Seamless Computing

Seamless computing is a vision introduced by Bill Gates at Comdex in November 2003. The concept is tied closely to the release of the next operating system now known as Longhorn. It involves removing the seams involved in modern computing and breaking down many of the barriers that currently limit users.

You may be wondering what the seams are. They are the interfaces, errors, and so on that the user sees and has to deal with. Microsoft believes that removing some of these unnecessary things will allow computing to be truly effective and useful. The goal is to make the user experience better and more streamlined. This involves better ways of connecting applications together and in the case of Microsoft's vision, Microsoft applications specifically.

This involves but is not limited to things like:

• Automatically connecting "smart" devices without user intervention.

• Creating more natural interfaces for the user, such as those involved with speech technology.

• Creating reliable software products that are less susceptible to security attacks and internal bug failures.

• Allowing users to search for and retrieve files no matter what type they are.

• Filtering e-mail intelligently so that unwanted e-mail does not slip through.

How does seamless computing differ from enhanced computing? In many ways, they cover the same areas. Enhanced computing seeks to utilize AI technologies to extend the user's experience. In some cases this may involve the same concepts outlined in Bill Gates's vision of seamless computing. This is especially true when it comes to speech recognition a big part of seamless computing.

However, enhanced computing can involve additional areas, such as data mining, software agents, and any other AI-based technology used to enhance traditional applications.

Enhanced computing can be accomplished using existing technologies and does not rely on the release of Longhorn or any other new Microsoft product. Longhorn is still in the very early stages and at best will not be seen until 2006.

This does not mean that the technologies and products tied to seamless computing, and particularly Longhorn, could not be used to build an enhanced application.