Microsoft shows "concept-car style" OS

Microsoft used its annual TechFest gathering of research lab technicians in Redmond last week to launch a new prototype operating system, 'Singularity'.

Available on the company's CodePlex collaborative open source website, the operating system is available for free to the academic and research communities in the hope that they will use it to develop new kinds of computer architecture.

According to Microsoft, Singularity is not the next Windows but is a "concept-car style" project, built from the ground up, with the specific goal of being more reliable than current operating systems and allowing researchers to test how operating systems and applications interact with each other.

Speaking at TechFest this year, Rick Rashid, senior vice president of Microsoft Research, said that the company is attempting to use technology developments to create a lasting and positive impact on the world's most pressing issues, from education and healthcare to energy and the environment.

Rashid also used TechFest to demonstrate the BEE3 hardware project designed by Microsoft, alongside researchers at the University of California, to allow configuration research and experimentation within computer architectures.

Original article: Microsoft launches 'Singularity' OS prototype from ZDNet UK