No Monad scripting in first Windows Vista
Just one day after the first public reports of viruses being written for an upcoming feature of Microsoft's Windows operating system, Microsoft has confirmed that it will not include theMonad Shell feature in the first generally available release of Microsoft Vista, expected in the second half of 2006.
The Monad Shell, provides a way for users to access the operating system using text-based commands rather than the traditional Windows graphical user interface. In the past, Microsoft has said that Monad will be part of "Longhorn," the code name for both the next client and server versions of Windows.
In an interview Friday, Microsoft Director of Product Management Eric Berg said Monad will not be included in the first commercial version of Windows Vista, expected in the second half of 2006. But the product is expected to be included in Windows over the next "three to five years," he said. "Our intention is to synchronize it with both client and server operating systems."
Security experts had worried that if Monad were to be included in a widely used client, it might become an attractive target for hackers, especially if the shell were to be enabled by default.
Whether it will be enabled by default is unclear. "There are multiple ways that we could introduce this technology to the client stream," Berg said.
