Microsoft releases Windows file system beta

Microsoft Monday released a test version of its next-generation file system, WinFS, well ahead of schedule.

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The software giant made the first beta of the new file system available to Microsoft Developer Network subscribers, according to a company spokesman. Developers had not expected to see a test version of WinFS until next year, according to a previous timeline provided by Microsoft.

WinFS will not be a part of the next version of Windows, Windows Vista, when it ships at the end of next year, but will be available to the operating system as an add-on release sometime in 2007, said Quentin Clark, director of program management for WinFS at Microsoft.

The technology originally was scheduled to be part of Windows Vista but Microsoft cancelled that plan in August 2004. WinFS promises to make it easier for users to search and organize their files on the Windows operating system, Clark said.

When Microsoft first introduced WinFS in 2003, the company said it would include a new synchronization engine that could index a host of disparate Windows files -- such as photos, e-mails, MP3s and documents -- in a way that would enable users to more easily search and catalog these files on their PC, said Joe Wilcox], senior analyst at Jupiter Research.

"Originally there were capabilities around synchronization and search - among others - that looked very promising," he said.

However, with the changes Microsoft has made to the availability of WinFS since then, it has been unclear what features will be available in the final version. The test version may answer some of these questions, Wilcox said.

The beta of WinFS includes a set of APIs (application programming interfaces) and schemas that allow developers to start working with the new file system and get accustomed to the new data model, Clark said.

Microsoft is putting a lot of thought and care into WinFS because it is the file system that will drive Windows for a whole new generation of users, he said. "As a file system technology, it’s important we get it right," Clark said.

Microsoft also will ask for developer feedback on the WinFS beta at its Professional Developers Conference, which will be held in Los Angeles from Sept. 13 to Sept. 16. Microsoft will not make another beta release available this year, but expects there will be several more test versions of WinFS released between the initial beta and the final release of the file system, Clark said.