Projects such as GroupBar and LayoutBar are expected to make an appearance, allowing users to more effectively manage and keep track of their applications and documents while in use, and a new way of launching applications is expected—among other ideas, Microsoft is investigating a pie menu-type circular interface, similar in function to the dock in Mac OS X.

Several other features originally planned for Windows Vista may be part of "Vienna", though they may be released independently when they are finished.

"Vienna" will also feature the "sandboxed" approach discussed during the Alpha/White Box development phase for Longhorn. All non-managed code will run in a sandboxed environment where access to the "outside world" is restricted by the operating system. Access to raw sockets will be disabled from within the sandbox, as will direct access to the file system, hardware abstraction layer (HAL), and complete memory addressing. All access to outside applications, files, and protocols will be regulated by the operating system, and any malicious activity will be halted immediately. If this approach is successful, it bodes very well for security and safety, as it is virtually impossible for a malicious application to cause any damage to the system if it is locked in what is effectively a glass box.

Another interesting feature mentioned by Bill Gates is "a pervasive typing line that will recognize the sentence that [the user is] typing in." The implications of this could be as simple as a "complete as you type" function as found in most modern search engines, (e.g. Google Suggest) or as complex as being able to give verbal commands to the PC without any concern for syntax. This former feature has been incorporated to an extent in Windows Vista.

Microsoft has stated that "Vienna" will be available in both 32-bit and 64-bit for the client version, in order to ease the industry's transition from 32-bit to 64-bit computing. Vienna Server is expected to support only 64-bit server systems. There will be continued backward compatibility with 32-bit applications, but 16-bit Windows and MS-DOS applications will not be supported as in Windows Vista 64-bit versions. They are already unsupported in 64-bit versions of XP and Server 2003.

[macosxp]

It looks like what you are describing is


But I thought that was a fake mock-up. If Windows is indeed going to replace the taskbar with a dock-like object, that would be too funny. Everyone already complains that Microsoft copies too much from Mac OS X, and if Microsoft expects us to think that such a GUI (with the dock), as a step away from the trusty task-bar, is a product of 10 years of their research and innovation, they will be laughed at as just a bad Mac OS X copy.

Now, I really doubt the screenshot is real, as I doubt they are working on a circular dock, because it would take up too much space otherwise used for programs and windows. It would have to be flat against the bottom or side of the desktop. The real solution, which Microsoft will not likely do, is exactly what Mac OS X has: A single taskbar-dock at the bottom of the screen with all "gadgets" only showing up over the entire desktop upon launching something similar to Dashboard.

[Dr.Vienna]

Thank you for your accuracy.

But remember, such news were brought from famous news websites. Such news may change like what happened in Vista; there might be other generation of the interface since Windows Vienna has not been announced as final product yet!

Thank you again.

[Lucian]

Well,it will be fairly easy to make a spherical start menu which will appear when you pause your mouse on the desktop and dissapear when you move it again
Just like in supreme Commander,you have a 3-d factory which produces 3-d tanks and other hardware
Only that in this case,the models will be static and much more limited,consuming much less resources

[oldtech1]

if they started in 2000 and im assuming they keep there dev teams separate from
those of vista. then why are thery using vista for there base os in milstone 1 ?

[yash_qwe]

vista took some part form windows 7
that why it has vista IU

vienna stated 1st
but MS thought the world need a new os and replace old 1 (and to answer mac os )
vista came out (a total disaster eats up to much memory)

if u think it over this kind of make seance
dont u think vista was rushed a bit just think about it ?

[cybx]

Vista is Windows 7 without MinWin, generally MS wanted to make Vista like Vienna but MS was losing trade to Linux and Mac, thanks to XP. But MS released Vista to address the situation, delaying the release of the main MinWin. MinWin has a final build in Windows Server Core 2008, but only contains a CMD.exe active on the desktop and IIS Non-Management Server and Server Essentials running in a background process, perfect for serving.
Thing is, its not just the kernel MS wants to make minimal, its the DLL use, thus it'll take more time shrinking Vista APIs and DLLs over time and developing attractive applications for it.

[yash_qwe]

so vista was rushed right
and does WS 08 run little bit faster then vista

[cybx]

Yes, because they had time to develop it.
And WS 2008 teams are seperate to Vista, yet they were once apart of the Vista team before WS 2008 started it, seen as it is Vista anyway.

[Mr ViennaX]

NO!
Do not confuse Windows Vista with 7
7 Is not Vista just with Min-Win. NO!
Windows 7 Will have a tottal new UI!!