On August 29, 2005, Microsoft surprised analysts, developers, and other onlookers with its surprise release of WinFS Beta 1, the first publicly available version of the company's next-generation data storage engine. To understand why this was a surprise, we must step back a bit in time and examine the development of this technology which, until recently, was as pie-in-the-sky as teleportation or cold fusion.
WinFS genesis
.Back in the early 1990's, Microsoft's NT team was still charged with so-called "next-generation" technologies. One of the team's goals for Cairo, a project that encompassed a number of these next-generation products, was a new relational file system then called Object File System (OFS), which would help manage local and distributed objects using an active storage paradigm. Cairo itself was feature-dense and feature-rich, and while its research-oriented ideals were untenable on the hardware of the day, Microsoft bet for a few years that this would change. It's an approach that hasn't failed it before or since, but with Cairo, it proved fatal. A number of technologies we now use every day had their roots in Cairo, but few emerged as elegantly as originally planned. Some, like the OFS, have yet to emerge.
However, OFS work continued. OFS was supposed to support data aggregation features so, for example, you could open a pseudo-folder that contains views of data in different drives on your computer. If you think this sounds suspiciously like a Windows Vista virtual folders you're correct. Over a decade after the company first started talking about this feature, it's finally being added to Windows (though I should note, once again, in a less elegant way than originally planned).
OFS would have removed the need to understand where data resided, and it would have done so both locally and remotely. Today, we deal with objects such as file shares on remote servers, which are direct representations of physical locations. OFS was designed to remove the need for users understanding these locations. So instead of a "Data" share on the server, we might have simply accessed a pseudo-folder called "Paul's data" that would have aggregated all of that user's server-based documents into a single view.
As the Cairo project fell apart in the mid-1990's, and its object-oriented technologies were spread to different product teams, OFS merged into a project called Storage+. Storage+, along with COM+ and Forms+, formed the foundation for Microsoft's mid-1990's object push with COM (Component Object Model). "Storage+ will do away with the NTFS file system and replace it with a new relational, object-oriented file system based on SQL Server 8.0. Expected to arrive with the next version of Business Windows (post-Windows 2000, think 2003 or 2004), Storage+ will turn the file system into a relational database, speeding searches and providing a higher level of granularity for those searches."
As you can see from this description, Storage+ was an update to OFS, but with an added twist: Now, the file system would be based on relational database technology, an obvious choice for a data store. And since Microsoft had just rewritten SQL Server from scratch (SQL Server 7.0 was all-new technology, not the Sybase code the company had used in previous versions) and was proving to be surprisingly powerful, it seemed like an excellent choice.
Relational File System (RFS)
In 2000, I reported that Windows Blackcomb (then the successor to Windows XP/Windows Server 2003) would feature a new relational database-based file system dubbed Storage+. But plans were already in flux. In an April 2000 report, I had the following to say: "Originally designed as a replacement for the Windows file system, Storage+ was to bring the power of the SQL Server relational database engine--with its rich searching and indexing functionality--to Windows users everywhere. But Storage+ is still in limbo at Microsoft for a variety of reasons. The company had originally hoped to ship the product—currently known as the Relational File System (RFS)—with SQL Server 2000. However, SQL Server 2000 is a relatively minor update (it was originally called SQL Server 7.5) with a short development cycle, and Storage+/RFS couldn't be implemented in the allotted time."
There were other delays. When Oracle announced its platform-independent Internet File System (IFS) in 2000, which was a relational file system based on Oracle database technology, Microsoft had to retool yet again, to match that product's functionality. Because of continual delays with OFS/Storage+/RFS, Microsoft's other product teams have had to resort to other, more tested, data storage technologies. Active Directory (AD) and the Exchange message store were (and continue to be) based on the Jet technology that powers Microsoft Access, for example. So once again, work on this relational file system was pushed back to a future date.
It shouldn't have. Despite years of delays, WinFS was still on the fast track within Microsoft, and the company spent the next year, literally, readying a little surprise. Yesterday, the company announced the Beta 1 release of WinFS, a release that would ship for Windows XP only, no less. (Future betas will also run on Windows Vista and other modern Microsoft platforms.) What's interesting about all this is that it was virtually a secret. Microsoft never let on that it was actively prepping WinFS for a 2006 beta release. And no one really asked about it. WinFS was just another technology that we all figured we'd eventually see elsewhere. Eventually.
So what is WinFS Beta 1? According to Tom Rizzo, the director of SQL Server product management, the focus hasn't changed. "We're building a rich relational file system for Windows," he told me. "With WinFS, we will provide rich new ways to organize and visualize data. And as a final piece, it's a platform. It's not just for end users: Developers can extend WinFS, integrate their applications with WinFS, synchronize data between their applications and private databases and WinFS, and build support for their own data types into WinFS, using full-featured, managed code APIs [application programming interfaces]."
Installing WinFS Beta 1 on Windows XP
WinFS installs ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]) like any application does--it requires a very specific (and new) version of the .NET Framework (2.0.50215.322), however, and can only be applied to NTFS-based systems--and then requires a reboot. When you boot back into Windows, you'll notice a new top-level object in your My Computer window ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]), or, as Microsoft puts it, a new top-level object in the shell namespace. Dubbed WinFS Stores, this object speaks loudly to the pros and cons of this release.
On the pro side, WinFS is real. You can store data in WinFS and, most crucially, access WinFS-based data from any existing (read: legacy) Windows application. "One of the most exciting things about WinFS Beta 1 is that you can access it natively from any Win32 API [applications]. You can browse it with Windows Explorer, where it's seen as a drive in your system. You can save documents from Microsoft Word directly into WinFS. It preserves full backwards compatibility when you move data in and out of WinFS author, last saved time, etc. WinFS works fine with existing applications: Copy and paste, whatever."
On the con side, WinFS feels bolted on. It's not a truly integrated part of the operating system, and until third party developers support WinFS with truly innovative applications, it's unlikely that this technology will be of much interest to anyone.
In any event, for end users, WinFS Beta 1 isn't particularly useful. Beyond the top-level shell object, there's just not a lot to see. Under the WinFS Stores level, you see a starter data stored named DefaultStore ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]). You can also add your own data stores, via a right-click menu option ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]). When you create a store, you can give it a name, some comments, and decide on which volume the store will reside ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]). Curiously, you cannot make a shortcut to the store on your desktop (surely a Beta 1 bug).
When you copy data to a WinFS store, the file copy dialog is non-standard, and not the version you see normally in XP ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]). And when you attempt to access the store via a Microsoft Office application's Open dialog, the store does not appear in My Computer as you'd expect. Instead, it appears as a share under Network Places ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]). That said, you can use Explorer to navigate into the store, double-click a document file, and cause the application that owns that document type to launch. At that point, Save As works normally and "sees" the store (as a share).
What's really powerful about WinFS, of course, is the way it can be manipulated by developers. Microsoft includes a Getting Started application ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]) that will help developers access the WinFS and WinFS API help files and other related documentation. I haven't had time to fully explore WinFS' developer features yet, but it's something I'll definitely do.
Timing and delivery
Rizzo told me that Microsoft shipped the Beta 1 version of WinFS two weeks before PDC 2005 so that developers could spend some time experimenting with it and then provide feedback at PDC and beyond.
But recently, I came across some internal Microsoft documentation that spells out the release schedule for WinFS more fully. WinFS Beta 1 will be followed by at least one Community Technology Preview (CTP) release, which is currently due on February 15, 2006. Then, on May 1, 2006, Microsoft is scheduled to release WinFS Beta 2. Beta 3 is currently scheduled for November 15, 2006, with a Beta 3 Refresh release expected in April 2007. WinFS is currently scheduled for RTM in Q3 2007, well after Longhorn Server is released.
When it's finalized, WinFS will be delivered as an out-of-band update for Windows XP and Windows Vista, in the same way that the .NET Framework is delivered today. And while Microsoft hasn't finalized licensing, WinFS will almost certainly be free. Also, WinFS will probably be included in Longhorn Server, though it could be delivered as an add-on for that system as well.
Finally, WinFS is only a codename. The technology will likely be rebranded as Windows Storage Foundation before it's released.
Conclusions
It's far too early to make any determination about the worth of WinFS. However, I do find it notable that Microsoft has been able to keep its active development--and the surprise Beta 1 release--secret. In a day and age when the software giant is repeatedly criticized for constant delivery delays, the release of WinFS Beta 1 is a pleasant about face. Let's hope Microsoft can continue to surprise us in such positive ways in the montsh ahead.
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Windows Storage Foundation (WinFS) Preview
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Raj_2006
. Only post those which r working.
Bookmarks