WinFS

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Windows Future Storage (WinFS)
Basic data

developer Microsoft
operating system Microsoft Windows
category Desktop search , file system extension
License proprietary
German speaking No

Windows Future Storage ( WinFS ) is a file system extension to NTFS that was started by Microsoft and was intended to add associative file management to the Windows operating system , but had to struggle with technical and conceptual problems from the start. Due to the abbreviation “FS” in the name, it is often wrongly assumed that it is an independent file system . Microsoft announced the discontinuation of the project in June 2006, as the innovations had already flowed into Windows.

history

WinFS was originally intended to be used in the Windows version Vista released in early 2007 . It was later announced that Vista would initially be shipped without WinFS. Finally, in June 2006, Microsoft announced the final termination of the project. It is based on NTFS , which has been used since Windows NT , but should implement new concepts that did not previously exist under Windows.

WinFS was originally intended to use the technology of the SQL Server 2005 (code name during the BETA phase: Yukon ) and was supposed to make it easier to find files by no longer storing file information centrally but distributing it several times on the data carrier. It is hoped that this cross-indexing will provide faster data access, and files can also be indexed according to various criteria (e.g. name, content, author).

Microsoft announced an object-oriented file system for Windows NT 3.5 as early as the early 1990s. The software company has not yet followed up on this plan.

At the end of August 2005, Microsoft published the first test version. However, it was only available to customers of the Microsoft Developer Network .

On June 24, 2006 the Internet portal Slashdot reported that the plan for an independent product "WinFS" had been abandoned. Instead, it is planned to integrate parts of the technology in the next versions of SQL Server (codenamed Katmai) and ADO.NET . Slashdot was referring to the WinFS development team's public blog .

However, the blog also states that the developments, if finished, can be integrated into Windows and other products.

technology

In WinFS, data is stored as "items", whereby relationships and metadata can be determined by the user. The definitions are implemented using XML schemes.

The interface of older Longhorn builds allows you to view the data. These are continuously monitored for changes and the user can be notified with various alarms.
In these Longhorn versions there is only one WinFS storage that can be reached via \\ localhost \ defaultstore. The SQL database is in / System32 / WinFS / Data and stores entries, links and metadata, with the actual file contents being in hidden NTFS streams. For old clients (e.g. Microsoft Word ), WinFS plays a normal file system. In the Longhorn versions there is also a revised file dialog that enables the use of WinFS. Applications that use the standard dialog (e.g. Notepad ) can use the search and grouping functions of Aero .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Microsoft buries WinFS - message from Heise online , dated June 26, 2006
  2. ↑ Slashdot | WinFS Gets the Ax - Release dated June 24, 2006
  3. ↑ What's in Store: WinFS Update (English) - Blog entry by the WinFS development team