WE COME TO BURY WINFS...
Every comment (bar one) got the point. WinFS is dead. Its carcass is being split between SQL Server and ADO.NET …
Context & Ripple Effects
Microsoft's WinFS update from the previous day framed the project's status; this follow-up makes clear that its work is being absorbed into SQL Server and ADO.NET rather than shipped as a distinct product. The ADO.NET Tech Preview's Entity Data Model gives the application-facing portion of that handoff a defined home.
First-order effects
- Developers expecting a standalone WinFS product must instead look to SQL Server and ADO.NET for the relevant capabilities.
- SQL Server and ADO.NET inherit WinFS components, while the Entity Data Model becomes the named application-layer definition in the transition.
Second-order effects
- Microsoft's data-platform teams must align database functionality in SQL Server with ADO.NET's programming model, rather than support a separate WinFS product boundary.
Third-order effects
- The move points to a platform strategy in which experimental data-management work is folded into established server and developer frameworks, concentrating adoption around the existing SQL Server and .NET stack.
The trend: Microsoft is consolidating data-management ambitions into its existing database and developer platforms rather than sustaining a separate file-system product.