SQL Server first to cross the finish line

OF ALL the technologies discussed at the PDC, the first one to hit the shelves is SQL Server 2005, with the worldwide launch scheduled for the beginning of November 2005.

Crammed with new features and functionality, the new version represents the biggest update Microsoft has performed on SQL, and is an attempt to finally position SQL as a true heavyweight rival to the likes of Oracle and DB2. While it has its fair share of high-profile and large users, SQL has struggled to acquire the same enterprise reputation as the other two, a problem that some attribute, at least partially, to its price - it’s significantly cheaper than both Oracle and DB2.

Some of the more important new features in the core database engine itself include:

l .Net Common Language Runtime integration: you can write stored procedures, functions, triggers, user-defined types, and even new aggregates in any .Net language

l Native HTTP Soap Access: this means that the database server can serve up data via Web Services, with no additional middleware at all, not even an instance of the IIS web server

l New XML data type: in keeping with the XML adoption in most of the other new Microsoft applications and platforms, you can now store XML data natively in its own column type.

l Improved Error Handling.

l Database mirroring introduces a new mechanism for replicating databases and hot swapping on a database-by-database basis

l Users now have access to a database during a restore operation, within certain limits. This helps get you up and running faster after problems

l SQL Server Analysis Services have been overhauled, with a new Business Intelligence (BI) Development Studio added, which provides a modern development environment (similar to Visual Studio .Net) for building BI solutions and processes

l Data mining has been enhanced with several new algorithms, as well as a new wizard and editor for building and modifying data mining models

l Data Transformation Services have been redeveloped and renamed, now called SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)

Microsoft adds new direction to Windows roadmap

Microsoft is preparing for a massive overhaul of Windows, Office, SQL and its developer tools, representing the biggest period of upheaval for business users since the release of Windows 95, reports Chris Green

THE Microsoft Professional Developer Conference (PDC) is more than just an opportunity for Windows developers to get together and congratulate themselves on how good they are. It also serves as a perfect opportunity, usually occurring every two years, for Microsoft to update its product roadmap, and to preview forthcoming products and technologies.

The 2005 PDC in Los Angeles was no different. It was, in fact, the most significant PDC for more than a decade, reflecting both the marked evolution of the Windows platform, along with a changing focus away from features and products, towards addressing specific business problems, the most notable being information management.

Speaking at the opening presentation, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said: ‘At the client, there are many ways that we need to improve the user experience. We need to make it easy for people to visualise information that comes from different locations. That term we used in 2000, “beyond browsing”, is probably more apt today than ever. People are not paid to simply go to work and browse and look at web sites, they’re paid to take information from many different sources, pick the most urgent things to work on, visualise those in rich ways, edit those things and share those with other people.’

With an array of new technologies announced, the consistent theme in the roadmap through to 2007 is addressing the need to work more effectively with information. At the same time, some of the new products planned also deal with more practical problems, such as data security and reliability.

Windows Vista

The release of Windows Vista has now been confirmed for the second half of 2006, with the server version, still called Longhorn Server, scheduled for 2007.

Much has been written about the feature set of the operating system, and features have not really changed since the beta release appeared a few months back and the first major public preview took place at Microsoft’s WinHEC conference.

Vista is a graphics-heavy redevelopment of the core Windows desktop platform. Much of the apparent change focuses heavily on the user interface, which is drastically different from Windows XP, with support for 3D views of windows, live previews of minimised applications, a new active information panel on the right-hand side of the screen and transparent windows.

However, the changes in Vista are not just superficial. Under the bonnet there has been extensive redevelopment and the introduction of new technology.

New developments to the basic structure of the operating system include an update of the .Net framework, new audio capabilities, improved digital rights management for all file types, not just Windows media files, an application deployment engine, a new user interface subsystem called Windows Presentation Foundation, a web services-like service-oriented messaging layer called Windows Communication Foundation, and WinFX, a new application programming interface to allow access to these new features.

Vista will feature a new search engine allowing instant display of results for a given search. This is in contrast to the search engine of Windows XP, which can take several minutes to display results that are usually only based on file names.

The Vista search will allow you to add multiple filters to continually refine your search. There will also be saved searches that will act as Virtual Folders, where opening a folder will execute a specific search automatically and display the results as a normal folder view, as is the case with Microsoft Outlook 2003. These virtual folders are also distributable via really simple syndication (RSS).

Office 12

Perhaps of more importance to enterprise users than even the operating system is Office. Office 12 was unveiled at PDC, sporting a new user interface, in keeping with most of the other client technologies in the pipeline.

The main user interface changes focus around the use of context-sensitive menus, putting more emphasis on the features people actually use, and keeping the ones they don’t out of the way, rather than actually removing them.

In terms of operational changes, the biggest change to Office is the migration to XML as a native file format for all Office documents. Part of this is to allow improved searching of Office documents, particularly in Windows Vista, and especially once the WinFS add-on for Vista becomes available post-launch, which will dramatically overhaul the search capabilities and information management within the OS. The move to XML will also improve compatibility and integration with web applications and content management systems.

‘If you go back to 1995, the core opportunity for developers was really about building macros, using things like Word Basic. It’s been very powerful, but the platform has evolved beyond just that. The platform that we’re announcing now, that we’ve really started to deliver on with Office 2003, is the Office System. And this system really allows a whole new level of extensibility for solutions using XML’ said Steven Sinofsky, Microsoft’s senior vice president, Office.

‘You can incorporate XML into your applications, the XML file formats are available now to start learning. We have XML support already in Office 2003 in some applications,’ he added.

Beyond XML, much of the functional changes are focused on improving integration and interoperability with server-based technologies like Sharepoint.

This increased emphasis on server-based applications is part of a longer-term plan to change Office into a server-based, distributed technology.

PDC also played host to the first major public demonstrations of Internet Explorer 7 (IE 7), which will run on Windows XP as well as Windows Vista. A beta version has also been made available for download, for use on both platforms. Expected for release early in 2006,

IE 7 contains a number of functionality enhancements, most notably its ‘Dynamic Security Protection’ which forms the main part of its new security features.

Securing the browser

The idea is to provide a straightforward mechanism for detecting and dealing with malware and other malicious code that illicit web sites may attempt to deposit onto a PC or server. It also detects, warns and limits exposure to ‘phishing’ web sites - web sites and associated email messages that masquerade as being from well-known organisations such as banks, with the intent of extracting your login and financial information.

The phishing problem has been particularly bad for Windows users by virtue of the sheer size of the user base. While 90 per cent of good client security is common sense, the current beta version of IE does a very good job of recognising potential phishing sites.

It makes use of colour-coding in the address bar to indicate the level of perceived risk of a site, as well as all-out blocking of known problem sites and clear examples of phishing and malware, while still allowing the user to override its warnings in the event of inaccurate detection.

Information management features have been enhanced. As well as containing the express version of the Outlook mail client and the associated Usenet newsgroup reader, IE7 now contains integrated support for viewing, bookmarking and monitoring XML-based RSS feeds.

The features, which are very similar to those found in Apple’s Safari browser and Mozilla’s Firefox, allow users to view the RSS feed of a page or collection of pages in a dynamically formatted display, to automatically discover RSS web feeds if present on a web site, and offer basic support for saving RSS feeds as a bookmark.

With RSS playing an increasing role in the way we scan, monitor and access not only conventional web pages and sites, but also multimedia content such as podcasts, blogs, video and music, this feature is set to enable numerous applications, particularly for business users looking to monitor web pages, intranet sites and, going forward, monitoring individual files and folders on network shares.

But the most noticeable change in IE is the user interface. As with Windows Vista and Office 12, IE has had a significant facelift. It now has a multicolour, semi-transparent window design, more animation and explanation of buttons and features, zoom and scale-to-fit functions, and tabbed browsing – the ability to have multiple pages open in a single window, accessible via tabs along the top of the browser window, rather than having an independent window for each web page.

The next two years are set to be very exciting for business users and consumers, with a new client operating system, browser, server platform, database, developer tools, and a major rethink on the future direction of Office. For consumers, many of these technologies will mean new ways of receiving content, information and services from businesses, as well as an improved day-to-day user experience.

What remains to be seen is whether Microsoft has been able to at least cut its exposure to security problems, and just how well its new client offerings will be received beyond its core enterprise user base, in light of the small, but growing numbers that are already looking to alternative platform, such as Linux, Mac OS and embedded platforms such as digital TV, to fulfil their computing and communications needs.