Often countless hours are spent looking for a particular song, a random picture or an all-important document amongst the slew of files that clutter up everyone's personal computers (PCs). As hard drives increase in size, it has become more and more difficult to keep track of where everything is stored. Up until now, the most efficient search facilities available for the PC have used technologies that are distinct from the operating system's, but those days may be over as soon as the latest version of Windows (code-named "Longhorn") is released.
The technology behind Longhorn is based on three main pieces of technology that are named Avalon, Indigo and WinFS. Avalon is the code name for the Longhorn graphical user interface (GUI) that software developers will use to build applications. Indigo, is the unified programming model and communications infrastructure for developing connected systems applications for the next generation of Windows. Last but cetainly not least, WinFS is the new storage subsystem that will revolutionise the concept of the file systems. Confused by all the jargon? Here's an insight into what this new technology will offer.

Read the rest of my article in June 2005 issue of Spider Magazine on page 64. Don't be shocked to see that Windows Server 2000 shipped preinstalled with the .NET Framework. It was Windows Server 2003. However, writers are humans, so do expect to see some mistakes :)