Longhorn has come under the watchful eye of the US Department of Justice (DOJ), which wants to ensure that Microsoft's next major OS conforms to the company's US antitrust settlement terms.
A DOJ lawyer informed a federal judge in the US this week that DOJ would like to have full access to Longhorn as early as possible to prevent Microsoft later representing its feature set as unchangeable.
"While Longhorn is not scheduled for release for some time, plaintiffs believe that early attention to these issues will enable plaintiffs and Microsoft to address any potential concerns in a timely manner, before the final structure of the product is locked into place," DOJ regulators and Microsoft said in a joint filing.
.Recent roadmap information from Microsoft pegs the earliest possible Longhorn release date at mid-2006.
With at least two years to go, Longhorn's feature set could still change dramatically, and the DOJ clearly wants to review Microsoft's plans before that situation changes.
Some observers think that Longhorn will likely contain numerous technologies with which the agency will take exception.
DOJ's original antitrust case centred around Microsoft's practice of harming competition by bundling technology in its dominant Windows OSs.
In the wake of the US antitrust case, the company has increased its technology-integration practices, even touting recent releases as "integration innovation".
Longhorn is expected to be more of the same, including integrated search functionality apparently designed to knock competitors such as Google and Yahoo! out of the search business. Other technologies, such as digital-media integration, security, and virus scanning, could also potentially harm competitors.
DOJ lawyers will meet with Microsoft executives next week at the company's US base to discuss several matters, including Longhorn.
A Microsoft spokesperson said the company expects to ship Longhorn while its US antitrust settlement is still in place and that it will adhere to the agreement.
DOJ and Microsoft representatives recently met to discuss the status of Microsoft's compliance with the settlement.
US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who is overseeing Microsoft's compliance, has said the company is making satisfactory progress. She has also praised Microsoft's decision to extend its technology-licensing program by two years.
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