Setting the stage for its planned Windows Vista desktop OS, Microsoft on Wednesday will release production-ready versions
of Web services and workflow technologies slated for inclusion in Vista.
The vendor will offer "Go-Live" versions of Windows Communication Foundation, which is Microsoft's Web services technology,
and Windows Workflow Foundation, which provides a workflow engine. Windows Communication Foundation formerly was known by
the code name Indigo.
These two technologies and the Windows Presentation Foundation technology for building rich client interfaces are part of
Microsoft's WinFX managed code framework. The Go-Live licenses will be included as part of a January Community Technology
Preview of WinFX on the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN).
Although the two technologies are still classified as being in an early release phase, they can be used in production environments,
said Ari Bixhorn, director of Web services strategy at Microsoft.
"These special builds [of Windows Communication Foundation and Windows Workflow Foundation serve as] the green light for customers
to deploy these technologies," Bixhorn said.
Expected to be Microsoft's most enterprise-class version of Windows, Vista is due to ship at the end of the year. But WinFX
technologies also will function with the existing Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 platforms.
The primary intent of the Go-Live deployments is to allow for testing in real-life applications. "Customers have told us the
reason they want Go-Live releases is so they can test their applications in a live production environment," said Bixhorn.
Microsoft has positioned Windows Workflow Foundation as a platform for building software to model business processes. Windows
Communication Foundation is intended to keep Microsoft at the forefront of Web services development.
"Windows Communication Foundation dramatically reduces the amount of code that developers have to write when building service-oriented
applications," said Bixhorn.
The Go-Live software gives developers a head start on Vista, said Ronald Schmelzer, senior analyst at ZapThink, in an e-mail.
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