Microsoft will shortly release the first review version of its new Indigo software. Indigo is the next generation communications subsystem for Windows, and is intended to make it easier for developers to build secure, reliable web services. Like so many other wonderful things Microsoft are telling us are coming soon, Indigo is slated to be with us when we get Longhorn, the next version of Windows. The Indigo release is a "community technology preview" and precedes the first official beta test version, which is due by the end of June.

"Indigo" is a set of .NET technologies for building and running connected systems. It is a new breed of communications infrastructure built around the Web services architecture. Advanced Web services support in Indigo provides secure, reliable, and transacted messaging along with interoperability. Indigo's service-oriented programming model is built on the Microsoft .NET Framework and simplifies development of connected systems.