The Redmond, Wash., software giant released a CTP (community technology preview) of Avalon, the presentation subsystem of Longhorn, to gauge developer opinion on the technology's applicability on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, said John Montgomery, director of marketing in Microsoft's developer division. The company released the technology to the MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network), Montgomery said.

Microsoft Corp. initially said Avalon would be available only on Longhorn, but in September the company said it would be available for Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP—but not until 2006.

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Of the new Avalon CTP, Montgomery said: "This is a build we want to get into customers' hands. We wanted to get feedback on two key areas: what is Avalon going to be like on XP and Windows Server 2003."

In addition, Montgomery said that when Microsoft announced its plans to put Avalon and the Indigo communications subsystem on the two additional platforms, the company also placed Avalon, Indigo and Longhorn on different build schedules.

Last month, Microsoft released CTPs for SQL Server 2005 and for the upcoming Microsoft framework, and tools for building customized, domain-specific language designers.

Avalon features XAML (Extensible Application Markup Language), an XML-based language developed by Microsoft for building presentation-layer and user-interface technology.

This article was first published on eweek.com.