Let me preface this by saying that I have no insider knowledge on this topic, and that this post represents my personal opinion and forecast - tea leaves and crystal balls, as it were.
I believe that the BizTalk Adapter Framework, as we know it, is approaching end-of-life. Already. With "v2" still six months out.
Why?
Because Microsoft is doing the right thing. They're embedding the foundation technologies into the operating system, where they belong, and as a result BizTalk Server will continue its evolution into a true enterprise application. So how does this impact the BizTalk Adapter Framework, you ask? Not terribly long after BizTalk Server 2006 ships Microsoft will release Windows Vista, and with it WinFX. WinFX will put not only a workflow engine (Windows Workflow Foundation, code-name "WinOE") into the operating system, but also a fully-featured messaging subsystem (Windows Communications Foundation, code-name "Indigo").
Indigo offers the next generation technology that will supplant traditional SOAP, old-style web services, and today's web services extensions (WSE). But more pertinent to this conversation - Indigo is an extensible platform that supports not just traditional "messaging", but a whole range of inter-process and cross-process communication. Out of the box Indigo will support a few protocols and no applications, but the framework has been laid for an adapter platform that is accessible from any application built on top of (or can interop with) .NET Framework 2.0. Imagine if you could utilize the BizTalk Server 2004 adapters that you have today, in a native, reliable fashion, from all of your applications - both desktop and server. Imagine the complexities involved in connecting to your ERP and the legacy systems that could be pushed down the stack into the OS with this architecture. Really. Sit back and think about it.
What you're seeing in your mind can, I believe, be accomplished in the Indigo channel architecture.
By pushing this point of extensibility into the operating system Microsoft will enable commercial and custom development of "adapter" technology to reach a new, broader and far more ranging audience. By developing adapters that operate at the platform stack level ISV's can dramatically increase their opportunity footprint. Corporate developers can begin minimizing the number of application "touch points". And enterprise integration will take on a whole new meaning.
Just imagine...