Microsoft Posts Longhorn Code

Windows developers last week got a look at new and improved prerelease Longhorn code, along with their first glimpses of a security feature Microsoft plans to ship with its next operating system.

The company posted to its Microsoft Developer Network Web site "beta 1 release candidate" versions of Avalon, a 3-D graphics technology it's developing, and Indigo, software for building peer-to-peer applications. Microsoft plans to include final versions of both in the next version of Windows, code-named Longhorn, which is due late next year. Microsoft last week also released to developers code for building apps that use InfoCard technology, potentially a way for PC users to store credentials to Web apps.