Nostalgia can be a good thing. Those warm, fuzzy thoughts and feelings about a particular place or time help us to smooth over the harsher realties of our past experiences. It's one of life's more powerful coping mechanisms and the spark for many a bar room toast. Everyone needs a little nostalgia from time to time, but for some people the memories are so compelling that they simply don't know how to "let go." T Nostalgia can be a good thing. Those warm, fuzzy thoughts and feelings about a particular place or time help us to smooth over the harsher realties of our past experiences. It’s one of life’s more powerful coping mechanisms and the spark for many a bar room toast.Everyone needs a little nostalgia from time to time, but for some people the memories are so compelling that they simply don’t know how to “let go.” Take the case of the “Longhorn Reloaded” project. These poor souls are so tortured by Microsoft’s decision to abandon portions of the original Windows “Longhorn” vision that they’ve taken it upon themselves to “complete” Microsoft’s work by delivering a rogue version of the Windows OS they believe “Longhorn” could have become.Setting aside, for the moment, the legal ramifications of redistributing Microsoft intellectual property without the company’s consent (always a bad idea), the most pressing question has to be: Why? Why resurrect the unfinished code base of a BETA OS (LHR, as they call it, is based on the WinHEC 2004 pre-release build 4074) that Microsoft shelved over 3 years ago? The folks involved in the LHR project seem to believe that Microsoft abandoned the “Longhorn” effort prematurely and that the product they delivered last year – Windows Vista – is a mere shadow of the original vision.However, my recollection is that Microsoft “reset” the project because the original code base had become unfeasible. Key technologies, like the perpetually-delayed Windows File System (WinFS), never worked quite right and soon became obviated by advancements in traditional, file-based indexing and searching. Microsoft’s client team also wanted to take advantage of the more robust kernel architecture developed for Windows Server 2003 – a smart move that laid the foundation for many of the hardening and security features of Vista.Still, there are some true believers that will never forgive Microsoft for choosing expediency – not to mention the very real need to actually ship a finished product this decade – over high concept. The situation wouldn’t be so sad if the LHR project’s efforts were at least original. Unfortunately, the title of “Saddest Attempt to Ressurrect a Dead and Otherwise Forgotten OS” has already been taken. It’s called OS/2. Software DevelopmentSmall and Medium Business