Windows XP is going to be king of the hill for quite a long time. The first beta of Longhorn, the next version of Windows, was originally slated for this Fall. But Microsoft has confirmed that Longhorn beta will show up in 2004 with the actual release sometime in 2005.

Longhorn comes with a host of new features such as a new display technology for much faster visual display (and hence able to provide much more complex effects), a new file system called WinFS, and a host of other enhancements.

In the mean time, Windows XP's popularity due to its reliability and ease of use have made it a hard act to follow.

You can read more on Paul Thurrott's WinInformant website.

Windows Magazine reports that Microsoft has confirmed that Blackcomb will NOT be a future version of Windows anymore. Instead, Blackcomb is becoming a set of core technologies. Technologies that will be released as they become available into future versions of the desktop and server of Windows.

Paul Thurrot is at WinHec and has seen some demos of what Microsoft is working on for Longhorn (the next version of Windows).

"The demonstration I saw was performed on a Longhorn build 4015 desktop. When windows moved across the screen, they visually "shuttered," bending under the speed of the movement, like a flag billowing in a breeze. The windows had various translucency levels, but in a much more fine-grained and visually stunning way than earlier Windows versions. And, best of all, you can visually scale windows up and down with no loss in quality as you resize them, an effect that's impossible on today's Windows desktop. Microsoft told me that none of these effects were designed for the final Longhorn product, but that the company is simply testing them. Microsoft could use the scaling feature for window minimization: Instead of using a standard taskbar button to represent a minimized window, Longhorn will probably display a miniature version of the window so that you can visually differentiate among the various minimized windows and more easily select the one you want. The shutter feature will also likely evolve into a minimize effect, Microsoft said."

These kinds of abilities should make skin authors and software developers quite excited. The things that third parties like Stardock should be able to do with this kind of technology will likely take skinning to a new level.

If you haven't tried out WindowFX lately, you can get it at https://www.stardock.com/products/windowfx it can give you a small taste of what Longhorn would be able to do.

Our friend Paul Thurrot has put together a detailed look at the latest Longhorn build. Longhorn is the code-name for the next version of Windows after Windows XP. It isn't due out for a couple of years still so we're talking very very preview stuff. Check it out.

Anyone seen this movie? We went to see it Friday afternoon. I must confess, I wasn't expecting much but it really turned out to be much better than the first one. The best superhero movie I've ever seen (including Spiderman).

The May issue of WinCustomize Magazine is now available! If you want to hear what's happening in the world of skinning, desktop enhancements, theming, and more, check it out!

https://www.wincustomize.com/wcmag/may2003/

We broke January's record for a record number of *unique* individuals visiting WinCustomize.com this month.

Despite there being only 30 days in April, over 100,000 more unique individuals visited WinCustomize in April than in January bringing the total well over 1.3 million uniques this month.

The lion's share of the referrals came from Stardock.

But one new trend: Deskmod.com became the #1 skin site in referrals to WinCustomize (thank you very much Deskmod).

In terms of browsers, after a brief resurgence in third party browsers, Microsoft's hold on the browser wars returned to an all time high at 87%.

Windows 2000 and XP users now make up 82% of the visitors. Windows 98|ME make up another 12%. We also had 61 visitors who were using OS/2! Way to go OS/2! They beat out the 8 Amiga visitors.

As for non USA visitors, Japan led the way followed by Canada, and then France. We'd also like to welcome the 32 visitors from Tonga and the 34 visitors from Fiji.

It appears Apple may port iTunes over to Windows. Check out this article over at The Register to learn more.

Can you think of people who used to be around more that aren't around anymore? Where are they? Where have they gone?

Here's a few that come to the top of my head:

Crumbut
Dangeruss (still around but I miss his regular presence)
DAK
Shawn Murdock
John Folden
Morphh
Mercury
Scratch (still kind of around but not as much, miss him too)

These are guys who really made a big difference in the course of skinning. They don't get nearly the kudos they deserve since they were at their height when "the community" was very small still.

If you had to use one word to describe yourself, what would it be?

Here's mine:
Tenacious.