Microsoft Demonstrates Whistler

The software giant's next version of Windows, dubbed 'Whistler' was showcased by Microsoft executives at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) Tuesday. The company hinted that the new operating system is a fairly minor upgrade to Windows 2000 Professional. Whistler is in pre-beta stages, although pirated copies have been leaked to the Web.

Whistler will be available in both consumer and business versions, and will be the successor to Windows 2000 and Windows Me. Windows Me is set to be released in the second half of this year, which will offer multimedia enhancements for consumers. However, Microsoft claims Whistler, available in 2001, will feature a much wider array of services tuned for home users.

The software giant is planning to simplify Whistler by increasing the ease in which tasks are performed. The company is relying heavily on feedback from current Windows consumers.

"The thing that people would really like to see us prioritize ... is the complexity," stated Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates.

Whistler is expected to have a new user interface, although it is uncertain if the GUI will receive a complete makeover. Microsoft is still debating on how much the interface should change. Alpha builds have already begun to show sings of change, such as a new flat taskbar with a window grouping ability and added Start menu options.