With Windows Me under its belt, Microsoft Corporation this week turned its attention to the first Windows.NET beta, code-named "Whistler." The Whistler Technical Beta team jokingly promises to ship Beta 1 "later this year" but won´t divulge any news or details. However, people that I´ve talked to at Microsoft say that Whistler will feature "awesome" XML/XSL-based skinning capabilities that far surpass any customizing features in Windows today. "It´s what Windows should have been years ago," I was told. Whistler, which is based on Windows 2000, will ship in a Personal Edition that will supplant Windows Me, as well as Professional, Server, Advanced Server, and Datacenter Server Editions. There will be 32-bit and 64-bit versions of each edition, except Personal Edition, which will ship only as a 32-bit product.

Read more