Microsoft's UK research team is developing a number of technologies that will be included in the next version of the Windows operating system, codenamed Longhorn.

The software giant expects to ship the client version of Longhorn at the end of 2006, followed by the server version at the end of 2007.

Most of the development work for the technologies is taking place in the US at Microsoft's Windows division.

But the company's UK research group in Cambridge has created a number of techniques that are being picked up and used in the new product.

Andrew Herbert, managing director of Microsoft Research UK, explained that Longhorn will include the Cambridge group's home network analysis tool.

"As home networks become more complicated, it becomes hard to diagnose when there's a problem," he told vnunet.com's sister title Computing.

"We've been developing a system where PCs on the system talk to each other and, by observing the network, can see the messages that the hubs and switches are sending to each other."

Researchers in the UK have been looking at the integration of navigation and search facilities.

A navigation tool helps users find a specific folder. Individuals use the search facility to throw a specific question at Windows.

"We've been looking at ways to pull those two services together in a more natural form, and that's something that will be finding its way into Longhorn," said Herbert.

The UK research team has also been developing a smarter version of the 'back' button on Internet Explorer, which allows users to surf more intelligently and interactively by presenting a hierarchy of websites visited.

"The Longhorn guys are pretty excited about that," said Herbert, adding that Longhorn will give users an improved interface.

"The file system will present much more of a database image. You can query for things and, if you find something, you can ask what other files you've accessed on the same day," he explained.

"It's about finding things by context, and it's a much richer environment. The system will remember a lot more about where stuff came from and how it was produced."