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The future of Windows is .Net--Microsoft's initiative for simplifying interaction among computers and related devices and keeping them constantly connected via the Internet. With both Windows 2000 and Windows Me out the door, Microsoft is already well into development on the .Net successor to both, code-named Whistler.

Whistler, which is intended to merge with and replace Windows 2000 and Windows Me, won't ship for at least another year (see "Microsoft's Future Is All .Net"). But we snuck a peek over a developer's shoulder at Build 2250, a very early pre-beta version of Whistler that Microsoft handed out for testing in June.

What we saw, though obviously subject to change in the final product, suggests a Windows with a richer, more configurable user interface, remote access capabilities, and the ability to follow voice commands and read handwriting. In addition, the operating system will incorporate some of the .Net technologies Microsoft demonstrated earlier this year. These features, which will allow you to access information on multiple devices wherever you go, aren't apparent yet--in part because many require server support that hasn't materialized at this early stage. But you can already interact with Whistler from a Pocket PC--to check e-mail, for example, or to download a file.

Whistler is likely to appear in a professional edition for business desktop users, as well as in various server editions. And since it is slated to grab the consumer OS baton from Windows Me, there may be a home edition as well. (See "Two Whistlers on the Way.")

Skin-Deep Changes

The first changes we noticed in Whistler were in the user interface--the Start Menu, Taskbar, and Explorer. These predominantly cosmetic changes could help novice users get a grip on this complex OS and could reduce the number of clicks veteran users expend on common tasks. Microsoft's .Net press conference in June featured a preview of a new customizable browser-like interface uniting application launching, e-mail, and file browsing tasks. Whistler Build 2250 contains a hidden, still-buggy first stab at a concept called the Start Page.

Far from a new user interface, the Start Page is simply Active Desktop revisited. It could eventually become the primary way users interact with their computers and the Internet, but Microsoft will have to create a killer Start Page if it wants to render the Start Menu, Taskbar, and Explorer obsolete.

More substantive changes include another currently hidden feature: an alternate Start menu mode called Start Panel, which collects frequently used commands and links from disparate Start submenus into a single multicolumn menu window. The Taskbar gets a tweak or two as well. A "Clean up notification area" setting hides seldom-used icons in the system tray, and you can configure specific icons so that they're always (or never) hidden. Once you've arranged your Taskbar and its individual toolbars exactly the way you want them, you can lock the configuration into place, preventing Windows from resizing the toolbars the way current versions do.

Want a different look on your desktop? Various preset Visual Styles--collections of colors, frame sizes, and backgrounds--promise a change of scenery in a few clicks. Windows 9x and 2000 let you vary window frame sizes, colors, and fonts, and then save the settings as a Scheme. Whistler splits these Scheme settings into color settings, and window and font settings (called Visual Styles). This lets you apply a desktop look and a color scheme independently--a small but useful improvement. Most of the settings are inaccessible in Build 2250, but the one Visual Style included--called Professional--gives Whistler a fresh look without degrading screen legibility.

Like earlier Windows versions, Whistler supports Themes--collections of Schemes, custom icons, and desktop backgrounds. Many Windows 95 and 98 users will remember these from Microsoft Plus add-on packs. It appears that Whistler will include Themes, though they too are disabled in Build 2250.