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Longhorn Gets a New Shepherd

Microsoft has brought in a heavy-hitter from AT&T Wireless and E*TRADE to take over management of the long-delayed Windows Longhorn client.

According to a Microsoft press release, Michael Sievert "will be responsible for marketing, product management and product planning for the Windows Client." That client, of course, is Windows Longhorn, which has suffered major delays and is currently set to be released in 2006.

Sievert has lots of experience with big projects, having served as executive vice president and chief marketing officer of AT&T Wireless since 2002. In that capacity, he had responsibility for the company's $15 billion core business. Previous to that, the press release states, he was executive vice president and chief global marketing and sales officer at E*Trade Financial Corp.

Sievert is taking over from 17-year Microsoft veteran Tom Button, who is on a leave of absence because of family medical problems. The release said Button is expected to eventually return to Microsoft, although in a different capacity.

Longhorn was supposed to be a major revision of Windows, but its scope has been significantly scaled back in order to hit something approximating a reasonable ship date. One of Longhorn's key technologies, the storage engine known as WinFS, was axed, leading many to wonder exactly what Longhorn will bring to the table in terms of new functionality or abilities.

About the Author

Keith Ward is the editor in chief of Virtualization & Cloud Review. Follow him on Twitter @VirtReviewKeith.

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