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VistaDB vs. WinFS

WinFS file storage system was to be Microsoft's next generation of data storage for Windows Vista, however it has been dropped from the product. Furthermore, information posted on the WinFS Team Blog suggests that WinFS technology is being moved into SQL Server directly and other products. See these links for details:

• WinFS Team Blog
• WinFS: "...years away" (News.com)
• Microsoft Press Release
• SeattlePI.com
• Microsoft-watch.com

According to information on the WinFS Team Blog, WinFS will most likely not become it's own entity and with this, we no longer consider WinFS to be a viable option for software developers as it pertains to database development. We are keeping our original talking points posted below for archival purposes only.

Original Post (Archive)

Microsoft is positioning WinFS as the universal file storage system for managing and storing any type of data across multiple local applications. WinFS is essentially a sub-set of SQL Server that sits on top of NTFS to let users manage files on computers much the same way database developers manage tables and records in a database.

WinFS is an exciting technology and as WinFS becomes mature in years to come, we will take full advantage of it so that when WinFS is finally available, VistaDB users will benefit from WinFS without having to rewrite their .NET applications.

Some important points to understand about WinFS:

1. WinFS is years away from shipping.

2. WinFS is scheduled to support Windows Vista only where as the .NET Framework runs on all Win32 operating systems and Mono (Linux).

3. Not everyone will migrate to Windows Vista when it is released. In fact, most people and companies do not upgrade operating systems until several years after the initial release of a new operating system becomes available. This gives a timeframe for Windows Vista to be in wide use between 2008 and 2010. As of June 2004, XP has 51% of the OS market with 40% of the market still held by Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000 and NT. This is 3 years after XP was released:

Read more here:
http://primates.ximian.com/~miguel/archive/2004/Sep-01.html

4. The .NET framework exists today on Windows 2000 and on XP and it will continue to exist on these operating systems many years after Windows Vista is actually available. That means, most users will have the .NET framework already installed and running on their Windows 2000 and XP computers. NET will be running on all three Windows operating systems for years. Relying exclusively on WinFS would lock yourself into a WinFS/Windows Vista-only solution and your applications would not run on the vast majority of computers.

By standardizing on VistaDB as your primary .NET database engine, developers have a clear solution for building powerful .NET database applications today and tomorrow. In summary, don't wait for WinFS.