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Prepare for WinFS
Technology analyst Peter O'Kelly discusses why he's excited about Longhorn's new file system.
by John Zipperer

Posted December 18, 2003

WinFS is the new file system in Microsoft's upcoming (2006) version of Windows known as Longhorn. It promises to be a tool with which users can search for items based on their metadata, regardless of the file type or the application used to create it. WSS Magazine recently spoke with Peter O'Kelly, a senior analyst at the Burton Group, to learn what he thinks is important about WinFS and how it will affect Longhorn users.

WSS Magazine: Let's start with your initial thoughts on WinFS. What do you think Microsoft is trying to accomplish with this? Is it simply another generation of file server, or is it a significant change?

O'Kelly: At a high level, from what I've seen so far—and I should admit that I'm biased because I'm a database person—I think it's the most significant new capability in Longhorn. Certainly there are other things that are exciting, but if you look at it and say, "To what extent does Indigo [a new programming framework] or Avalon [a programming interface] represent a big step from the services that are there today?", I think the leap that WinFS makes is far more significant.

I think it's the grand unified field theory of database management. Historically, you've got three different views of data [such as objects and traditional files]. There haven't been major advances in file systems for some time; working with the three different kinds makes developers do some complicated things to share things across systems. Of those three, which are going to be the most appropriate for the way people will want to work with their stuff?

Some people will disagree on what is the center of gravity of those [approaches]. It will not be a one-size-fits-all approach. You'll have a mix of it out there. If you look at it and see people interacting with information, and we all have increasingly information-intensive lifestyles, the way to get the best end-user impact with this in terms of productivity is probably to put it into the file system. This is the all-of-the-above approach; it will address developers, end users, and system administrators.

WSS Magazine: Is it better than what it is replacing?

O'Kelly: It's fundamentally complementary to the underlying file system. It is API compatible for applications that work with the Win32 base. There are some proprietary file stores it might ultimately replace—though, of course, Windows is a proprietary system. But if Microsoft is able to have a unified and synchronized store that includes all of your personal messages and data files, that will shift the distribution of work between Windows and previously complementary systems such as Lotus Notes or iFolder.