The next major investment by Microsoft, a model-driven development initiative called Oslo, will be a multiyear, multiproduct attempt to develop new technology for consumers to construct, utilize, design, and manage composite applications. The technical investments from Oslo will be consolidated into the next generation of its application platform. Revealed in October 2007, Microsofts road map has five key components: BizTalk Server release 6, BizTalk Services release 1, Microsoft .NET Framework version 4, Microsoft System Center release 5, and Visual Studio release 10. The broader problem of human productivity is not being addressed, however, so Microsoft will create application development techniques that address the limitations of current approaches and turn the model into the application. The two inherent limitations of current models are: Application models get out of sync with the application itself as it changes down the life cycle, and users need a unified view. SharePoint is an important part of the application platform of Microsoft, which is determining usage scenarios. Oslo will be a powerful inflection point for Microsoft, similar to Visual Basics release by the company in 1991. The Visual Studio 10 user interface will also have facilities for users to assemble composite applications via drag-and-drop techniques. Over time, Oslos modeling initiative would need industry support behind it to be successful. Microsoft will start releasing betas of its application platform in 2008 but does not expect to have deliverables until 2009, with feedback helping decide when to release to manufacturing.