] After months of waffling, Microsoft clarified plans for
] future versions of Windows Server, pegging 2007 as the
] target for a server version of the company's
] next-generation operating system, known as Longhorn. A
] client version of Longhorn should come six to 12 months
] before Longhorn server, but company officials stopped
] short of saying the client would arrive in 2006.

This is waaaay late. About 10 years ago, they were way late on
Win95, then codenamed Chicago. The big difference is back then,
they weren't staring down the barrel of open-source software
gearing up to take the desktop.

M$ and OSS in conjunction have set the bar exceedingly high for
Longhorn. It must be better enough than older Windows to be worth
the upgrade (hardware as well as software!) and better enough
than GNOME/KDE to keep people from switching to OSS for good.

Microsoft Puts Date On Longhorn Server