PRESS RELEASE: Microsoft drops all existing Windows versions
Jason Downs
be funnier if the post came from bi...@microsoft.com, but I've not done
that in so many years, I screwed up the header. ]
Seattle, WA -- Microsoft today announced that they would be discontinuing
development of their server orientated operating system, Windows NT,
and have already ceased development of their lower-end system, Windows95.
"It hasn't proved to be up to the task," stated Microsoft Chairman Bill
Gates at a press conference earlier today, referring to Windows NT.
"We have been secretly developing a new operating system that will
eventually replace all current versions of Windows."
Developed under the name `Voyager', the new operating system is scheduled
for release in the fourth quarter of 1997, explained Gates. The final
name of the product has not been completely finalized, but sources within
Microsoft state that the name is likely to be `Windows-VOJY'.
Although Gates refused to go into details about the design of the new
operating system, stating only that it is a "new, bolder approach" and
"very robust," sources inside the software giant paint a more vivid picture.
"`Voyager' is the next evolutionary step in the design of computer
operating systems," they say. "It fully implements multi-tasking,
and memory protection. If one program crashes it won't crash the entire
machine."
Unlike previous versions of Windows, though, the grapical user interface
(GUI) is layered on top of operating system, rather then defining the
nature of the operating system directly. "We've taken a completely new
approach..." state developers, "The new system, dubbed `Y', is a
network-orientated GUI; for instance allowing applications to be run on
a remote server while being displayed on the local screen."
"Of course," they add, "all instances of the operating system support
multiple users, using a secured password-based authentication system.
All system resources are shared between all users and processes, using
a permissions system based on the user authentication system."
They also demonstrated a new, text-orientated, user interface, said to
provide small companies with a low-cost method of supporting network
users and applications.
When asked how long such an impressive new approach has taken to create,
developers said that the new operating system has only been in development
for "about a year."
When questioned at the press conference, Gates dismissed claims that
Microsoft's new operating system is nothing more then the freely
available operating system NetBSD, with the name and credits removed, as
"the rants of lunatics and social misfits on the Internet."