BetaNews: Microsoft Axes WinFS, Cancels Beta 2

WinFS was supposed to be an innovative new file system for Windows Vista built on Microsoft’s SQL Server. It’s an interesting idea, but frankly there are some things relational databases are good at and some things file systems are better at… and being file system is one of them. Anyway, Microsoft may have concluded the same thing by abandoning WinFS , one of Vista’s original “crown jewels.” Of course, the only reason Microsoft was going there was to try to beat Apple’s Spotlight technology. Maybe they also hoped to finally rid themselves of the lettered-drives dinosaur.