Microsoft researchers have built prototype software for better Windows management and for sorting digital photos that could influence features in the next desktop version of Windows.

One system lets users drag windows on their PC desktop into a "focal zone" to enlarge tasks they're working on. Peripheral tasks sit near the edges of the screen, where their icons are grouped by project. The software is designed to take advantage of a new graphics system code-named Avalon that Microsoft is developing for its release of Windows in 2005, code-named Longhorn. It could be the future of task-switching in Windows, says Mary Czerwinski, a senior researcher at the company.

Another project, called MediaFrame, lets users organize digital images according to their content using face-recognition technology and algorithms that can distinguish types of scenery in a photo. The group is working closely with Microsoft developers building Longhorn, says Dan Ling, a VP in Microsoft Research.

Longhorn will use Microsoft relational-database technology in its file system, which could enable more flexible searches of documents, E-mail messages, and photos using standard criteria. The operating system also could include the Avalon graphics system, which uses speedy vector graphics to render images, according to people familiar with Microsoft's plans.

But Microsoft hasn't published detailed technical information about Longhorn and its possible features, including Avalon and the Palladium system for encrypting applications, says Mike Cherry, an analyst at technology research firm Directions on Microsoft. "Developers don't know a whole lot about what Longhorn's going to look like," he says. More information could come at a Microsoft software development conference this fall.

Longhorn could tag documents or digital photos with XML metadata that lets users quickly reorganize files in different groups by their content. The operating system will incorporate database technology slated for inclusion in the next version of Microsoft SQL Server, code-named Yukon.