News
Microsoft Still Quiet on Server Piece of WinFS
- By Scott Bekker
- September 12, 2005
After acknowledging the need for a server-side piece of WinFS a year ago, Microsoft is quiet about it for now.
Microsoft group vice president of platforms Jim Allchin cited customer concern over the lack of a server component to WinFS as a key reason Microsoft pulled the technology from Longhorn last year.
Calling it a trade-off that Microsoft wrestled with for a long time, Allchin said, "One of the pieces of feedback was, 'Well, we really like Table Access, and, oh by the way, if we do just the client then some of the scenarios don't work out as well because we'd really like the new synchronization capabilities to go to the server, as well. We like client-server.'"
"So, we were in a situation of, 'Do we keep going on this path or do we stop and take that feedback and do something about it?' So we're going to stop and do something about it," Allchin said last year.
Nonetheless, when Microsoft released a beta version of WinFS last month, it remained a client-only technology. Synchronization tools delivered as part of the beta are primarily for peer-to-peer and multi-device scenarios.
About the Author
Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.