Miguel On Longhorn

Miguel explains to the Linux camp why Longhorn is such a dangerous foe:

“...hat makes Longhorn dangerous for the viability of Linux on the desktop is that the combination of Microsoft deployment power, XAML, Avalon and .NET is killer. It is what Java wanted to do with the Web, but with the channel to deploy it and the lessons learned from Java mistakes.

The combination means that Longhorn apps get the web-like deployment benefits: develop centrally, deploy centrally, and safely access any content with your browser.

The sandboxed execution in .NET [1] means that you can visit any web site and run local rich applications as oppposed to web applications without fearing about your data security: spyware, trojans and what have you.

Avalon means also that these new "Web" applications can visually integrate with your OS, that can use native dialogs can use the functionality in the OS (like the local contact picker).

And building fat-clients is arguably easier than building good looking, integrated, secure web applications (notice: applications, not static web pages).

And finally, Longhorn will get deployed, XAML/Avalon applications will be written, and people will consume them. The worst bit: people will expect their desktop to be able to access these "rich" sites. With 90% market share, it seems doable...“ [1]

[1] http://primates.ximian.com/~miguel/archive/2004/Apr-24.html